JSA after maternity allowance

[tommy19]

My wife has finished her maternity and left her old job due to childcare costs etc. She was on maternity allowance as she didn't work/earn enough.

She has tried to claim jobseekers who have rejected her (see attached letter).

Is there anything that can be done? Do you not get class 1 NI credits for being on maternity allowance?

That's not entirely true, but obviously it depends on individual circumstances. I was entitled to contributions based JSA even when my DH was earning around £50k, as that doesn't take into account your partners income or your savings, but I wouldn't have been eligible for income based JSA

She can claim child benefit to claim the National Insurance credits while not working, I believe until child is 12
You can claim the NI & not claim the money
You can claim the NI & the money
Look for more info on www.gov.uk
The NI go towards her state pension & other benefits

You can check your individual NI record & state pension forecast on www.gov.uk too

Being realistic, there is a close to zero chance of her finding any job that allows her to work entirely flexibly around your changing shifts, such that no childcare is required. That’s almost entirely unrealistic so to all intents and purposes she isn’t job seeking because her requirements for what job she will take are not achievable. You can’t say you’re job seeking but then set a wish list which rules out basically all jobs.

With a partner earning £53k then sorry, she is a SAHM by choice as if she worked as well as you, I can’t see how you can’t afford childcare between you. You don’t just take the cost of childcare, deduct it from the woman’s salary alone and then conclude she can’t possibly work.

Not trying to be rude but I can’t really see how this is a benefits situation, never mind JSA! She has chosen to leave her job, surely now you as a couple work out how you will cover your joint household costs.

You can use tax free childcare to help a bit with the costs of childcare.

I think you might also consider whether you are being fair or realistic to your wife here. You don’t want her to be a SAHM. You don’t want any childcare costs. You want her to fit a job in around your job.

It sounds like she’s in a no win situation. Your household income is over £50k and she’s probably panicking because she can’t claim JSA after a period of maternity leave (so a very young child).

Yes there is help for her ie you. As a high earner I do not understand what the issue is. Your wife is a sahm and you pay the household bills.

Or you both work and cover the costs of childcare to accommodate that from the family income (using the tax free childcare subsidy available to you).

millions of people do this you know.

The millions of people point was for the OP, btw.

I think you might also consider whether you are being fair or realistic to your wife here. You don’t want her to be a SAHM. You don’t want any childcare costs. You want her to fit a job in around your job.

Absolutely this. I’m bemused as to why the OP consider that it’s the job of the tax payer to fund his wife being at home and not working so that he can continue to work an unpredictable pattern and earn over £50k, without having to spend any money on childcare for his child.

How about you look for a job that works with family life i.e. one with a regular shift pattern, then your wife can also work and you can share childcare costs between you. That’s how it works for the vast majority of working families. Either that or you accept you’re asking her to give up work to facilitate you being able to stay in your current job while also having a family, and you accept that that comes at a financial cost to yourself.

It’s frustrating as I earn too much for our family to get help but would actually be better off if I earned less!

I do pay back some child benefit on my self assessment form.

Thank you all for your help.

TBH she's best off not on JSA if she's going to find it hard to find a job that fits in around your shifts and looking after the children. They expect you to apply for x number of jobs and after a while they expect you to be applying door anything you can do rather than what suits you best.

Maybe you need to find a new job that has a pattern that will help her find a job. Or pay for childcare to enable her to work.

I'd get the child benefit set up so she is the one claiming it if you haven't already. So she can get the NI contributions.