How to help unemployed single mum onto the housing ladder?

bekkki1

QUOTE=jakehamble]The incentives to work hardly exist anyway. Childcare for three children costs way more than the minimum wage. Most people in that situation are not proud that they are 'sponging off the state' but there is little plausible alternative to escape the trap.[/QUOTE]

Im a single parent with a child under school age. i first went back to work part time when she was 6 months old but due to paying rent and council tax it was not viable and got into debt so went back on income support.

Then 6 months ago i decided i didnt want to live in a rented house i wanted something for a better future and decided to move to a different house in another part of the country where I found there were more jobs going and moved here alone with my daughter 4 months ago.

It was the best thing i ever did, I signed on at the job centre and the lone parent advisor offered me courses and placements to get experience and they paid childcare. I started a new job 1 month ago and am saving like mad for a deposit on a mortgage which I can apply for in Feb.

I would suggest that your sister looked at training in a job, i took a risk and got a job i had never done before let alone qualified for, but my employers took a chance on me.

It will only be 6 month before she can apply for a mortgage.

And tax credits pay 80% of childcare for single parents, plus nurseries discount for sibings.

I am over £500 a month better off after paying all my rent, bills and childcare.

my daughter goes nursery 7am to 5.30pm mon - fri and even tho shes only 3 she is proud of me as she knows we will get our own house at the end of it, so she can decorate her bedroom as she wishes.

natwill_3

bekkki1 wrote:

QUOTE=jakehamble]The incentives to work hardly exist anyway. Childcare for three children costs way more than the minimum wage. Most people in that situation are not proud that they are 'sponging off the state' but there is little plausible alternative to escape the trap.

Im a single parent with a child under school age. i first went back to work part time when she was 6 months old but due to paying rent and council tax it was not viable and got into debt so went back on income support.

Then 6 months ago i decided i didnt want to live in a rented house i wanted something for a better future and decided to move to a different house in another part of the country where I found there were more jobs going and moved here alone with my daughter 4 months ago.

It was the best thing i ever did, I signed on at the job centre and the lone parent advisor offered me courses and placements to get experience and they paid childcare. I started a new job 1 month ago and am saving like mad for a deposit on a mortgage which I can apply for in Feb.

I would suggest that your sister looked at training in a job, i took a risk and got a job i had never done before let alone qualified for, but my employers took a chance on me.

It will only be 6 month before she can apply for a mortgage.

And tax credits pay 80% of childcare for single parents, plus nurseries discount for sibings.

I am over £500 a month better off after paying all my rent, bills and childcare.

my daughter goes nursery 7am to 5.30pm mon - fri and even tho shes only 3 she is proud of me as she knows we will get our own house at the end of it, so she can decorate her bedroom as she wishes.[/QUOTE]

I think that is an incredibly positive post...natx

clutton_2

bekkki1 - how proud you should be !!!!!!! well done you - it take HUGE guts to get out of your comfort zone, especially with a young child !!!!!!!!

Angela_D_3

You see I just think it's incredibly sad that a 3 year old gets to spend 7am to 5.30pm without her mother in order that you can buy a house, I'd rather pay for the benefits than live with the consequences of a generation of tots who've been brought up in baby factories.

To the OP, I really don't think you'd be doing your sister any favours by saddling her with £100k + of debt, her time for home ownership may come, it may not but could not not find her somewhere nicer to rent and lend her the deposit ?

bekkki1

I would of prefered not to have to work, and left it as long as i thought possible till i did, but house prices are going up all the time and my rent is more than a mortgage. Its good for kids to go nursery and mix with other kids, she is a really bright and confident girl.

clutton_2

""I'd rather pay for the benefits than live with the consequences of a generation of tots who've been brought up in baby factories.""

on a very regular basis i see the lives of several single parent mums and their children who live in my houses, and most of them are isolated, broke, depressed and lonely - not because of my house i hasten to add - but because they have so little money after rent has been paid, nappies bought, bills paid - that their lives are truly hand-to-mouth. Most of them cannot even afford the bus fare to go to a mother-toddler group.

i agree with bekkki1 that children need to mix with others of their own age, and whilst in an ideal world, they need mum AND dad more than just from tea time to bed time and breakfast time - this reality is that there are tens of thousands of children in this situation.

Each mum makes the best choice for her own child in her own situation, and i personally will repeat my admiration for bekkkki1 for her "get up and go" - it is INCREDIBLY difficult to get off benefits.

well done girl !!!

bekkki1

Thanks Clutton

natwill_3

I agree with the above...its no small feat to have achieved this.

black-saturn

bekkki1 wrote:

Im a single parent with a child under school age. i first went back to work part time when she was 6 months old but due to paying rent and council tax it was not viable and got into debt so went back on income support.

Then 6 months ago i decided i didnt want to live in a rented house i wanted something for a better future and decided to move to a different house in another part of the country where I found there were more jobs going and moved here alone with my daughter 4 months ago.

It was the best thing i ever did, I signed on at the job centre and the lone parent advisor offered me courses and placements to get experience and they paid childcare. I started a new job 1 month ago and am saving like mad for a deposit on a mortgage which I can apply for in Feb.

I would suggest that your sister looked at training in a job, i took a risk and got a job i had never done before let alone qualified for, but my employers took a chance on me.

It will only be 6 month before she can apply for a mortgage.

And tax credits pay 80% of childcare for single parents, plus nurseries discount for sibings.

I am over £500 a month better off after paying all my rent, bills and childcare.

my daughter goes nursery 7am to 5.30pm mon - fri and even tho shes only 3 she is proud of me as she knows we will get our own house at the end of it, so she can decorate her bedroom as she wishes.

Well done but with all due respect you only have one child. It gets more difficult but not impossible when you have more than one child.

Angela_D_3

black-saturn wrote:

Well done but with all due respect you only have one child. It gets more difficult but not impossible when you have more than one child.

That is very true 2 children are a real luxury these days for most people.