Childcare, odd situation help needed please

BernadetteN

Sorry I can't give any helpful suggestions. You have proved how unfair the WTC system is on couples when one "does not" work, how you are not allowed to claim for childcare costs. If however you lived apart, you could claim the childcare costs (there are many thousands of families now doing this to gain more WTC but it's an extreme thing to do). I don't understand really why the govenment thinks parents who live apart have any more reason to need childcare costs than families who live together - I know of several instances of separated parents who share care in the same way as parents who live together.

I am on unpaid maternity leave at the moment and as we receive no childcare element in our tax credits (as I am not working so we cannot claim it), I decided to work from home as a childminder to pay for my 4 year old daughter's nursery - we have no state nurseries or any pre-schools nearby so our only option is a private nursery where we have to pay top-up fees.

You have just proved also how unfair the benefits system can be for students who cannot claim WTC as they are not classed as working, unless they work in addition to their studies.

I hope it gets better when your daughter starts school.

Bernadette

MSc graduate in AI from University of Edinburgh a lifetime ago.