New parents-going back to work.

[balbyrover]

Me and my partner had our first child back in July,All has been fine up until the reality that she is due back at work in March.

Now we both normally work full time, at the moment obviously she is on maternity leave. I earn a basic salary of 16k plus commision which probably takes me up to about 1400-1500 take home a month.

My partner wants to go back to work but it's not really a option at the moment due to nobody nearby to look after our child and she doesn't drive so it would literally be her working to cover childcare and travel costs.

The issue we have is that we are going to be skint unless we come to some sort of solution, she is looking for work closer to home and more reasonable hours but as of yet hasn't found anything.

I probably earn 1400 pound a month, after next month she won't be getting a penny so that will be our only income. Our bills total around 1600 so we are going to be a bit short.

Now my question is, if she was to stay at home and watch our 7 month old baby surely we aren't expected to live off just my wage?
What would we be entitled to claim? And if the answer is nothing then how do people get by??

It's really stressing me out with panic about money and how we will get by etc. P.S I will also say we aren't spongers and both work full time and have done since we were old enough too.
We dont want to claim single and we do want to be completely legitimate, I am in the process of accepting a job on £22,396 salary in the next 3 months or so but surely we are entitled to more than that as our bills alone total more than that.

Sorry about how long winded this post is. Thanks to anybody who takes the time to read it and reply also!!

Regards
A stressed out partner and dad!!

[Filo]

Tax credits?

[balbyrover]

Tax credits?

I'll be honest I have no idea what the criteria is. Tried looking online to no avail.

If my partner leaves her job in February at the 9 month maternity end will she have to wait 6 months to claim?

My partner seems to think we're entitled to nothing but the £20 a week for milk etc that we already get. Admittedly it would not suprise me but i just don't understand how people legitimately get by when only one parent can work?

[BillyStubbsTears]

Balby

I THINK, tax credits for you have been replaced by Universal Credit.

You can make a claim here.
https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit/eligibility

Here’s an online calculator for you to estimate if you’re eligible and how much you might get.

https://benefits-calculator.turn2us.org.uk/AboutYou?utm_source=BAdviser&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=GovUK

Good luck with it. I hope you can get the help you deserve.

[Nudga]

You're entitled to child tax credits and you might be entitled to child care allowance.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Unfortunately not on the child tax credits Nudga. Not for a new application. It’s been replaced by IDS’s horror show of Universal Credit.

https://www.gov.uk/child-tax-credit/new-claim

[balbyrover]

Sorry for all confusion and questions but what exactly is universal credit??

[BillyStubbsTears]

Universal credit is a benefit payment that is intended to replace a series of different benefits that existed before (working tax credit, child tax credits, housing benefit etc). I’ve never looked into it so I don’t know how hard it is to claim, or how generous it is. Use those two links I posted and see if you can make sense of it.

[bobjimwilly]

you will definitely be entitled to something on £16k basic, if your mrs were to stay at home. Don't just look at official online guidance though, as that gives the impression you have to go on last years household income i.e. before your child was born, when you can fill out the forms using this tax-years income - apply for the forms now and read the guidance that comes with the actual forms.

[RoversAlias]

I just started claiming Universal Credit due to ill health, it is like a catch-all benefit that has replaced many others including Jobseekers, Income Support (I think), ESA etc. I made a claim online that was fairly straight-forward, got an appointment within a few weeks and after that got assigned a case worker who manages my claim in relation to my capability per my GP. So far I have found it pretty simple but I know I am not the example for everyone, many stories of a negative nature have been out in the world for months regarding Universal Credit.

[IDM]

Try Citizens Advice??

[hoolahoop]

you will definitely be entitled to something on £16k basic, if your mrs were to stay at home. Don't just look at official online guidance though, as that gives the impression you have to go on last years household income i.e. before your child was born, when you can fill out the forms using this tax-years income - apply for the forms now and read the guidance that comes with the actual forms.

Excellent advice about which tax year they take into account and as long as you share your details completely and honestly as you did with us ; then I'm sure you will get the right help.

The advice about the tax year to be used ie the current one rather than previous one's occurred with me when my daughter claimed for her student finance ( slightly different i know ) but she received the minimum help because I had taken out some pension money out of my pot giving the appearance that I was earning nearly 80k p.a. each year . Of course that was an anomaly and she received the highest rate of maintenance fee when recalculated.

It's refreshing to see someone who feels they can share so much as you have with other forum members and I wish all 3 of you the best in life. You were right to use this forum for help as there are many people on here with excellent skills who are always available and ready to give advice or encouragement to others in every field.

Please enjoy every moment with your 7 month old because it flies past - we currently have 2 new babies in our family and its made our Christmas almost perfect.
Take care lad and the best of luck trying to sort out your claim . Chances are that you will find the same help as you did here with your local job centre too given the way you come across with us.

[hoolahoop]

Universal credit is a benefit payment that is intended to replace a series of different benefits that existed before (working tax credit, child tax credits, housing benefit etc). I’ve never looked into it so I don’t know how hard it is to claim, or how generous it is. Use those two links I posted and see if you can make sense of it.

