child tax credit/benefits?

clairey179

Hi, was wondering if anyone could help, as I'm struggling to work out exactly what out financial situation will be when our baby arrives. My husband works f/t, and earns 34k per year. I currently work f/t, and earn 29k per year. I'm trying to work out how much I can afford to reduce me hours by. I'll be taking 6 months maternity leave, but after that, it gets a bit confusing! My MIL is going to look after the baby 2 days a week, and we thought a nursery would be good for 1/2 days a week, but ideally I'd like to be at home with the baby as much as possible. I realise we're lucky and both earn a good wage, but would we be entitled to any child tax credits etc? Are there any universal child benefits we'd be entitled to at a minimum? We're also wondering whether we'd actually be better off by both working part time, so we'd pay less NI and student loans etc.
Any help much appreciated!

dmg24

So you are trying to work out how to minimise both your hours, and maximise your benefit entitlement?

Sixer

You will receive Child Benefit of £20.30 per week on your current earnings - and you'll continue to receive that provided neither of you receive salary increases that take you into the higher rate (40%) tax bracket from 2013 onwards.

On your current combined salaries, you won't qualify for any Tax Credits or for help to pay for childcare (which must be registered, not informal care from a relative).

The current combined earnings threshold for the family element of Child Tax Credit is about £58k. However, this would net you under £10 per week - and in forthcoming years is being reduced to £40k (and less again after that) - so even if one or both of you reduced your hours so that you were both doing 4-day weeks, say, you would still be unlikely to qualify for any payments.

clairey179

Thanks for the replies. We're just trying to get a clear picture of what our financial situation will be. The childcare stuff we were looking at was how you can 'buy' childcare vouchers from your employer using a salary sacrifice? And no, I'm not aiming to maximise my benefit entitlement, I'm trying to work out the best way of balancing work and child care. I've worked continuously since leaving school, and all through university, paying NI contributions the whole time, as has my husband. Neither of us has ever had a penny from the state, despite living on a part time cleaners pay and a student loan several years ago, so if we're entitled to anything then we want to claim it.