Single Mum on IS, how much can I earn?

[debs626]

Hi and thanks for looking in.

I might be doing a spot of baby sitting while a freind goes back to work. Its only for about 3/4 of an hr per day and she has agreed to pay me £20 per week. I have heard this and not seen it in writing yet

" if your a single parent bringing a child up on Income Support to can earn up to £20 per week without any money been taken from your benefit"

Is this true ??

Also mums going back to work can claim money towards child care, does this have to be with a registered child minder or just a relative or freind ???

Any info would be greatly appreciated. Trid looking on the DSS site but was so confused I didnt know where to start looking.

Thanks in advance

Debs

[Ted_Hutchinson]

From A guide to Income Support (IS20 Apr 2004)

Normal disregards
In most cases the first £5.00 of your earnings from part-time work is ignored in the Income Support calculation. For couples, the first £10.00 is ignored.
Higher disregards
For some people there is a higher earnings disregard. In the following cases the first £20.00 of your and your partners joint earnings are ignored:
if you are a lone parent
if you get a disability premium (or you would get it if you were not an in-patient or living in a care home)
If you were getting the higher disregard because you had the disability premium, and started to get the Higher Pensioner Premium from your partners 60th birthday, you will get the higher disregard if your employment and Income Support have continued since that date.
If you are a carer and either you or your partner receive the carer premium because of this, you may also get the higher disregard of £20.00.

[Ted_Hutchinson]

If you are thinking of the support with Childcare costs provided by Working Families Tax credit you may find this relevant from Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit - A Guide May 2003
You may be able to get more Working Tax Credit to help with the cost of registered or approved child care. This is the child care element of Working Tax Credit. The child care element can help with up to 70% of your child care costs up to a maximum cost of £135 a week for one child and £200 a week for two or more children.
This means that the child care element is worth up to an extra !£94.50 a week (£135 x 70%) for families with one child, and
£140 a week (£200 x 70%) for families with two or more children.
The amount you receive will depend on your income and will be paid directly to the main carer.
To claim the child care element you must be over 16 and
if you are a lone parent, you must work 16 hours a week or more, or
if you are in a couple
both of you must work 16 hours a week or more, or
one partner must work 16 hours a week or more and the other partner must be incapacitated, or
an in-patient in hospital, or
in prison (whether serving a custodial sentence or remanded in custody awaiting trial or sentence).

The child care must be provided by one of the following
registered childminders, nurseries and playschemes
out-of-hours clubs on school premises run by a school or a local authority
child care schemes run by school governing bodies under the extended schools scheme
child care schemes run by approved providers, for example, an out-of-school-hours scheme or a provider approved under a Ministry of Defence Accreditation schemein England only, child care provided in your own home !by a person approved to care for your child or children
in England only, child care provided in your own home by a domiciliary worker or nurse from a registered agency who cares for the child or children
in Scotland only, child care provided in your own home by (or introduced through) child care agencies, including sitter services and nanny agencies, which are required to be registered.
You cannot !claim for the costs of child care provided in your own home if the person approved to provide that child care is a relative of your child. Relative means a parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle, brother or sister (whether by blood, half-blood, marriage or affinity), and includes step-parents.

You may however be thinking about Surestart provisions in which case the information is here
Surestart Website

[debs626]

Thanks Ted, some usefull info there that has answered my questions

Thank You !!!

[rushnowt]

Hiya Debs,

dont know if this is any use to u but if it is not financially viable for u to work and get paid due to any money taken from your IS, why dont u ask her to help u in some other way, buy u a bit of shopping, nappies, etc anything that may be of use to you, i cant see that this would be breaking the law in any way.

Good luck.

[Ted_Hutchinson]

Hiya Debs,

dont know if this is any use to u but if it is not financially viable for u to work and get paid due to any money taken from your IS, why dont u ask her to help u in some other way, buy u a bit of shopping, nappies, etc anything that may be of use to you, i cant see that this would be breaking the law in any way.

I should perhaps have included the paragraph before the one I quoted from the Income Support guide linked to initially.
For anyone worrying about the legality of rushnowt's suggestion the relevant section is

Earnings consist of all wages and profits from employment, including bonuses, commissions, fees, retainers and attendance allowances.
Payments in kind, like cigarettes and luncheon vouchers, for example, do not count as earnings, but non-cash vouchers which are liable for Class 1 NI contributions, do count. The amount of your earnings that are not counted are in addition to any disregards on other types of income that you have.

For obvious health reasons I don't recommend cigarettes as a sensible alternative to cash.

[debs626]

Thanks for the info. I have worked out that I can earn upto £20 per week, if I get anymore then the IS ppl will take it from my benefit, which is a pain in the B side. So as long as I keep my earnings below that amount I should be ok. Its only 3 hrs per week so even if she pays me the minimum wage I will still be under the £20.

Once again THANKS.

[Cybachiq]

All the above is correct as far as I can see. If you are a lone parent they let you earn £20 before they deduct anything from your benefit.

I'm having a bit of a 'mare at the moment. I started a new job at the weekend behind the bar in the new club which has opened up in town. I did 11 hours, which is below the maximum 16 Income Support allow you to work. However, since my hourly rate is £6.55, and I earned £72.05 over the weekend doing 11 hours, even with the £20 lone parent deduction it still leaves me with £52.05 with reference to my IS. I only get £45.91 IS per week, so I am £6.14 over. I phoned the Jobcentre this morning to inform them of my change of circumstances and the girl on the phone said that I'd not be getting any IS. I said that I understood why (I mean, c'mon, it's basic maths!) but asked whether that would mean that I technically do not get IS any more. She said that it did. This leaves me in a bit of a sticky situation. I'm not working enough hours to qualify for Working Tax Credit, but I am earning too much to receive IS. Who decided that there must be this large gap in the benefits system? Sure, they say, single mothers, go out and get yourself a part-time job. So, you do, and then they penalise you for it.
I am worried now that this will affect my Housing and Council Tax Benefits. Not to mention the fact that I have just declared myself bankrupt - this changes all my financial circumstances - all over the matter of £6.14.

I have contacted my employer this morning to ask whether I can do 2 less hours a week; that way, I still can receive my IS (okay, not a lot, but I'll still be getting something). I am currently waiting to hear back from her.