Want to work but better off on benefits?

anguk

agentpodge wrote: »

Out of that £950 a month has to come child care fees (presumably) from 5.30am - 6pm each day. I wouldn't be suprised if the child care alone cost this each month!

They pay £160 a month for childcare (the rest paid for by tax credits) and it had already been included in the outgoings. The £950 is what's left after all bills and expenses are paid.

agentpodge

Pinkypants wrote: »

As a father I would love to stay at home more and be more involved with my children's upbringing. If the state allows such a thing why not.

Choosing to work, when your income would be the same for staying at home in my mind is madness. No choice, stay at home while you can. How would your children benefit from you being away from the home for so long while you are work, being tired from a days work etc....

The only drawbacks I can see are later in life, if you have a long period of absence from work future employers MAY see that as a negative.

I totally agree with this post. Seeing your children grow up is invaluable and not something I want to miss. Particularly if I don't have the benefit of bringing home more money for this massive loss!

anguk

agentpodge wrote: »

He's on incapacity benefit so unfit for work, which presumably means he would not be well enough to look after a baby full time. Incapacity benefit usually means YOU need some kind of help in caring for your own daily needs. If he was fit enough to look after a baby/child (very demanding) then in theory he should be well enough to work some kind of job and not need incapacity benefit.

Not necessarily. If you are in receipt of DLA care component that would mean you need some kind of help in caring for your own daily needs but many people are on incapacity benefit and are still perfectly capable of looking after themselves, it just means they're unfit for work.

agentpodge

anguk wrote: »

Not necessarily. If you are in receipt of DLA care component that would mean you need some kind of help in caring for your own daily needs but many people are on incapacity benefit and are still perfectly capable of looking after themselves, it just means they're unfit for work.

But if you are unfit for work how can you be expected to be fit to look after a baby. I have no doubt that staying home looking after a baby will be harder than the full time work I do!


The other side to look at the situation of AimeesMum leaving work is:

There are millions of people out of work at the moment who are claiming benefits because they cannot work because they cannot find a job, but are desperately searching. If she leaves work to care for her child because it leaves them in financially the same position, then this creates a job for someone currently receiving benefits and who wants to work because they are at home doing nothing as do not have a family to raise.


The government are the people to blame for the country's mess, it is them who allow the ridiculous benefit system to continue even though it often makes families better off on benefits than working. I would much rather work than have benefits, but if I was to receive roughly the same amount of money either way, I would stay at home and see my child grow up and return to work part time when they go to school (although I know it would be harder once you' ve been out of work a while).

Oldernotwiser

agentpodge wrote: »

But if you are unfit for work how can you be expected to be fit to look after a baby. I have no doubt that staying home looking after a baby will be harder than the full time work I do!

You would be surprised how many people on IB/ESA look after children full time and even go on to have additions to their family! One MSE member on IB brings up two children and home schools them.

anguk

It's also worth remembering that the OP has posted in the past that her husband has refused outright to look for work, stays up all night playing video games then sleeps all day and also refuses to get up in the morning to take the children to the childminders. It seems to me that the OP is trying to struggle with everything herself with all responsibilities falling on her shoulders with little support.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3087156

AimeesMum_2

anguk wrote: »

It's also worth remembering that the OP has posted in the past that her husband has refused outright to look for work, stays up all night playing video games then sleeps all day and also refuses to get up in the morning to take the children to the childminders. It seems to me that the OP is trying to struggle with everything herself with all responsibilities falling on her shoulders with little support.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3087156

A fair bit has changed since we split up and got back together. He does take the kids to nursery and he is now looking for work and has 4 interviews next week Which I am really pleased about.

I fully admit that I was crumbling under the pressure of trying to support a family by myself while he wasn't pulling his weight at all and the people on the forum were a great support when I was struggling.

Things are working well at the moment Since this post, I got a £3,000 wage rise at work and am feeling optimistic that he will be going back to work shortly Xx

anguk

AimeesMum wrote: »

A fair bit has changed since we split up and got back together. He does take the kids to nursery and he is now looking for work and has 4 interviews next week Which I am really pleased about.

I fully admit that I was crumbling under the pressure of trying to support a family by myself while he wasn't pulling his weight at all and the people on the forum were a great support when I was struggling.

Things are working well at the moment Since this post, I got a £3,000 wage rise at work and am feeling optimistic that he will be going back to work shortly Xx

I'm really pleased to hear that things are better and good luck with the interviews next week, hopefully he will soon get a job which will help the finances. :T

Just a thought but if he did manage to find full-time work would it maybe be possible for you to work part-time around his hours something like an evening job a couple of days a week? You could look after the children while he was at work and vice versa, that way you'd save the £160 on childcare plus you'd be able to spend more time with the children as you wouldn't have to work for such long hours.