Leaving work/ getting benefits

[justdeeeee]

Hi,

Just looking for some advice please.

Both me and my OH work full time, claim no benefits, LO is in full time with the childminder/pre-school. We've always been really tight with money, and it's now gotten to the point we are seriously considering the potential of me leaving work.

We've used the benefits calculators and sadly it works out as about £400 better off if I was not working and claiming benefits instead.

As far as I am aware you can't just quit your job and start claiming benefits?

How do other mums deal with this?

I would love nothing more than to get to spend everyday with my LO, I feel like I miss out on so much time with her.

Obviously we can't just quit willy nilly and hope for the best- we barely make it through living paycheck to paycheck and it's getting embarrassing repeatedly asking family for financial help.

So basically I'd like advice from mums who have chosen to leave work and then had to claim benefits.

Did you have to wait before claiming?

Saving up so that I can leave if that is the case is not an option, we really do struggle every month.

Please help, we're so stressed out.

You're not entitled to any. You're not sick and you're not looking for work. HTH.

My DH does 50 hours a week. I don't work and I am nearly 36 weeks pregnant.
Guess what we're entitled to? nothing!

Guess what you're entitled to do?
NOT PLAY THE SYSTEM

So I'm assuming you don't get any tax credits. Do you have a mortgage? Shouldn't you be getting the free 30 hrs of childcare by now?

Katescurios-

Yes and sadly the 30 hours free childcare doesn't help out much. Paying childminder 480 as of September, plus £72pw for preschool, claiming 22 hours pw with childminder which has reduced costs from the 780 to 490. Plus £288pm and we're still paying 708pm for childcare. Only saving £72pm but that will be a real help for us.

Shotsfired- I have a basic admin job, other half works in pensions ect. Both earn above minimum wage which is why I find it shocking to watch people unemployed with disposable income.

We privately rent our own 1 bed, gave my LO the bedroom as she doesn't sleep if not on her own- so we've been 'camping' in the front room on the airbed-2 years and counting now- was only ever supposed to be short term..

Its one year, you've managed this long sp why not carry on? As you say once she is in school things will get better. You can't quit a job and claim benefits anyway as you will be classed as voluntarily unemployed.

And as for him moving out and you pretending to be a single parent, you get that this is fraud right? How much time will you spend wirh your child once you get a six month prison sentence?!

This doesn't sound right at all. If you are both earning above the mw then you shouldn't be this skint.
Are you getting tax credits and child benefit?

So I'm assuming if you left your job you'd have 0 childcare costs, and would then be entitled to tax credits and housing benefit? Well eventually. I'd say do it, or find a part time job. You've paid your taxes and it's only for a year until dc starts school?

Yes, I do what's best for my family, but that has meant working ever since my eldest was 5 months old, not relying on benefits. And yes, things were tight in those early days, with no help for childcare then, either.

Relying on benefits is risky. You'd be forced to seek work. They may get stopped or severely cut.

Don't give up your own source of income without being married OP. You leave yourself extremely vulnerable in the event of separation. Protect yourself by remaining financially self-sufficient.

Could you and/or he find a better paid job? Or one with a shorter and cheaper commute?

You work for a small company which means they're not tied to "pay scales". If they knew that you were considering quitting for financial reasons, they might offer you a pay rise in order to keep you. Could you negotiate an extra £50 a month?

Pretending to split up is an enormous risk. It's fraud. I'd advise caution.

I think you need to reassess tour childcare arrangements, the costs you have detailed above make no sense

"sadly the 30 hours free childcare doesn't help out much. Paying childminder 480 as of September, plus £72pw for preschool, claiming 22 hours pw with childminder which has reduced costs from the 780 to 490. Plus £288pm and we're still paying 708pm for childcare. Only saving £72pm but that will be a real help for us."

Assuming 10hr days, 5 days a week you would be paying for either 20 hrs a week or 27.5 hrs if you've chosen to spread the hrs across the year. So you are paying at least £6 an hour for childcare which is really high, I pay £4.20 per hour for the hours not funded.

I think you need to look around for other childcare provision.

yes OP you cant just quit work and rely on benefits anyway, theres thread after thread about people near death who are being forced to find work and go for meetings at Jobcentre etc to tell them how many jobs they have applied for and on and on and on so you'd be absolutely no different.

Im pretty sure you'd be sanctioned (right terminology?) for willingly leaving your job, and then they'd just hand you a list of jobs and tell you that you HAVE to apply for them to keep any benefits you may get (and the JC do check if people have applied and apply sanctions if the claimant has lied or not applied - Ive had a few calls in my time from extremely angry jobseekers pissed off that ive dobbed them in to the JC when asked "Has this applicant applied for X job" and Ive said No, they havent)

I think op is saying she would be able to claim tax credits not any out of work benefits.
I would do it op. Then look at getting an evening job till your dc is at school.

