Got a question about income support changes for lone parents?

FBaby

why do single parents think they are the only one struggling with childcare and should have 'priority' for school hours jobs? two parents household where both parents work full-time have the same issues. Should all mothers get benefits on the basis that they can't work because they can't get a job between 9 and 3?

As for saying that single parent struggle to get a job between 9 and 5 because they are more likely to be looking for entry jobs, that's another matter in itself. When did parents stop educating their children that they should build their career before thinking of having children? Finding an entry job is always going to be difficult, but the longer you are out of work and get older, the harder it will always be. This is exactly why I think single parent should indeed be encouraged to go back to work as soon as possible rather than encouraging them to stay home for many years.

FBaby

t0rt0ise wrote: »

I can't wait until people start moaning about unsupervised tearaway children who have no parental role model because the parent is working full time and the chidren are farmed out with various child carers and/or left home alone. I was a lone parent after divorce and was lucky to get a job working at a primary school so was home when my children were at home. I wouldn't have been happy doing anything else even when they were at secondary school. Children need at least one parent there most of the time to give structure and discipline to their lives.

Wasn't one of the tories catchphrases a few years back something about supporting the family.. what a U turn.

Funny because I had a conversation with my kids' headteachers only a few weeks ago, talking about me being a single mum working full-time and she told me that the children who had the most trouble at school were rarely those whose mother worked full-time. I have worked full-time since my children have been babies and they lack no structure or discipline, on the opposite, they are praised at each and every parent-teacher evenings. Putting in place structure and insuring discipline is not reliant on time but on motivation and willingness.

tts42010

FBaby wrote: »

why do single parents think they are the only one struggling with childcare and should have 'priority' for school hours jobs? two parents household where both parents work full-time have the same issues. Should all mothers get benefits on the basis that they can't work because they can't get a job between 9 and 3?

As for saying that single parent struggle to get a job between 9 and 5 because they are more likely to be looking for entry jobs, that's another matter in itself. When did parents stop educating their children that they should build their career before thinking of having children? Finding an entry job is always going to be difficult, but the longer you are out of work and get older, the harder it will always be. This is exactly why I think single parent should indeed be encouraged to go back to work as soon as possible rather than encouraging them to stay home for many years.

With RE to the bit in bold not every single parent has never had a career/job, Gingerbread states that the average lone parent is a divorced 36 yr old woman. Not every single parent left school at 16 and got pregnant.

DX2

tts42010 It's been ages since I visited the Gingerbread site and wanted to say thanks for reminding me about that site
Interesting bits

I am claiming Jobseeker’s
Allowance. What type of work am
I expected to look for?
To claim Jobseeker’s Allowance, you must be
available for and actively seeking work. If you are
not, then your benefit may be stopped. For more

information see our factsheet

Claiming Jobseeker’sAllowance.

As a single parent, you can restrict the hours that
you are available to work:
��

If your child is under the age of 16 you can limit

your working hours to 16 a week.

If your child is under the age of 13 you can limit

your working hours to your child’s usual school
hours (from 26 April 2010).

��

Your Jobcentre Plus adviser should take into

account the time required to take your children to
childcare when deciding how far it is reasonable
for you to travel to work.

If you claim Jobseeker’s Allowance you may also
not have to look for work during periods where:

��

your child has been excluded from school;

��

it is agreed that there is no appropriate,

affordable childcare available in school holidays;

��

you have a parenting order or contract that

restricts your availability for work; or

��

you are dealing with a death, serious illness or

other domestic emergency involving a close
relative or friend. This exemption can only apply
for between one and eight weeks.
http://www.gingerbread.org.uk/uploads/media/17/6877.pdf

riaian

having been on income support i got a job whilst my son was at school, aged 10 - i had no money throughout the holidays due to no child minders in the area who would look after a 10 yr old - income support took the whole 6 weeks of the summer hols to sort out my money and therefore i got behind on my rent - nearly being evicted phone was cut off gas and electric ran out as on a meter was the worst time ever - still no child minders in this area to take 10yr olds and the advice given was to send my child to a holiday club at approximately £50 - £100 per week - on basic wage i couldnt afford this so how is this going to work for other genuine single parents who have no savings are on a low income and have no family to rely on during school holidays .

suburbanwifey

Your are all going to hate my opinion here, but I'll post it anyway as its my opinion and as such, I feel I should express it.

Firstly, let me say, I do not claim any benefits whatsoever! I have no children.

I don't think mothers of any age should be going out to work. What is wrong with our society today is the fact that women are out working, or getting pushed out to work by society, Govts. etc when what they should be doing is staying at home, bringing up their children properly, looking after them and feeding them home cooked foods, like traditional women did many years ago before the world went mad.

