Getting income support and son is working.

jammy123

Hi,please could someone give me some advise?
We are on income support,i claim for my 2 chilldren my son had his last exam today,he is 16.
He will be going to college in september.
My worry is that he has had a saturday job for a while and they have now asked him to work in the summer,which he of course wants to do.
He is trying to save for a scooter.
I am not sure if i am allowed to claim for him if he is working even though he is still classed as a student but i am worried to ask because he has already been working saturdays and sometimes sundays and i didnt think to tell the dss as i do not get any of the money.
I hope this makes sense please could you help and tell me what to do im worried i will have to pay the money back if he shouldnt be working and i havent got it.
Thank you for any help you can give.

Savvy_Sue

As no-one else has answered, I'm going to suggest phoning Citizens Advice. I think they're trialling a new out of hours service so hope you can do that.

Also, how much has your son been earning each week in his Saturday job? That might help other people advise whether you should have declared it or not.

Fran

As far as Child Benefit is concerned I think he can work up to 24 hours without it affecting that. I'm not sure what the rules are with any child tax credit you get. I don't think his income affects your income support claim.

As suggeted though it's best to check.

CIS

As I understand it his income wont affect your IS, and it wont affect your tax credits, tax credits pay solely on the income of the claimants.

With Child Benefit, I couldn't see anything about the time he could work, but it would be best to contact the CB dept adn ask them, and do the same with IS.

jammy123

Hi Thankyou all for posting back.
If he has worked saturday and sunday i think he gets about £35.00.
Which is why im worried i will have to pay it back.
I will give cab a call as you suggest.
I find it difficult saying no you cant work extra hours just because of my own circumstances,but at the same time i cant afford to be worse off.
I worry what i am teaching him by saying no when he is willing to go to work and enjoys it when some teenagers wouldnt work atall.

Fran

The Child Benefit is the important one to check because that could affect the other income related benefits that you receive because of the child. It used to be 24 hours per week maximum and I don't remember any limit to how much they can earn, I think the hours were important because they are meant to be in full time education. The holiday time might be different, I don't know. Tell them that he is leaving one place and starting another in case that makes a difference.