Harassed by universal credit!

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Hi
I was just wondering if anyone else felt harassed by universal credit and how to deal with the situation.
so I have worked full time since 16 now 34. In 2020 my partner left and I had a baby (now 3) I have worked part time 8-10 hours a week since he was 9 months old.
recently he turned 3 and I have been non stop harassed by the job centre about getting 16 hours of work. I currently work 12 hours on a self employed basis but for a company. I have very limited child care only 1 day a week, going to 2 mornings and 1 full day in September when little one starts nursery. I don’t drive so need to stay local and also have no family to support with childcare. My sons dad is not involved in his life so I am literally on my own!
my question is how do you get the job centre off your back, they call me in 2-3 times a week and have done since my son was 9 months old. I feel like I’m doing everything I can right now to work but it’s never good enough and they are constantly on at me. Has anyone dealt with this before?
its making me so anxious! I literally don’t know how I can work more than I do without leaving my child home alone! (Obviously this isn’t an option)
Thanks in advance

Nannies are Ofsted registered.

I work for a lady who runs her own company basically but on a self employed basis (I think she doesn’t want to pay for employers, holidays and insurance ect) but it’s a job I found that worked around my son currently.

Hmm.. OP, I am not sure that you really are self employed. You might want to check:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-employment-status-for-tax

Yeah it’s the preschool he will be starting in September, he will then go up to the reception in September 2024 there’s only one school in my local area (I’m rural) and I don’t drive to be able to get him to the next village and local transport is every 2 hours so then won’t be able to get back in time for work and pick him up. It’s a nightmare! I’ve looked into moving but can’t afford to at this stage unfortunately

And a nanny share would around the same as nursery. Have you advertised/ checked local nanny group pages/ childcare.co.uk/ nanny agencies? Other families in your area must be doing something if there are no nursery places: you can't be the only parent of young children who needs to work?

Thank you. I am. I’ve checked with HMRC and got all relevant paper work and tax returns ect

I think that’s an achievement too , I wasn’t able to do it due to health reasons so I think anyone who can and does is amazing

Other option OP is to do what my friend does and get a side cart for a bike and then you can cycle with him to the village and back whenever you want, no limitation from bus times. Her kid loves it.

It makes me angry that people are forced to work with pre school children as single parents. It’s so unfair. The world has gone mad. When my youngest was preschool I did work 16 hours but only because my husband at the time was at home when I wasn’t. I might be old fashioned but I think children need their mother in the early years or at least a caregiver that actually loves them. I remember going to a neighbour as a child with my younger brothers and I hated it. Those that are bleating about taxpayers money should be more concerned with the money cascading from the coffers of the government due to corruption. For me the priority is the wellbeing of our children and making sure they feel secure and loved.

Why does that only apply to single parents? If you mean all mums with preschool age kids, it’s cloud cuckoo land unfortunately. We have no money for this and while some of it is due to corruption, even if we recouped that it would be nowhere near enough. We’re skint because we don’t have enough people of working age in work, they’re not about to make that problem worse.

I might have to! Haha it’s so difficult, I ideally would like to find someone he likes equally but at the moment there is literally no availability so I’m kind of stuck, it’s annoying because I do work and would be more than happy to do more hours.

Thank you for your support. I agree! My child is very nervous and has been since birth, possibly because of lock down and not being socialised but it does make it harder for him unfortunately. I’m hoping he will settle into his nursery place

It has a raincover and stuff for winter. And DC goes in there with a hot water bottle on cold mornings all snuggled up with a blanket! She collects one of my DC in it for playdates sometimes and it's always the highlight of her week! Also then you'd have no bus fares to pay. Could be a really easy solution to your problem, give you a lot more freedom in terms of work options etc. Are there more nurseries and childminders in the village if you could get him there and back easily?

When does your child become entitled to 30 free hours? Surely on UC your DC should have been in for 15 hours free between 2-3 too??

I guess all the children waiting for nursery hve taken the September places? I have no idea. But I’m on all waiting lists

It's not mad. Aged 3 children benefit a lot from being with their peers some of the week. Assuming that they sleep 12 hours ler night and spend 30 hours at nursery that leaves 54 hours per week of quality time with their parents which is a perfectly good balance.

