Just need some clarification.....

missk_ensington

robby-01 wrote:

yeah if its not worth it dont worry the rest of us will just pick up the tab.

It is not the fault of the general public if the Government makle you better off working 16hours a week than if you worked 37.

My salary is now £24,000, I work 16 hours (2 days) per week so my annual pro rata salary is approx £9,600. Therefore my household salary is £9,600, and I am regarded as a low income family. This thus entitles me to maximum levels of tax credits, free prescriptions, maximum childcare, and because I'm also a degree student I get my fee's paid for me and get grants and hardship monies as a low income family.

If I worked full time (not that I can if I wanted to because I also do a full time BA degree) My household income would be £24,000 and if it was hypothetically somehow possible to still do my degree Id lose approx £10,000 a year in uni monies, £60 a week in childcare money and £90 a week in tax credits.

My take home pay per month on £9,600 is approx £800 as I barely pay any tax as I'm not that far over my personal allowance. If I worked full time Id take home after deductions approx £1666.

Making me £866 a month better off. Then deduct £60 a week (60x52/12) =£260 worse off from cut in childcare money
Then deduct £90 a week (90x52/12) = £390 loss of tax credits

TOTAL: £650 a month losses, to gain £866 income. Real money: £216 a month = £49 a week extra for an additional 21 hours work = £2.33 an hour wages, for a person on a £24,000 salary.

Great incentive to work full time rather than sticking to the 16 hours required to qualify to WTC.

Please dont blame working parents for playing the system as described here, we all do what is best for our own family, and it is not in any way fraudulent or illegal. If you have a problem with it, try writing to the Government.

woodfairy

Your a bit of an anomoly though because your a student with children so you get plenty of grants like HEG, PLA, dependants grants, childcare grants etc
I imagine. A single person or even a couple with no children would be much better off working. Government wants people like you to go to uni and they make it reasonably worthwhile.

kelloggs36

But they don't help those who are only just above the threshold. We get zilch. My hubby works full-time and pays 2.5k pa for the privalege of just getting to work, but this isn't taken into account - they keep it as income even if we don't have it. We have to pay for everything and qualify for NO childcare costs even though there is absolutely no way in the world we can afford to pay them - hence my mother looks after our son whilst I am at university. I have to pay towards my fees but get a loan which is repayable and the interest is calculated from day 1, so the debt gets bigger and bigger until I go to work. Also, in September my oldest daughter will go to uni herself, and despite us being worse off as we lost Child Benefit for her and the small amount of tax credit in respect of her, AND my loan will reduce to 2/3 of it for the year as it is my final year, we will be assessed as normal and get no help for her either, so somehow we have to find money (from thin air) to pay for her accommodation which is astronomical - more than my loan for the year, so I get no benefit other than even more debt from my own loan. Thanks Government for helping us normal familes want to make our lives better. If I split from my husband we would be laughing!

MDF_Goblin

But they don't help those who are only just above the threshold.

Why on earth should they? The welfare system is there to stop you starving and to keep a roof over your head. It is not there so you can afford a nice car or buy yourself a PS3.

As for paying to get to work - so you're husband is just like almost every other worker in the world then.

You're at university and you haven't got a childcare grant? Or Parents Learning Allowance?

Your loan is reduced as its worked out at about £86 or something a week with an additional allowance for books and travel. You won't be at Uni after the summer so unsurprisingly you can't get a loan for that time. Reasonable to me. And the loan is the best loan you'll ever get. Its barely a loan, nobody is going to come knocking for it, the repayments are extremely reasonable and the rate of interest is that of inflation.

Not the governments fault you can't afford the things you want is it? And it certainly isn't the taxpayers job to help you get a better standard of living beyond the very basic.

pannetteb

Thanks' for most of your reply's and thanks for some of you guys for sticking up for me. I've worked full time since I was 18 and never claimed any benefits apart from maternity grants etc, as I've never needed to. When tax credit's came out we got that but up until 2005 didn't qualify for much in vie of the household income.

In 2005 my partner had to leave his full tome well paid security job because of illness. We took our then 2 yr old out of full time nursery and my partner didn't jump onto benefits.... he stayed at home looked after the kids and home. It wasn't until he got worse that he applied for benefits, which was unfortunately and luckily when I was pregnant. He was only eligible for benefits as my income reduced.

Somebody mentioned using the system, or something... but in our situation, we genuinely need it. Some of you are probably saying, why have another kid then... but before my partner got worse, he was planning to work part-time in security or catering, still look after the kids and not put too much strain on himself.

I knew that my income would mean that we wouldn't get any incapacity benefit as such, but in they eyes of the benefit people he's not even seen as unwell. Were not looking for additional monies just for him to be classed incapacitated so childcare would be payable.

We've both worked all our adult lives.... I've worked my way up in a Banking career and could not afford to go to Uni... just seems unfair that we need help and we're being perceived as 'playing the system'! I don't want the government to pay for a 'better standard of living', just want to be able to go to work and want my kids to in the care of someone who can look after them safely.!

pannetteb

woodfairy wrote:

Are you claiming Child Tax Credit? Working Tax Credit? Can you get childcare vouchers at work? Are you claiming Housing Benefit in which case up to a ceiling a big, big chunk of your nett earnings are ignored so you can afford to pay child care costs.

You won't get IS on £16,500 a year guarantee it. Not unless one of you disabled.

Yep I do get HB and getting CTC.

MDF_Goblin

Well, broadly speaking then you should get extra from CTC for childcare. I'm not extremely familiar with the way Tax Credits work on that but its my experience that you generally should.

HB will, up to a ceiling (which I shall look up for you as I can't remember off the top of my head) disregard your child care costs and they will not be taken into account when assessing your income. The ceiling is £175 per week for one child, £300 for two children or more. But, your partner must be in remunerative work or incapacitated which having read your post you say he has lost. I'd appeal that decision quick.

Had the council been offsetting your child care costs when your partner was on IB? I suspect they were if you are on £16k, CTC, WTC and your partner was on IB. Have a read of your entitlement letter.

pannetteb

We hadn't needed childcare since Apr 05, then we were a working couple with a 5yr and 2yr old.

msmicawber

Hi PAB,

I appreciate that you are in a very difficult position, both financially and because your husband clearly has good days and bad days, so you can't be sure if and when he'll be able to look after the children. I've just set out some thoughts that I hope may be helpful.

Why not check whether your employer does one of those schemes where you can pay for childcare directly out of your salary before it's taxed as this effectively reduces the cost to you. I was able to do this a few years ago and still receive child care assistance from both tax credits and HB.

Also, since you'll be working over 30 hours per week, shouldn't you get some extra tax credits for that?

Have you checked whether local schools have after school clubs? If so, try and get your child into one of them (I even managed to swing a place for my DD at another school's AS Club for a few terms as her school didn't have one at the time). Or, since you have 3 children, you could ask a childminder whether she'd give a family discount (not totally unheard of).

I know none of these things makes a huge amount of difference, but when your income's borderline, it can often make the difference between sinking or floating.

I hope you manage to sort things out soon.

lisa_75

MDF_Goblin wrote:

You're at university and you haven't got a childcare grant? Or Parents Learning Allowance?

The poster says that she pays towards her fees, so it is likely that she does not qualify for either as her husbands income is too high.

The childcare grant and parents learning allowance are only for those on very, very low incomes. Usually someone who has a partner who works would not qualify. Even when my husband was only on £11k I did not qualify for either.