29 and starting college with a 2 yr old to take care of

jules2244

okay so i am 29 and about to consider leaving my twenty hour a week dead end job to go and take a full time course in law that would benefit me in the long term (it is a year long course) i am a lone parent and my child is already in nursery. if i left my job would i only recieve income support and child tax credits? this along with child benefits would only leave me with £140 per week to live on which would be difficult. it is not a university course, only college at level 3 so im not sure that i would qualify for any of the speacial grants??? please help.

Oldernotwiser

Are you a lone parent? Do you rent or have a mortgage?

jules2244

i am a lone parent yes but i live with my parents, however i also need to get my own place at some point in the near future

karenx

You will need to ask college about help with childcare. As with you stopping work your childcare costs through tax credits will stop

viktory

jules2244 wrote: »

okay so i am 29 and about to consider leaving my twenty hour a week dead end job to go and take a full time course in law that would benefit me in the long term (it is a year long course) i am a lone parent and my child is already in nursery. if i left my job would i only recieve income support and child tax credits? this along with child benefits would only leave me with £140 per week to live on which would be difficult. it is not a university course, only college at level 3 so im not sure that i would qualify for any of the speacial grants??? please help.

£140 a week is actually quite a lot considering you live with your parents. I appreciate you want to get your own place at some point, but you can't have it all. To be able to pay your own way and rent/buy your own place you need to be earning.

Also be interested to know what sort of law course only lasts a year - or is it the first year of many?

Oldernotwiser

jules2244 wrote: »

okay so i am 29 and about to consider leaving my twenty hour a week dead end job to go and take a full time course in law that would benefit me in the long term (it is a year long course) i am a lone parent and my child is already in nursery. if i left my job would i only recieve income support and child tax credits? this along with child benefits would only leave me with £140 per week to live on which would be difficult. it is not a university course, only college at level 3 so im not sure that i would qualify for any of the speacial grants??? please help.

You can stay on IS whilst at college as you are a lone parent and you could claim LHA/CTB if you decided to move out. The college maybe able to help you with child care funding but this is very variable as funding has been cut recently. There is no extra funding for level 3 courses and you can't claim ALG in addition to IS.

£140 does seem a reasonable amount to get if you live with your parents - how much do you give them for rent/keep/ share of bills?

jules2244

viktory wrote: »

£140 a week is actually quite a lot considering you live with your parents. I appreciate you want to get your own place at some point, but you can't have it all. To be able to pay your own way and rent/buy your own place you need to be earning.

Also be interested to know what sort of law course only lasts a year - or is it the first year of many?

I don't need to be earning actually, because I could get my rent paid being a single parent. I am just trying to do my best by my child, im not trying to 'have it all' straight away. I have been in employment for 13 years yet now that I am a single mum not getting a penny from anywhere else, (i.e. the child's father) i am trying to do the best financially for me and my child and to actually be able to support us both without having to rely on anyone else. I am doing an ILEX level 3 Legal Secretary course which lasts one year. At the end of this year, I would have increased my earning potential by almost double. I may then go on to do higher education, I dont know. I am trying to work out how I can get on best in life. That is why I came onto this forum.

Lady_gaga

people were only trying to help, your being very ungracious...

jules2244

Lady_gaga wrote: »

people were only trying to help, your being very ungracious...

I didnt mean to be ungracious to everyone else but I felt that the comment was a bit frosty that i quoted before this one. I came on here for advice and one person said i 'cant have it all' i didnt feel that this was a positive comment. I was not trying to cause arguments or anything, i just wanted to know if i was entitled to anything other than HB,Child tax, child benefit if I did a course because there is so much conflicting information on the internet. I just dont want to leave my 2 yr old in a nursery full time whilst doing a full time college course and working 20 hours. there is noone else who can help me, except myself. That is why I wanted to complete some further education and why I wanted to know exactly what was available.

viktory

I'll ignore your ungracious comments.

As this course is only a year and you will apparently be able to double your earnings (assuming you can get a job) is there a reason why you cannot 'manage' on £140 a week for the year?

I assume you have spoken to the CSA regarding your child's father? That would be a few more quid in the coffers.

jules2244

I will ignore your ungracious comments about my so called ungracious comments then and agree to disagree? Maybe I am a bit touchy, in which case I apologise. I am just a bit stressed!

My childs father lives in america, so the CSA wont help. he has never even sent a card so i doubt i would get any help from him. I am positive that I would get a job when I qualify - I am very good at interviews and apparently most people who complete the course do end up being offered a job at the end of it if they impress their 'employer' during the course whilst on work experience.

I was just trying to see exactly what help was available to me because i would lose about £400 per month. my friend is a single parent and she really struggles managing her money because she is jobless, has a flat and a car and bills. It looks like I will have to struggle for a year, because i think that leaving my child in full time nursery placement would be a bad idea, as opposed to part time...at the end of the day he is my child so i have to look after him sometime aswell as plan for our future. so i will finally have to apply for benefits after working my whole life and become a statistic it seems....