CHILDCARE TAX CREDIT QUESTION-

[mooshy]

Does anyone know how much a couple can earn to qualify for help with childcare costs.We have 3 in childcare, but i think we earn too much to qualify ??

The part that really confuses me is... they decide if you've been overpaid at the end of the year. But you're only eligibile for some benefits if you work at least 16, sometimes 30, hours/week. My hours & salary & child-care costs have fluctuated all year long, sometimes from week to week, certainly month to month. And the difference usually works out to at least £10/week as income or expense. Am I supposed to ring up every 2-3 weeks? And keep track of all hours I and DH have worked, what salary (had a small rise, due another) all childcare I've paid, week by week?! It's madness!

It's all crap. I think it's if there are changes across a 4 week period. the thing is no-one wants to belanded with a big "you owe us" at the end of the year. Zebra, have they struggled to deal with the fact that academic increments are in October and that pay awards come whenever the AUT caves in and then get backp-dated? I've had loads of funtrying to explain that one.

Aren't you voting to go out on strike, then?
I want to support the strike but don't want to be docked a day's pay. Will probably vote for it, anyway.

in a bit of a difficult situation. I'm pissed off with current set-up, mainly on DH'd behalf. Seems crazy that he's been 1ok a year less than some 55 year old who does no research, 10 hours a semester teaching and has no admi responsibilities. There are still too many lazy arseholes who get to a certain point then say "so sack me". They know that their salary won't go down and so on. Meanwhile people like DH are working their backsides off with no hope of promotion and withtheir pay not reflrcting the time put in....

sorry, lots of typos, feel very P'd off at the moment.

That is why I don't have a gut feeling against performance pay. But junior staff always get low salaries relative to the work they put in. A friend said to me "It's crazy, when you have young children you have to work like a dog to establish your career, and when your kids are grown up & unavailable you get paid a lot for doing bugger all."

Yeah, I think that's true, although I acn think of some senior staff who really do put the effort in. DH is a senior lecturer (pre-92 uni)but he won't get promoted. Annoying when he's got 10 papers that qualify for the RAE already (that's a lot in his field) and has 500 hours worth of teaching commitments, as well as all the admin. I've finally quit the research side of things and become an assistant registrar, I can truthfully say that the more senior staff (heads of divisions etc.) work much longer hours than many of their academic equivalents. I, though, have had to have 2 days off as DD is ill, so have achieved bugger all

I have one co-author who is a Prof (with young children!) and he works like a dog, too. 2nd co-author keeps sane hours (I'm grateful or I'd be the only one) and 3rd co-author works 60-70hr weeks for no apparent good reason. But some academics definitely don't care any more, and the pressure is all on when the kids are little, alas.

Zebra, but does the prof's wife have an equivalent job? IME the blokes that have families but in crazy hours tend to have wives who are sahms or who do equivalent jobs and can afford the nannies etc. DH finds it hard because although my hours are more regular than his, he still has to do his bit, e.g. pick DD up from school, take turns for hospital appointments. I do tend to do more 2home stuff" but he doesn't have the freedom to stay in the lab for hours that some of his collaboraters do.

I'm still convinced that lots of academics use work to cover up their appalling personal lives though

I think the cut off point is something like £55000 or threabouts. Hope that helps. If you go to the inland revenue website www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk you can go through a 'what can I claim' section to see if you would get anything. If you can, then you can apply online. They are really quick with sorting things out and I found the people on the helpline really freindly and helpful as well. Good luck.

Only popped into this thread to find GillW's link --
the prof I work for does have SAHW, but is constantly bemoaning the fact he doesn't see enough of his kids, ML; not all academics like being workaholics!

I quit last academic job partly because both the hours & the boss weren't supportive of me having a family life.