I was confused at first but if you are self employed there is the MIF to consider. It is a pain in the arse..

My husband was affected by this as well and I regularly advocate for adults with learning disabilities who work self employed because it suits their disability but might not be able to reach the MIF.

Fortunately we no longer need to claim UC and I was glad to get rid of it..

Being called 2 -3 times a week is excessive though. I'd leave a note for the work coach and say you will speak to them once a week and that you are doing everything you can at the moment.

Many areas are struggling with childcare at the moment.

i agree. People then wonder why CAMHS has waiting lists so long once their dc get older …… there’s clearly something going wrong somewhere for so many children to be suffering with their mental health …

That’s lovely you’re offering to look after her child 💐

It’s so wrong they would harass you like that. They should be harassing the father that walked out. Isn’t it great how men are allowed just to waltz out and leave their kids but when it comes to women, MN brigade bash them if they’re not working 60 hours a week to support their husbands.

What a false equivalence. Of course it's appalling that fathers get to flounce off. That's why all women who care about women and children's rights should be campaigning for complete overhall of CMS: costs actually reflecting 50% of the cost of raising a child deducted at source like tax and significant penalties for non-payment (confiscation of passports, CCJs, imprisonment, etc). And for fair tax for single parents who are currently charged more than a couple with the same household income.

However, none of that means that single parents should also be able to opt out of half of parenting (providing for your child). Are you seriously suggesting the Government should start paying my mortgage and all of our living costs? Or would this support be only be for low income single parents, and those with higher financial commitments in mortgages etc would have to continue to work and pay even more tax to fund this? The support for those on low incomes with small children is very generous already. Some of us get no child benefit, no nursery funding at all until the children turn 3, and could only dream of having up to 85% of childcare paid for!

Move to where there are jobs/childcare.

Is there really nothing within an hour of you? Find 8am drop off nursery then any work within an hour of that starting at 9am.

I had 90 min commute including childcare when I had a toddler.

Yeah because it is so easy to pack up and to move 🙄

So as you’re not single and you work full time, I’m assuming your husband does 50% of all household chores and childcare when he’s home?
a single parent doesn’t have this luxury therefore is more likely to need to work part time whilst they’re young.
it’s your choice to choose to have a family and work on full time and pay large amounts in childcare. That doesn’t mean every mother should. And the last thing a young child needs when it’s father has walked out, is to also be without their mother, just to satisfy people like you.
she’s paid her taxes since she was 16, if she’s been put in an unfortunate position raising a baby alone for 3 years, the least she can expect is to be able to recoup a bit of the help when her and her child needs it most. And until the government change child maintenance rules, her child shouldn’t be expected to be chucked into a nursery at all hours as punishment to the crappy system. If you’ve never been a single mother then you have no idea how hard it is. Perhaps you’re able to work full time because you have a support network like your husband.

So as you’re not single and you work full time, I’m assuming your husband does 50% of all household chores and childcare when he’s home?
a single parent doesn’t have this luxury therefore is more likely to need to work part time whilst they’re young.
it’s your choice to choose to have a family and work on full time and pay large amounts in childcare. That doesn’t mean every mother should. And the last thing a young child needs when it’s father has walked out, is to also be without their mother, just to satisfy people like you.
she’s paid her taxes since she was 16, if she’s been put in an unfortunate position raising a baby alone for 3 years, the least she can expect is to be able to recoup a bit of the help when her and her child needs it most. And until the government change child maintenance rules, her child shouldn’t be expected to be chucked into a nursery at all hours as punishment to the crappy system. If you’ve never been a single mother then you have no idea how hard it is. Perhaps you’re able to work full time because you have a support network like your husband

"People like me"?! 🤣

Nope. Nobody does 50% of my household chores. I've been a lone parent since my two children - both of whom have SEN - were babies. I went back to work full time when they were 6 months old. I have no family help. My children have zero contact with my ex-husband. Why are you making things up? It's not a "choice" for me to work: I need to support my family!

What you paid in tax before is irrelevant. There are certain conditions attached to your claim and you aren't meeting them.