Am I entitled to anything

Spikyhercules

Hi I'm posting this on behalf of my girlfriend. She is aged 22, has no children, no debts, works 28hrs/wk on minimum wage & after tax brings home around £130/wk. She has a 1 bedroom council flat that she pays £56 per week for.

Along with all other living expenses such as Council tax, gas, electric, water, food shopping she hasn't a penny left from her wages. I'm having to pay her electric and water bill at the minute because she just can't afford it. She's been told all she can claim is single persons living allowance. Is there any help out there for her or does she have to rather have a child or wait until she's 25 and can claim working tax credit? - She's actually started to consider packing her job in and going on to benefits as she would be better off it's that bad.

OrkneyStar

Have you tried entitledto.co.uk ?
If she 'packs her job in' then she won't automatically get benefits as she'd have to have good reason to leave. Also in this climate would she want to be so rash as what are her chances of being employed again ?
Can she try to increase her hours or get another part time job, or does she have a valid reason not to at least try to work full time ?
Having a child will not solve finances either .

Spikyhercules

We live on a council estate and all we see every day is people who don't work and have kids getting everything and my GF who is a care assistant currently working on her NVQ3 can get nothing. I tried entitledto.co.uk and it says she can get £2.70 housing benefit & a little bit of council tax knocked off - Thats of no use to her. As faw as I can see It's all to do with her age and having no dependants but I thought there would be some sort of working tax she could claim or some benefit to top up her wages.

OrkneyStar

Spiky, if I may call you that, I am not saying it is right the way the benefits system favours certain people/situations, but at the moment that is the reality (if you want to have a discussion about rights/wrongs then join Discussion Time in the Money Savers Arms!. Even if she got a little help with rent/Council Tax it would be something- does she live alone ? If so make sure she is getting her 25% single person discount!
She does work less than standard full time hours, and even though I am sure she works very hard, is there no way she could get even a few more hours ?
Will she earn more once she gets her qualification ? If so then see this as a temporary blip.
Also in terms of spending...have you looked at the Old Style board as they have loads of tips for eating ridiculously cheaply and streeeeeeettttccching food!
I am sure she appreciates your help, financial and otherwise, can you keep helping her for a bit or is this not possible ?
Good luck.

seven-day-weekend

To be honest, and please don't take this the wrong way, there are many people who have nothing left after paying their bills. It's the way of the world.

Has she get the single persons discount on her Council Tax? Other than the Benefits you mention, that is all I can think of.

Spikyhercules

she does live alone and is getting the single persons discount. As for her working more hours her employers won't do it, if she stays at the workplace she is now once she gets her NVQ3 there will be no difference in wages. Most caring jobs even if you do have an NVQ3 still pay minimum wage so changing to another home wouldn't really help unless they would give her more hours - she has been at the same workplace 4yrs now so wouldn't really want to change. I can keep helping for as long as she needs me to.
Suppose she's best off visiting the housing office and benefits office to enquire about what she is entitled to. Now I'm going to hunt down this Discussions board lol Thanks for your help. Chris.

Spikyhercules

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

To be honest, and please don't take this the wrong way, there are many people who have nothing left after paying their bills. It's the way of the world.

Has she get the single persons discount on her Council Tax? Other than the Benefits you mention, that is all I can think of.

Point taken but there are also many people who think 'I'll have a child or 2 and I'll get lots of benefits, a nearly free house and whatever else I need' We have a 'friend' who has 3 young children, neither her or her partner work and they live a better life than we do. They get paid 3 times a week! along with everything else and all the loans they can claim :mad: rant over.

jopwo_87

Ohh i used to be a careworker and there are just loads of them jobs about in the papers now. She could probably get a few extra shifts at another care home if she wanted. Maybe weekends or the odd night? Would bring in around £30 extra after tax per shift. Plus when she is NVQ trained, you will find that most places pay about £1-2 per hour more than the average care worker.

seven-day-weekend

You are obviously a responsible yong couple and I can understand you getting annoyed when you see those that are not responsible apparently getting more than you.

'Discussion Time' is in the Money Savers' arms, right at the very bottom of the forums menu. That is the place to discuss benefits policy (or anything else that takes your fancy!).

I hope your girlfriend manages to get a few more hours and wish you both well.

My son is in a simialr position with his job at Matalan, btw- part time hours and not entitled to any Benefits because he is single with no children, - so i do know how you feel!

I wish you both well.

bestpud

She should get more money for having an NVQ3 and if she doesn't then more fool her I'm afraid!

Few employers will offer her more money if she is prepared to work for peanuts. Why would they when they have a qualified, and experienced member of staff (and level 3 is more a supervisory level in heath care I believe?), prepared to work for the same pay an inexperienced, and more to the point, unqualified, staff member?? :rolleyes:

Regulations (I believe) mean they have to have a certain percentage of staff with at least an NVQ2 (and the percentage required is increasing over the next few years) so she is worth more to them when qualified.

If they won't pay her more then tell her to find a home that will. She is either telling porkies or is ill informed if she seriously thinks she will not get more money.

And also, why is she bothering if she thinks it is for nothing??

McKneff

Spikyhercules wrote: »

Point taken but there are also many people who think 'I'll have a child or 2 and I'll get lots of benefits, a nearly free house and whatever else I need' We have a 'friend' who has 3 young children, neither her or her partner work and they live a better life than we do. They get paid 3 times a week! along with everything else and all the loans they can claim :mad: rant over.

Self respect is the key phrase, like Seven day Weekend says, youre obviously a responsible couple who are more than happy to take responsibility for your selves. And i applaud you for it.

How much self respect have the people in your rant have for them selves.
Precisely none. If they have a better life than you have then there is something fishy somewhere, they are either up to their eyes in debt or doing something illegal.

Good luck to you both