Latch key kids, teenage crime, kids roaming the streets causing anti-social behavioral problems etc, all this things are caused by women going out to work! Look at statistics of the behaviour problems of kids since women started to go out to work like men.

The problem is stopping the 'baby machines' - the women/girls who have another baby every few years to keep the benefits rolling in...I can't see a solution! because I feel women who are mothers should stay at home and be mothers, not be trying to look after a family, work full time, look spectacular and also do all the other myriad of things women are expected to do nowadays according to the media and what society tells us we should be doing.

A child-minder does not love your child as you do, they are an income to them, a family friend, neighbour will not nurture your child as you will - there is no match out there for the love and care from a good mother. Career women who get home shortly before their kids have to go to bed cannot be good mothers. That's just how I feel.

Women should be staying at home to look after their kids, not paying out hundreds of pounds a week to dump them in a nursery, so they can earn a few extra pounds (by the time you have taken off nursery fees, work clothes, work food, travel expenses, is there really that much left for most of you?)

Women shouldn't be forced out to work until their kids reach 16, that's how I think it should be. This system is going from bad to worse. We have a country made up of either neglected kids who are farmed off so their mothers can work and at other end of the scale, benefit loving layabouts who push out a baby every few years to end up earning usually more than their 'working' friends...

suburbanwifey

riaian wrote: »

having been on income support i got a job whilst my son was at school, aged 10 - i had no money throughout the holidays due to no child minders in the area who would look after a 10 yr old - income support took the whole 6 weeks of the summer hols to sort out my money and therefore i got behind on my rent - nearly being evicted phone was cut off gas and electric ran out as on a meter was the worst time ever - still no child minders in this area to take 10yr olds and the advice given was to send my child to a holiday club at approximately £50 - £100 per week - on basic wage i couldnt afford this so how is this going to work for other genuine single parents who have no savings are on a low income and have no family to rely on during school holidays .

Yes, the Govt. expect women (and single parents) to go out to work 52 weeks a year and yet they give school kids months of holidays every year. I often wonder what you are supposed to do when your child is off school on all these unnecessary holidays they get? Ludicrous...if they Gov want you out working, they should provide free nursery places so you can go to work and actually benefit, rather than pay out most of your earnings to a nursery....

You should be able to stay at home to look after your child if you wish, you shouldn't have to work and be forced to pay someone else to do it.

Sounds awful what you went through, its wrong.

flashnazia

t0rt0ise wrote: »

I can't wait until people start moaning about unsupervised tearaway children who have no parental role model because the parent is working full time and the chidren are farmed out with various child carers and/or left home alone. I was a lone parent after divorce and was lucky to get a job working at a primary school so was home when my children were at home. I wouldn't have been happy doing anything else even when they were at secondary school. Children need at least one parent there most of the time to give structure and discipline to their lives.

Wasn't one of the tories catchphrases a few years back something about supporting the family.. what a U turn.

The unsupervised tearaway children in my area are NOT the children of working parents. They are the kids with mothers/parents sat on the sofa all day, courtesy of the taxpayer.

dmg24

Dare I say it ... This is a big old discussion, and no one has actually asked a question!

WAKEUPANDJOINTHEDOTS

Oh my god I cannot believe the stupidity of people here.

1. what is the point of having children if you cant stay at home and care for them at least until they are old enough to be left alone? the fact you are unfortunate enough to be a single parent should not mean your children should be farmed out to strangers and instituitionalised from an early age when they need love and care, even more so than a two parent family. there is no point to this, why make the children suffer?

2. what about single parents who choose to home educate their children, they are still expected to go out and work? how does this make any sense?. every child at school has an allocated budget for them one way or another paid for by the government, yet home educators are given nothing. and are ordered to go and find full time work.

3. bringing up a child on your own is a full time job, while there may be some that abuse the system that doesnt mean you punish the children. all of you daily mail type people out there are not thinking this through properly.

4. there should be more funds available to help single parents get training allowances for subject of their own choice not just "get started with computers" or rubbish like that and help to make a decent career. the cuts over degree funding, for example will prevent single parents to train for properly paid jobs. i have asked the job centre if there is a way to fund yoga teacher training for example and they just blankly stare at me.

5. when i looked for childminders and nurseries they were rubbish and expensive. (childminder had kids in front of tv, one child was visibly sick with green snot running down nose, nurseries reeeaaaaly expensive need money up front.) how would parents be able to accompany kids on school trips? help out in school? have time for their child? what about summer holidays? half terms? inset days? sick days? what job do you know would allow this? you are basically asking strangers to bring up your own children. no no no.