It's a scheme to deprive some families that need help from receiving the actual money they need to get by . Ian Duncan- Smith will always be remembered for this daft idea that tries to minimise and simplify a household's income and paying them as if they were in work - it has it's strengths in that the theory is fine but the execution or implementation of it has been an unmitigated  disaster leaving many households not only short on income once revised but with long waiting times for payment. When it is rolled out completely in each  town cue the necessary food bank accompanying it.

Talking of food banks well done to the lads standing outside collecting items outside the KM before kick off at home games - an excellent idea from our community club . Do you take money as well as goods if people forget - perhaps someone on here knows ?

[bobjimwilly]

Talking of food banks well done to the lads standing outside collecting items outside the KM before kick off at home games - an excellent idea from our community club . Do you take money as well as goods if people forget - perhaps someone on here knows ?

Martin O'Hara helped organise the foodbank, but I know they do take donations as well as food.

[jucyberry]

Sorry for all confusion and questions but what exactly is universal credit??

Short answer? Universal credit is a device designed by wealthy twunts to make decent people suffer for the edification of the more rabid daily heil reader.

[jucyberry]

Long answer, it's one of the most badly thought out of all the tory schemes designed to save money that is in fact costing billions more than they ever factored for. It takes away any vestige of security for those already struggling.

One thing in your question makes me really sad though. You say you and your lady aren't spongers.. Does this mean before your circumstances changed you believed people claiming social security were spongers?

Because as you have found out, life has a way of changing, for you in a most wonderful way.... but for many life changes through not so wonderful ways.. Does that make them spongers?

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

The idea though is good. Application?
 Awful.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Tim Montgomerie who used to run the Conservative Home website summed it up a few years ago.

He said that under Thatcher, the Tories had a reputation for being competent heartless bas**rds. Whereas under Cameron, they were looking like incompetent heartless bas**rds.

Cameron looks like a model of caring competence compared to May. She can’t even run her own reshuffle without f**king it up.

http://m.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/patrick-mcloughlin-sacked_uk_5a5341ffe4b003133ec9bc53?9go&utm_hp_ref=uk-homepage

[Ldr]

There is not a single polititician or party I could vote for at the moment.

Tories - Laughable and out of touch                 
Labour - Old revolutionaries pipe dream
Lib Dem - not worth comment

[balbyrover]

Long answer, it's one of the most badly thought out of all the tory schemes designed to save money that is in fact costing billions more than they ever factored for. It takes away any vestige of security for those already struggling.

One thing in your question makes me really sad though. You say you and your lady aren't spongers.. Does this mean before your circumstances changed you believed people claiming social security were spongers?

Because as you have found out, life has a way of changing, for you in a most wonderful way.... but for many life changes through not so wonderful ways.. Does that make them spongers?

No is the answer to your question Jucy.
I felt the need to say it purely because you normally get some sarcastic larry with a smarmy comment. 

The term spongers I was referring to people who can work but won't work and simply try to claim as much we possible.

[jucyberry]

Thanks for replying BR, it doesn't seem possible that your little one is six months already. It's a phrase that always sets my hackles on edge maybe because as you say, people judge without knowing..... As for UC, get ready for everything to become so much harder.. May has just put the uber bitch McVey in charge of the DWP.

[bpoolrover]

Juicy why do you think universal credits is a bad idea? The time it took some people to get it was ridiculous but do you not think in the end it is far better than the old system?

[jucyberry]

Why? Because it is so badly designed for one thing. We have a government that is obsessed with sanctions..before UC it was bad enough but at least a person's rent was covered. Now, by lumping housing benefit in with the other benefits on UC, you lose everything..... So many people are losing their homes and not just private tenants. If you were a landlord reliant on the rent to pay your morgage as many are you cannot afford a three month hit to the payments.. All you can do is evict that tenant...

Then you have sanctions themselves.. Remember UC isn't only for the unemployed or people on esa, it also takes the place of working tax credits.

As part of your obligation as a working claimant you will be expected to job search because obviously your job no matter how hard you work isn't good enough..


If you fail to search you could be sanctioned.

If you don't go in for the interviews you are bound to attend you could be sanctioned..

And remember, if you get a rent rebate and are sanctioned you could lose your home... So, you could work and still lose your security.

You mustn't make yourself unavailable and must be at their beck and call. I have read about people getting into trouble for going on holiday.. Because even that has changed.
So that holiday you have worked for and scrimped and saved for could be your undoing too.

People on tax credits aren't going to be salaried workers, this is another area that is causing terrible hardship. For the months that are five weekly can put the claimant over the limit and so the UC is stopped. So once again hardship and suffering..

Not to mention the government's wonderful advice for claimants facing being moved over to UC... Save enough out of your existing benefits so you don't suffer hardship in the weeks it takes to sort your claim out.

Now, considering you are given the very lowest amount the government thinks you can exist on, where are the savings supposed to come from?

It stinks, the whole system is designed not to help but to hinder in my honest opinion.

[bpoolrover]

The problem is tax credits don't work either, I was in it for awhile got nearly as much money on them than working! I think it's easy to blame the government but there are many many people who take advantage of this and ruin it for the genuine people
D