I currently work 2 days a week from home, and there's a possibility of doing a 3 day a week consultancy post for another organisation for about six months on a self-employed basis. It's not worth giving up my current 2 day job for a SE job which although it will pay me more than double my annual wage, will only last six months. It will also interfere of course, with my tax credits and so overall although I'll be slightly better off, the travel and childcare costs alone will offset most of the extra income - to say nothing of the extra stress and having to work full time plus travelling into London and only seeing the kids for a couple of hours a day. But the job is fantastic and it would look on my CV, so if I do get offered it I sort of think I'd have to take it.
The complication is, if it went on for longer than six months, the nightmare of doing full time with the commute looms large, and I'd rather give up my 2 day a week job. However, what would happen once my 3 day a week assignment came to an end? Would I be allowed to go back on IS while looking for a new job, or would they say "bog off, you're self-employed, you'll have to make the money you earned last for the next 3 years before you'd be entitled to claim"?
Does anyone know?