Benefits questions

Iamkira

Hi i was wondering if anybody could help me out with a couple of questions.
Currently i work full time and my partner part time and we earn £320 a week but with a 2nd child on the way my partner will be leaving work for good and i was thinking of going part time 16 hours to help raise hour kids as it would appear that if i do this then we would get 274.21p benefit per week (if your savings are 6k or below) according to Entitledto website so it would appear that we would not really be much worse off?

However the main hitch is that we have savings over 16k (we were saving to buy a house but it's proved too difficult to get on the ladder) so we would get virtually nothing in benefits until presumably we've burned all our life savings on rent and council tax! So i was wondering if you can get round this by say giving all our life savings to my parents to look after at least until our kids are at school and we can both work, or is it not that simple?

Also i was wondering if my partner left work and i worked part time could we start claiming the increased benefits such as income support straight away or does it take a period of time before you are allowed to claim? And will either of us have to explain our actions and go to the job center seeking full time employment or is it quite acceptable that we simply wish to be a full time mum and part time dad/worker?

Thanks for your time, i'll be very grateful if anyone can help me out with these questions as i need to know whats what before i make any rash decisions.

sunnyone

Iamkira wrote: »

Hi i was wondering if anybody could help me out with a couple of questions.
Currently i work full time and my partner part time and we earn £320 a week but with a 2nd child on the way my partner will be leaving work for good and i was thinking of going part time 16 hours to help raise hour kids as it would appear that if i do this then we would get 274.21p benefit per week (if your savings are 6k or below) according to Entitledto website so it would appear that we would not really be much worse off?

However the main hitch is that we have savings over 16k (we were saving to buy a house but it's proved too difficult to get on the ladder) so we would get virtually nothing in benefits until presumably we've burned all our life savings on rent and council tax! So i was wondering if you can get round this by say giving all our life savings to my parents to look after at least until our kids are at school and we can both work, or is it not that simple?

Also i was wondering if my partner left work and i worked part time could we start claiming the increased benefits such as income support straight away or does it take a period of time before you are allowed to claim? And will either of us have to explain our actions and go to the job center seeking full time employment or is it quite acceptable that we simply wish to be a full time mum and part time dad/worker?

Thanks for your time, i'll be very grateful if anyone can help me out with these questions as i need to know whats what before i make any rash decisions.

I dont know where to start but you certainly wont get income support full stop because you are a couple and are not, ever eligable for IS. so that route is out for you.

dmg24

It is a rare thing for me to say, but I am lost for words ...

Are the kids still off school?

sunnyone

dmg24 wrote: »

It is a rare thing for me to say, but I am lost for words ...

Are the kids still off school?

I quoted it for prosperity

bertiebat

I very rarely laugh at posts on this board..... but this one :rotfl:

Iamkira

sunnyone wrote: »

I dont know where to start but you certainly wont get income support full stop because you are a couple and are not, ever eligable for IS. so that route is out for you.

My mistake i just did the check again and i'd confused IS with housing benefit so perhaps that makes my post slightly less amusing? I can't blame people's reaction, it's pretty normal to judge people especially based on the infomation i've given and i've done it myself to others but at the end of the day i ask myself why are we grafting our !!!! off for minimum wage and hardly seeing each other when we could get almost as much working less?

Some impartial advice would be appriciated though, would it be ok to give our savings to somebody else before declaring our capital then if thats what we want to do or not? I don't want to be screwed over for being a careful saver my entire life.

dmg24

Iamkira wrote: »

My mistake i just did the check again and i'd confused IS with housing benefit so perhaps that makes my post slightly less amusing? I can't blame people's reaction, it's pretty normal to judge people especially based on the infomation i've given and i've done it myself to others but at the end of the day i ask myself why are we grafting our !!!! off for minimum wage and hardly seeing each other when we could get almost as much working less?

Some impartial advice would be appriciated though, would it be ok to give our savings to somebody else before declaring our capital then if thats what we want to do or not? I don't want to be screwed over for being a careful saver my entire life.

Pride/ setting a good example for your children? You don't want them growing up thinking that reliance on benefits is the norm, do you?

thorsoak

The country is in a mess, there isn't enough money to go around, you are having another baby - and you are proposing CUTTING your hours at work? Has the world gone completely mad???

But perhaps its because I'm 68, my OH has died, my income has halved and I'm going back to work (25 hours a week) in order to increase my income that I think that your thinking is completely and utterly skewed.

Just how much work do you think that bringing up two small children can be? We brought up 4 children quite satisfactorily I think - with OH working full time and me working part time at first. Why not try that - you might find it rewarding!

thorsoak

Iamkira wrote: »

My mistake i just did the check again and i'd confused IS with housing benefit so perhaps that makes my post slightly less amusing? I can't blame people's reaction, it's pretty normal to judge people especially based on the infomation i've given and i've done it myself to others but at the end of the day i ask myself why are we grafting our !!!! off for minimum wage and hardly seeing each other when we could get almost as much working less?

Some impartial advice would be appriciated though, would it be ok to give our savings to somebody else before declaring our capital then if thats what we want to do or not? I don't want to be screwed over for being a careful saver my entire life.

But you will screw the Welfare State??

Caz3121

looks easy doesn't it but do remember these benefits can be stopped at any time. The welfare state is generous to those with children....currently...but what an example to set to your children and what when they grow up and all the benefits for them stop....have a read of the post on here with people talking about their children leaving education and they are going to end up with no tax credits, child benefit, reduced housing etc and have no idea how they will survive with their 16 hour minimum wage jobs as their only income

My hubbies ex does the "16 hours and no more" even though the 'children' are 16 and 17 (didn't work at all until they stopped her IS and introduced tax credits) my 17 year old step son said recently he would love to go and live in New York...when asked what he would do there he said "nothing, I'll just live off benefits"...why work when you can get it all handed to you.

You say you were saving for a mortgage are you happy for this dream to disappear...a) you are unlikely to get one on one part time wage and 3 dependents and b) you cannot give your money away so your hard saved deposit will be used for rent and council tax

Have you looked to see if you are entitled for any help with housing etc currently?

melly1980

thorsoak wrote: »

But you will screw the Welfare State??

To be fair I dont see an issue.

If they have worked and saved well why should they be worse off than a family that is exactly the same but has chosen to waste their money?

Lets not forget, most of the mess that this country is in is through borrowing and spending obscene amounts of money. It is stupidity to reward such behaviour.