Money & work & threats on it all.

[Emmielu]

Went to see my personal advisor yesterday. (Single mum, came out of work last september due to a family problem that resulted in me being sent home because of a little depression) I want to get back into work. I've just passed child psychology & have been looking & sending CV's into all the nurseries, day care, creche, schools & youth centers in my area. I live in a small town with plenty of nurseries.

My personal advisor gave me nothing but bad news yesterday. I was brought to tears. Next week, Income Support stops due to DD turning 5. (Knew that) I then have to ring & apply for job seekers (Knew that)

I didnt know that it could mean 6-8 weeks without money. I didnt know that i have until the end of the month to find a job. I have to go in every 2 weeks & prove ive looked for jobs. i have 6 months, then the money stops & i have to do 30 voluntary hours where they put me. after 8 months if theres still no job i have to travel 30 mins via train plus walking to training courses during the week & money is stopped. I cant move out this year like i planned cause i now cant afford it at all. Im terrified. This job that the advisor has refferred me to is my last hope. I have qualifications, ive worked with kids, i have a daughter, i look after other peoples kids. What is it that im doing wrong????? Do i need to pester these people?

You're doing nothing wrong.

But all of what you are expected to do to remain employable and to seek work seems fair to me.

Thankfully, the days of people being left on the dole with no support or expectation are gone .while there are aspects of welfare reform that are hard to swallow , the above seems right to me.

Try to see it as support to help you find work and remain employable, rather than what used to happen - ie being thrown on the scrap heap without support.

Can you get some voluntary hours now, this can make all the difference when applying for a job.

I can do voluntary but I'd still need paid work by the end of the month.unfortunately voluntary work then getting employed by the company you volunteer for isn't good enough straight away. It just shocked me how I now have a time limit. I'm chasing companies to reply to my cv. Don't get me wrong it's great they're getting people to work & I've been posting cv's for my area but because I'm not flexible (can't do any more than 9-3) they won't employ me or as my personal advisor said if I'm over qualified they won't employ me because I wasn't trained how they want people to be.