What am i entitled to?

littlediscofish

I am currently living with my partner and our 2 children, our youngest being 4 months old. My partner works full time but I gave up work a few years ago to raise our children. We recieve child tax credits of £105 and working tax credits of £7.33 but this soon will be dropping as they say I have been overpaid by nearly £700 (don't even get me started on that issue!). My worry is that when they start taking the overpayment back, I will have very little money of my own, and therefore have to rely on my partner to pay for almost everything (which is not really an option). So can I claim JSA if I am prepared to go into work, aswel as my tax credits? And if I do return to work part time, will I be rewarded with tax credits or will they just take my tax credits off me? It seems so unfair that although I am doing what the government reccommend, having both parents together and a stay at home mum for my children, I have no reward for this. I have tried to get advice from the job centre but they won't see me because I'm not on benefits, my local citizens advice never answer the phone and all the benefits calculators online make no sense and keep giving me different amounts. Pleeeeaaaasee can anyone give me an idea of what I might be entitled to and what I am best doing. Any ideas wellcome.

Oldernotwiser

As you haven't paid the appropriate NICs you won't be eligible for contributions based JSA and means tested will be based on your husband's income making you ineligible.

A part time job would seem to be your best bet.

Jomo

I didn't realise the government recommended such things?

But yes, I agree with ONW, work work work

Welshwoofs

littlediscofish wrote: »

It seems so unfair that although I am doing what the government reccommend, having both parents together and a stay at home mum for my children, I have no reward for this.

Surely your 'reward' is having all that time to spend with your children, time which many parents who both work full-time jobs don't have.

Oldernotwiser

Welshwoofs wrote: »

Surely your 'reward' is having all that time to spend with your children, time which many parents who both work full-time jobs don't have.

Why should people think that they need rewarding for bringing up their own children?

littlediscofish

Yes it is a reward and I appreciate that many mums don't get the chance to do this, however I simply meant that in doing this I have given up my own income and to live off my partner is extremely hard and causes friction with us. We do suffer financially because of this decision but that was a sacrafice I thought I was prepared to make for the good of our children, however now I am doing it I am finding it harder than I realised I would, which is why I would like to know if I take on a job part time, will the tax credits I recieve be stopped or would I get some sort of top up, as I don't see the point in sending my baby to a childminder 3 days a week so I can be in the same, or worse, financial situation that I am in now. Advice was all I was looking for.

Welshwoofs

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Why should people think that they need rewarding for bringing up their own children?

It beats me! The top two dictionary definitions for 'reward' are:

• wages: a recompense for worthy acts or retribution for wrongdoing
• payment made in return for a service rendered

Having a child is neither a worthy act, nor a service rendered (unless you're a surrogate, but I believe 'rewards' for that service are illegal in the UK) so why anyone think that the Government should reward them for it is beyond me.

If there were to be financial rewards for producing something purely for your own benefit and enjoyment then I would like to claim a reward for turning out bloody good passion fruit souffles please!

bunny999

I like eating out, going to the cinema and theatre and spending lots of time in the pub (I think the staff benefit from my company), can I get rewarded by the government for this ?

Welshwoofs

littlediscofish wrote: »

Yes it is a reward and I appreciate that many mums don't get the chance to do this, however I simply meant that in doing this I have given up my own income and to live off my partner is extremely hard and causes friction with us.

Did you actually discuss the financial implications of having a child before you have one? You can't expect to be funded by the Govt on the basis that 'living off your partner causes friction.'

You just can't have it all in this life and, unless you're pretty wealthy, then you have to accept that having a child is a huge financial commitment and will generally result in having to trim the family budget all round and 'going without or making do'.

We do suffer financially because of this decision but that was a sacrafice I thought I was prepared to make for the good of our children, however now I am doing it I am finding it harder than I realised I would, which is why I would like to know if I take on a job part time, will the tax credits I recieve be stopped or would I get some sort of top up.

Nobody can give you an answer here because you've not said what your partner's income is and household income obviously affects the amount of help you'd get from the Govt. Your best bet is to experiment with http://www.entitledto.com - putting in your current circumstances and then experimenting with possible hours/pay for a part-time job to see how much better/worse off you'd be.

Indie_Kid

bunny999 wrote: »

I like eating out, going to the cinema and theatre and spending lots of time in the pub (I think the staff benefit from my company), can I get rewarded by the government for this ?

Yes you can:
By drinking in the pub, you're also lining the governments' pockets with the tax money they take from you.

Jomo

littlediscofish wrote: »

Yes it is a reward and I appreciate that many mums don't get the chance to do this, however I simply meant that in doing this I have given up my own income and to live off my partner is extremely hard and causes friction with us. We do suffer financially because of this decision but that was a sacrafice I thought I was prepared to make for the good of our children, however now I am doing it I am finding it harder than I realised I would, which is why I would like to know if I take on a job part time, will the tax credits I recieve be stopped or would I get some sort of top up, as I don't see the point in sending my baby to a childminder 3 days a week so I can be in the same, or worse, financial situation that I am in now. Advice was all I was looking for.

Surely you knew it would be hard before giving up your job?

I don't get it...do people actually expect to be better off financially when not working?