Oh yes, forgot, op wants to say shes a single parent and yet still have her OH at home.

Brilliant

You definitely need to reassess your childcare! So 22 hours for 50 weeks is how you're spreading it rather than term time only. This essentially would get you two free days a week at my nursery. Other days would be £38 so £114 a week. You are essentially paying for both childminder and pre-school and that needs to change if money is tight.

Oh well, seems like my DH will see even less of our children while picking up the tab for you

Not once did I say I wanted to pretend I was a single parent-

I stated that one of our ‘options’ to stay legit- was to effectively break up. He wouldn’t be living with me if this happened.

If you have nothing useful to contribute then please don’t…

I get that this is quite a controversial topic but I wouldn’t be posting if I didn’t want advice…

DancesWithOtters- That is what we’ve done the past year or so. Moved through 3 different jobs- had to leave the 2nd because travel expenses of £14 pw made working not worth it. Now at a job that pays the same but with no travel expenses whatsoever.

Lauralou69- exactly, it’s the childcare costs that are our biggest bill.

JustMumNowNotMe- I don’t think we can make it through another year. CCs maxed out ect, and borrowing from family for another year isn’t an option.

fairgame84– child benefit yes- been told we’re not entitled to tax credits atm

Thank you for all the helpful advice- those being not so helpful I also appreciate your opinions too J

I think I need to try to find a part time job that fits in around preschool- then maybe drop the childminder altogether.

Whatever happens I don’t think we can continue like this for much longer.

OH is at the end of his tether, I’m at the end of mine, if we keep going like this then we genuinely won’t be together anyway- in that situation I would have no choice but to leave work as he does all the drop offs and pick ups with childcare. So would the angrier opinions change in that circumstance?

I now recieve almost the same amount of tax credits working half the hours i used to so paying half the childcare costs! Sometimes its just financially viable for both parents to work full time

*just not

It would be very very very foolish to quit a stable job (not some shite zero hours one) to rely on benefits, especially when unmarried. This government will ramrod through Universal Credit, you may already be in a UC area. And then you will be 100% fucked. Check with your council if you can apply for Housing Benefit/LHA, you may be eligible for some. But quitting your job and assuming, because all those online calculators are not guarantees, that you'll be quid's in on benefits, is literally risking the roof over your heads.

Sounds like debt is sucking up money you don't have. Time to get on some type of repayment plan. Or look at other jobs that allow you to swap shifts so you don't have childcare to pay for.

Doing what's best for your family doesn't include jacking it all in for money that probably isn't going to be forthcoming.

Hugepeppapigfan-

Yes sadly we are paying for childminder and pre-school- childminder charges for a full time slot as she will be doing all the pick ups and drop offs at pre-school.

Need to get rid of one but finding a childminder in the area is a nightmare- we had a horrific experience with our last childminder- and very very unwilling to put LO through the possibility of that happening again. Obviously if we got rid of childminder then I wouldn’t be working…back to square 1…

She’s just about to start pre-school so I really don’t want to take that away from her- shes so excited!

So any mums on here who’ve actually left work or moved from full time to part time? Would be good to hear some stories from people who have actually been in similar situations…

'I now recieve almost the same amount of tax credits working half the hours i used to so paying half the childcare costs! Sometimes its just financially viable for both parents to work full time'

And the thing about those tax credits is that they are unreliable! Next year, you could get a lovely letter from them, 'Oops, we overpaid you! You are due us 6k+ and all the money will be cut off, from now.' They can come after you years later, too, there's no time bar for HMRC. Then your life will go to shit. That's why it's utter foolery to rely on any benefits unless you have to.

'So any mums on here who’ve actually left work or moved from full time to part time? Would be good to hear some stories from people who have actually been in similar situations…'

To rely on benefits? So they can give women and people in general more bad press and bad name?

The whole problem with it is that you are utterly reliant and beholden to a government that sees people like you as scroungers taking handouts when they are fully capable of working. You really think that's best for your family? You go that way and when your LL serves you notice you're going to have lots of fun finding another LL who wants to let a place to a family with two people sitting at home all the time and in receipt of benefits.

But hey, you're still looking for 'mums' who play the system.

I stated that one of our ‘options’ to stay legit- was to effectively break up. He wouldn’t be living with me if this happened.

So basically you want to cheat the system.

If you have nothing useful to contribute then please don’t

Maybe don't talk about deliberately playing the system. Talk about breaking up with your OH to get more etc.

You can't dictate who posts either.

HTH

Seriously? Why not try your hardest to look for a better job like most of us do? Apply for grants for training etc.?I'm paying off several student loans to do my job, been working since 16 and over 1/3 of my salary is tax. And you're contemplating "breaking up with your partner" to do this as well?