Benefits Advice needed

[helpphK]

My wife and I had a little boy, and she and I decided that she wanted to stay at home and look after him, because we both felt the cost of childcare etc. didn't really make work pay.

I had originally discussed her claiming JSA benefits, but she felt that she didn't want to out of principle, which I understood, but not necessarily agreed with. We get lots of help and support from her parents, and I am on a decent wage, although it has been squeezed recently with the downturn.

We have recently found out she us pregnant again- the due date means there will be 2 years between the 2 of them. I looked into her getting some benefits, as in my rationale, she has always worked and I have, and we have never claimed anything before. I genuinly believe that even if she does claim benefits, she will find it difficult to obtain work if she discloses that she is pregnant, this will limit her chances.

She is still adamant she does not want to claim anything, and she sees red and literally lashes out at me (with violence) if I even broach the subject. Now I know that this stress isn't good for her, but neither is relying on her parents to support us, especially when we could be entitled to benefits if only she would swallow her pride and claim JSA. It would mean an extra £70, plus potentially £30 in child tax credit- and it may even entitle us to be entitled to other benefits when baby comes.

I am at my wits end, please can someone advise me? Am I out of order?

That £70 & £30 is per week and the JSA is contribution based

Jsac is paid for 26 weeks and doesn't take into account your income but it does not necessarily entitle you to other benefits as your income would still have to be taken into account for these.

Why don't you claim tax credits it doesn't have to be her that claims.

If you work, and she has been out of work for more than 6 months (which it sounds like), she will not get income support or JSA. If YOUR income is less than around £24k pa, you may as a couple be able to claim Tax Credits. If your income is over that, your household will not be able to claim anything other than Child Benefit.

You should be supporting your family with your income, surely? Your partner is working by looking after your child (soon to be children), why are you wanting your parents to support you? Surely that us what your wages are for?

If you are earning below £24k, then claim Tax Credits.

You say that you earn a decent wage, yet you also say that you rely on your/her parents to support your family? Surely your/her parents don't need to do this if you are earning a decent wage?

Why does she need to claim JSA? Do you not live together? I am not understanding why you think the state and your respective parents should support your family, rather that you and your partner, unless there are things you aren't explaining to us?

Ok. Are you aware that to get JSA, your wife would have to be available for, and actively seeking employment? That means, doing everything she can to look for a job? And if she didnt do enough, or turned down a job, the JSA would be stopped? Plus you need to consider whether she will even be eligible to get contributions based JSA as the benefit is based on the national insurance contributions she has paid in the last two tax years, anything earlier is disregarded, and you say she stopped working when your son was born? Due to your full time wage she couldn't claim income based JSA.

Claiming JSA would not entitle you to more tax credit, I'm not sure where you get this idea from?

Maternity benefits are statutory maternity pay, maternity allowance (if your wife has not worked in 2 years she would not be eligible for either), or she may be able to claim ESA for 8 weeks over the due date, but your options are limited. You won't qualify for any additional child benefit or tax credits until the baby is born.

It is much more difficult to get work if you are pregnant , employers are not supposed to discriminate on these grounds but they do. She may be able to find temporary work, but As you say, she doesn't seem to handle stress well and temping IS stressful.

She can't claim JSA as she is not available for/actively seeking work.

You probably can claim tax credits (including child tax credits) if you are working. There is no shame in that, it is claiming what you are entitled to.

When I say "decent" it is more than £24k but certainly less than £50k, we do live together, as for the support from her parents, they buy a lot of food each week. I/we have never claimed anything before so we are totally in the dark about what we are and what we aren't entitled to. Thanks for your advice ;-)

A good place to start would be entitledto.co.uk. I dislike the name of the website, but if you put in your household income, it will tell you roughly how much (if any) benefits or Tax Credits you can claim for.

I have to say, though, that an income of over £24k should not be that hard to manage with just two adults and one (soon to be two) DC's on the way, without parental help, if you claim Tax Credits if you need to.

I'm concerned also that you mention your partner being violent towards you when you disagree with her - that isn't right, you know. She is trying to get her own way by being violent.

It is just as wrong for a woman to be violent towards a man as it is for a man to be violent towards a woman. Both ways, it is still domestic violence.