Housing Benefits for young parents.

Carlbrown_2

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

And, more importantly, the personal consequences of their actions.

The personal consequences of my action really dont concern you...
im sure you NEVER had sex until u were 30 and had a great job and a nice big house did you?

anymeans

Carl, I've been in a similar position, all be it older and with a stable job it was unexpected and we did need alot of help, like you I chose to rent privately to be in a place that was close to family and also work, all housing offered to me was fine but not viable.

Perhaps you could discuss with your gf's father to allow you to stay there free for a couple of months until after the baby is born, once you've applied for child benefit and tax credits you'll have an income, then look at rental and housing benefit. I was lucky my mother let us live with her til we sorted all the benefits out, it'll take alot of patience and it will be a stressful situation and require alot of understanding on both parties but from experience it's the only way me and my fiance could do it viably. I don't know what type of people your parents and hers are but it must be worth a shot, my mum came through for us at great expense to herself and I'm so grateful, she didn't expect anything in return but I put my hand in my pocket when I could to pay her back for housing us all on the rent I paid her for only myself before, maybe an offer to pay back her dad once your settled is on the cards?

Benefits are a godsend, but it's not always a fix, being so young you'll need your parents to help, get your college done, get your job and break away from state reliance (it feels so good when you can, trust me!) wish you all the best.

Fiddlestick

Carlbrown wrote: »

The personal consequences of my action really dont concern you...

Well they kind of do when we pay for it...

Carlbrown_2

Fiddlestick wrote: »

Well they kind of do when we pay for it...

You, personally arnt paying for anything, thats like me getting a job and paying taxes and going to the hospital and having a bash at any unemployed people sayin "Im paying for your healthcare''

It really isnt your decision what your taxes get spent on and i hope that one day you are in a position where u need to turn to other people for help and small minded people like yourself refuse to give any useful advice.

sp1987

Encourage your girlfriend to go back to college and get qualified in something after the baby is born. Whether that be doing her a levels or a more practical course it saves time later when it is more difficult to get back into learning.

Having the one parent qualified as a joiner which you state is a trade with not many opportunities due to the recession at the moment means it is more important than ever that both of you have a qualification you can make use of. It may require a bit of fiddling about to get schedules that allow both of you to progress whilst enabling you both to have time with your child but it can be done. Even if her skills just provide the opportunity for steady, low paid employment that would carry you through periods where you cannot find work. There would not be any childcare costs as you would be available to care for the baby.

You seem literate and intelligent enough to post on here and ask for advice, so have a think about how you can get both of you in a position so either of you could be earning money at any point, rather than relying on the up and down work demands of a joiner. Are you able to get a job outside your skill area to put a bit of money aside for the baby? Night work at somewhere like Tesco is pretty well paid for what it is and being overnight there is barely anyone in Tesco?

You have had a lot of negative responses because you have not demonstrated exactly what you plan on doing that sets you apart from people who start on benefits and remain there until they retire with their brood of similarly minded offspring, who have their own benefit dependant children. The capacity for the state to support everyone forever is just not there, it is to provide for a smaller percentage of people for a short time between jobs (and obviously for the small minority of people who cannot do any job due to incapacity). If you want to use benefits as a stop gap, you need a plan that will enable you to get off them at the other side, hoping for jobs which aren't there currently may not be as successful as you hope.

I say that as a youngish (22) mother of a young baby so I'm not trying to suggest the impossible. I'm going back to uni to do a postgraduate course which will allow me to take up a job offer I have, as much as it isn't ideal having to leave my child it will benefit him far more than a mother who has no vocation and no skills. This is especially true the younger your girlfriend is as at 17, her child could be leaving home when she is 35 when she will be stuck with no skills, no job and few prospects with the retirement age possibly 65...that would be a long 30 years!!

Best of luck.

Oldernotwiser

Carlbrown wrote: »

The personal consequences of my action really dont concern you...
im sure you NEVER had sex until u were 30 and had a great job and a nice big house did you?

The personal consequences of your actions affect us all when we are the ones having to pay for it.

I never had sex at your age and I made damn sure I didn't get pregnant once I started.

Carlbrown_2

anymeans wrote: »

Carl, I've been in a similar position, all be it older and with a stable job it was unexpected and we did need alot of help, like you I chose to rent privately to be in a place that was close to family and also work, all housing offered to me was fine but not viable.

Perhaps you could discuss with your gf's father to allow you to stay there free for a couple of months until after the baby is born, once you've applied for child benefit and tax credits you'll have an income, then look at rental and housing benefit. I was lucky my mother let us live with her til we sorted all the benefits out, it'll take alot of patience and it will be a stressful situation and require alot of understanding on both parties but from experience it's the only way me and my fiance could do it viably. I don't know what type of people your parents and hers are but it must be worth a shot, my mum came through for us at great expense to herself and I'm so grateful, she didn't expect anything in return but I put my hand in my pocket when I could to pay her back for housing us all on the rent I paid her for only myself before, maybe an offer to pay back her dad once your settled is on the cards?

