17 and pregnant - entitled to any benefits?

My neice has just found out that she's pregnant. She is 17 and attends college and gets the ema grant. She lives at home with her parents who are on benefits. Will she be entitled to any benefits when she has the baby. She intends to keep going to college.

Thanks in advance for any help
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Comments

  • smellybeki
    smellybeki Posts: 101 Forumite
    when i was preg with my first back in 2002,i still lived at home with parents and was entitled to income support when bubs was born.also got the surestart maternity grant (was 500 then) midwife will have a form for this.
    does she work? if so if she doesnt qualify for maternity pay through her boss she should get statutary maternity pay.
    maybe pop down to local benefits office and see what they say
  • smellybeki wrote: »
    when i was preg with my first back in 2002,i still lived at home with parents and was entitled to income support when bubs was born.also got the surestart maternity grant (was 500 then) midwife will have a form for this.
    does she work? if so if she doesnt qualify for maternity pay through her boss she should get statutary maternity pay.
    maybe pop down to local benefits office and see what they say

    If someone doesnt work they are not entitled to statutory maternity pay but maternity allowance but they will only receive maternity allowance if they have worked 13 weeks in the last 65 weeks( or thereabouts).other than that if they dont qualify for either they will need to seek guidance from the job centre who will be able to advise.( i didnt work long enough for my employer so wasnt entitled to SMP but got maternity allowance as i had worked 13 weeks out of 65 weeks).
  • rammy007
    rammy007 Posts: 1,050
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  • jul22
    jul22 Posts: 40 Forumite
    She may be entitled to Income Support within 11 weeks of her due date providing no one is receiving Child Benefit & Child Tax Credit for her.
    I'm not sure if she could receive it whilst attending college though - my brain isn't working this morning!!
    If/when she makes her claim for IS if she provides her MatB1 (which should be provided by her Midwife to confirm pregnancy) then her claim will go through smoothly (in theory!) and she should receive any money she may be entitled to considerably earlier! The rate for U18's is about £45 per week.
  • Sally87
    Sally87 Posts: 54 Forumite
    I was 17 when I got pregnant with my son and I had to go on benefits - I claimed JSA until I was 29 weeks, then went onto Income Support. This was very low to begin with, but went up a bit when I turned 18 a month before I had the baby. I also got the Sure Start Maternity Grant (I think you can claim from 29 weeks until 3 months after the baby is born, and you can claim as long as you're over 16), which is £500 and was a godsend. Also had the milk tokens while pregnant.

    Good luck to your niece.

    EDIT - I just noticed the bit about her parents being on benefits - in that case, as she is under 18 and in full-time education, they are probably claiming for her as a child (child benefit for example can be payed up till the child is 16, or 18 if in education). If that is the case, I'm not sure if she'd actually be able to claim anything. Probably best for her to go to the CAB and find out.
  • mummytofour
    mummytofour Posts: 2,636 Forumite
    I dont think you can get IS and EMA. I got ALG last yr which is the grow-up version of EMA and I was not allowed to claim IS ( not that I needed too!).
    Debt free and plan on staying that way!!!!
  • DreamerV
    DreamerV Posts: 823
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    If her parents get tax credits for her, they can add her baby (when born) onto their award, or alternatively her parents can take her off their award, and she can claim tax credits for her baby in her own right (even if she lives with them still). You only need to be 16+ to claim tax credits if you have a child with you.
  • Gemmzie
    Gemmzie Posts: 14,876 Forumite
    I dont think you can get IS and EMA. I got ALG last yr which is the grow-up version of EMA and I was not allowed to claim IS ( not that I needed too!).

    Yeah you can if you're estranged from your parents. Living alone with your baby counts as estrangement in most cases.
    ALG is different, not really sure why. Probably because a 16-19 year old is more vulnerable.
    No longer using this account for new posts from 2013
  • Hi everyone,
    I am 18 and my partner is 17, We live together at my parents home, I have been on Jobseeker's Allowance for 8 Months having left my Job earlier in the year, However my partner is not receiving any money from anywhere, We went to the Jobcentre before we found out that she was expecting and they said that she is not entitled to Income Support of JSA because her mum can still claim Child Benefit for her until the Extension period ends, However this ends on 13.12.10 and after this she would be getting no money at all, just the single JSA payment that I get every 2 weeks, Now that she is pregnant and her mother will soon be not receiving and money for her, is there any benefits that she may be entitled to?
    We know that she can go on Income Support once she reaches 29 weeks of pregnancy, but other than that we don't know anything else, would be grateful for any advice, if you're going to comment and be rude - save yourself the effort.
  • tomitma
    tomitma Posts: 390 Forumite
    c.warren44 wrote: »
    Hi everyone,
    I am 18 and my partner is 17, We live together at my parents home, I have been on Jobseeker's Allowance for 8 Months having left my Job earlier in the year, However my partner is not receiving any money from anywhere, We went to the Jobcentre before we found out that she was expecting and they said that she is not entitled to Income Support of JSA because her mum can still claim Child Benefit for her until the Extension period ends, However this ends on 13.12.10 and after this she would be getting no money at all, just the single JSA payment that I get every 2 weeks, Now that she is pregnant and her mother will soon be not receiving and money for her, is there any benefits that she may be entitled to?
    We know that she can go on Income Support once she reaches 29 weeks of pregnancy, but other than that we don't know anything else, would be grateful for any advice, if you're going to comment and be rude - save yourself the effort.


    Grow up, and show you are old enough to support anyone having a baby, by getting a JOB. and stop being so RUDE.,
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