is it worth working?

wazza

before anyone complains i have been in employment for over twenty years and in the last ten years was paying tax at a high rate.

over two years ago my wife left us. had to quit work because i was left looking after my young three children. the eldest is now 11. last school year my youngest was only attending school in the afternoons. this made me finding any type of job difficult. must mention i have no family here to babysit etc.

now my youngest is attending school full time i have started looking for a job that fits around school hours. i can't go back to my old job because it is 40 miles away. being a male it is suprising harder to find a temp/part time job than a woman. taking to someone i was suprised how expensive after school centres are for three children.

i get help with my mortgage. i have worked out roughly that with tax and NI taken into consideration i need to earn more than £14k to break even.

i now understand why people on benefits are reluctant to go back to work. has anyone come to the same conclusion?

yes i am aware that the first £20 i earn does not affect my benefits

GIRLPOWER_2

Having 3 children myself I can honestly say that in this situation I would not be returing to work yet.

rosysparkle

Have you checked on your entitlement to Working Tax Credits? You may get help with the cost of childcare.

mummymania

I am a single mum to 3 girls aged 4, 5 & 12 with no friends or family to help with childcare. Me and dh split when youngest was 12 months and I ddn't work for 3 yrs - went back a year ago today, I earn £7k for 18 hours work. I have to pay full rent and council tax (£450 pm total) have to pay nursery (£230 pm) and manage to squeeze my hours into 3 days a week so I still get 2 days off + weekend. I get wtc of £395 pm, salary £600 pm and ctc of £800pm, although obviously some of this is to cover monthly nursery plus holiday club for the other 2. So my net income per month is £1800 which I can comfortably live off and save £200 - £300 pm too.

Have a look at https://www.entitledto.co.uk - you will be surprised. I am MUCH better off than on benefits, other than knackered, aged prematurely, depressed and can't be bothered to cook or clean my house......haha can't find the smiley face!

Penny-Pincher!!

Hey There

I wanted to firstly congratulate you for doing such a grand job with your kids and putting their welfare first. Hugs.

Is there a reason why you are asking about returning to work? Are you getting bored? Do you need more adult interaction etc etc?

Hows about doing some studying with the OU or maybe a PT course at the local college for a few hours a week?

Please dont rush any decisions and think wisely before commiting to anything. Will you be too tired to look after the kids if you return FT blah blah blah.

Good Luck.

PP
xx

wazza

Penny-Pincher!! wrote:

Hey There

I wanted to firstly congratulate you for doing such a grand job with your kids and putting their welfare first. Hugs.

Is there a reason why you are asking about returning to work? Are you getting bored? Do you need more adult interaction etc etc?

Hows about doing some studying with the OU or maybe a PT course at the local college for a few hours a week?

Please dont rush any decisions and think wisely before commiting to anything. Will you be too tired to look after the kids if you return FT blah blah blah.

Good Luck.

PP
xx

you have highlighted one of my concerns. the ability to work and look after housework. it will be tiring and the last thing i want to go is be short tempered towards the kids due to tiredness.


one of the reason is to make new local friends. you will be suprosed there isn't many support groups for lone fathers. plenty for lone mothers :-(

Penny-Pincher!!

Hi Wazza

Is it ok to PM you?

PP
xx

wazza

Penny-Pincher!! wrote:

Hi Wazza

Is it ok to PM you?

PP
xx

of course :-)

Spendless

wazza - any maintainance you receive is not taken into account for tax credit purposes if you work this can often make the difference about whether it's worth working or not -but I remember previous posts of yours and I'm guessing that you would not receive maintainance??

hjb123

HI,

sorry to hear about your situation. I can imagine how hard it must be for you trying to decide what to do. Have you tried supermarkets - they may be able to have hours that would suit you. Or even being self employed - depending on what you are good at - by that I mean what your line of work is - you may be able to jobs like gardening, DIY etc on a self employed basis to fit around the kids.

skintandtryingallIcan

hi

i found myself in this situation and had to reluctantly give up work. I hated having to do this as as a single mother to 2 boys I own my own house and was working to pay my own mortgage. It may not sound alot but was quite empowering for me. My situation was a bit different bacause ultimatly the benefits that were affected was largly due to my childs disability which maybe you dont have. Is it part time you are thinking of going back to work?