Expert advice needed - Benefits

bill1980

Im sorry if I should have read this somewhere else before posting but I just cant seem to get my head around what benefits myself and my wife are entitled too and it is impossible trying to plan our future without knowing facts

I am on £33,700 a year my wife was in full time employment up until we had our first child. She is now on maternity leave and due back around Christmas time.

We are trying to decide on how best to manage our finances.

Obviously the best situation would be for my wife to stay at home and not work and look after our child. What benefits would we get in this situation androughly how much.

The other option was for my wife to work 16 hrs a week in her current job. Again the same question how much and what would we get. Do we have to keep our salary below £40,000

Are there any other options?

At the moment the only thing we claim is child benefit

Many thanks

Bill

Plans_all_plans

Have you tried www.entitledto.co.uk? On that salary, you will get minimal help from the state. My husband and I are on less and get £80 child benefit and approx £80 child tax credit a month. If your wife goes back to work, you may get some help with childcare costs. If not, then look into if your employer does chiildcare vouchers.

karenx

There is no such benefits for stay at home mums. Will just be the child benefit and minimal child tax credits

bill1980

Thanks for the advice and sorry for the delay in responding

Was never expecting to get much from the government.

Mojisola

There are a lot of ways to save money if one parent stays at home - travel costs reduced, no need for "office clothes", ability to shop around for bargains, opportunity to cook good food from scratch, etc. When you do the sums, take these things into account.