Benefits are a godsend, but it's not always a fix, being so young you'll need your parents to help, get your college done, get your job and break away from state reliance (it feels so good when you can, trust me!) wish you all the best.

Thanks for the advice and i think we're just going to wait until the babies born and then look for somewhere to live, although her mums house is way to crowded already we will have to cope, im still going to look for an apprenticeship so i can gain the best qualifications that i can in joinery and get the best, well paid job i can, Then i can start providing for my family and paying taxes the way i planned in the first place, but with the addition of a baby.

Some people just dont realise that there are people out there who need JSA and housing benefits, and most of them were born into money and never had money problems from day one, but hey, !!!! happens.

Carlbrown_2

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

The personal consequences of your actions affect us all when we are the ones having to pay for it.

I never had sex at your age and I made damn sure I didn't get pregnant once I started.

Well that was your choice, we've done nothing illegal in having sex, most people my age have sex regularly, it was just pure bad luck that she caught pregnant whilst she was on the pill, and like i have said so many times, im not planning on scrounging off benefis forever, just until i can get a job, and then il be paying my way like everybody else, i just need a bit of help getting started, and this is a HELP forum and now an opinion forum on how the government should spend YOUR taxes.

Oldernotwiser

Carlbrown wrote: »

Some people just dont realise that there are people out there who need JSA and housing benefits, and most of them were born into money and never had money problems from day one, but hey, !!!! happens.

I don't know anybody on these boards who was born into money - after all, you're the one who's shacked up with the daughter of someone wealthy enough to own more than one property!

Nobody of your age should be able to claim benefits and it's only those like you who have been daft enough to breed irresponsibly who are able to. Where are both sets of parents in all this or do they too think that their children and their grandchild are someone else's responsibility?

Carlbrown_2

sp1987 wrote: »

Encourage your girlfriend to go back to college and get qualified in something after the baby is born. Whether that be doing her a levels or a more practical course it saves time later when it is more difficult to get back into learning.

Having the one parent qualified as a joiner which you state is a trade with not many opportunities due to the recession at the moment means it is more important than ever that both of you have a qualification you can make use of. It may require a bit of fiddling about to get schedules that allow both of you to progress whilst enabling you both to have time with your child but it can be done. Even if her skills just provide the opportunity for steady, low paid employment that would carry you through periods where you cannot find work. There would not be any childcare costs as you would be available to care for the baby.

You seem literate and intelligent enough to post on here and ask for advice, so have a think about how you can get both of you in a position so either of you could be earning money at any point, rather than relying on the up and down work demands of a joiner. Are you able to get a job outside your skill area to put a bit of money aside for the baby? Night work at somewhere like Tesco is pretty well paid for what it is and being overnight there is barely anyone in Tesco?

You have had a lot of negative responses because you have not demonstrated exactly what you plan on doing that sets you apart from people who start on benefits and remain there until they retire with their brood of similarly minded offspring, who have their own benefit dependant children. The capacity for the state to support everyone forever is just not there, it is to provide for a smaller percentage of people for a short time between jobs (and obviously for the small minority of people who cannot do any job due to incapacity). If you want to use benefits as a stop gap, you need a plan that will enable you to get off them at the other side, hoping for jobs which aren't there currently may not be as successful as you hope.

I say that as a youngish (22) mother of a young baby so I'm not trying to suggest the impossible. I'm going back to uni to do a postgraduate course which will allow me to take up a job offer I have, as much as it isn't ideal having to leave my child it will benefit him far more than a mother who has no vocation and no skills. This is especially true the younger your girlfriend is as at 17, her child could be leaving home when she is 35 when she will be stuck with no skills, no job and few prospects with the retirement age possibly 65...that would be a long 30 years!!

Best of luck.

Im only planning short term at the minute, once me and my girlfriend have settled somewhere and found our feet we will be fine and both be able to get a job, she has done her level 2 health and beauty course but needs to complete her level 3 to be qualified enough to get a job in a salon etc. If i was planning on staying on benefis forever i wouldnt have gone to college for 2 years to gain qualifications to get a job doing something i enjoy, if these people who are posting negative responses took the time to read my posts properly they would know that i plan on getting a job, and no matter what, even if i allready had a job me and my girlfriend would still need a home to live in when the babies born, and my girlfriend would NEED to claim housing benefits, regardless if i was working.

The whole point in making this thread was to see if it would be possible to rent her dads house on housing benefits, it seems like the answer is no so we will find somewhere else even if it means living in a 2 bed roomed flat, i really didnt realise how judgemental people can be about something that really shouldnt worry them, dont worry IL PAY YOU BACK ALL THE TAXES I SPEND WHEN I HAVE A JOB, which will be soon after we are settled in somewhere.