universal credit again

langold

im a stay at home to 3 children my husband works 45 plus hours a week, will i have to get a job when the youngest is 5? i dont have any family to help with childcare and im worried about the cost of it and the avaliability of it, many thnaks

Notmyrealname

I believe the age is 7 and it is that you will have to look for work but it would be work that would fit in with taking your youngest to and from school so say a part time job during school hours.

alex21

We got a memo thru at work last week that the age will be reducing to 1yr old unless some other exemption reason for not seeking work. I have no other details as yet but thought you might appreciate a heads up on this. Don't shoot the messenger.

kingfisherblue

I may be wrong, but if you are not seeking work, I don't think you will be forced into work, as you havve a partner to provide for you and your family. At the moment, if you are a SAHM, you might receive a bit more in child tax credits, but are not forced into work as you do not claim JSA or income support. I would imagine that there will still be the option to be a SAHM if you have a partner, but what will happen money-wise is anybody's guess.

The ages of the children only affect single parents who claim income support. When the youngest child reaches five, single parents are required to move from JSA to IS, and to seek work. - apologies, this should read 'single parents are required to move from IS to JSA and to seek work'

Vejovis

langold wrote: »

im a stay at home to 3 children my husband works 45 plus hours a week, will i have to get a job when the youngest is 5? i dont have any family to help with childcare and im worried about the cost of it and the avaliability of it, many thnaks

if your youngest is 5 you'll be expected to have one parent working 35 hours at NMW at least, and the other parent working school hours since the children will all be at school. of course you dont have to claim anything, in which case you wouldn't be expected to work

Morlock

kingfisherblue wrote: »

When the youngest child reaches five, single parents are required to move from JSA to IS, and to seek work.

Surely from IS to JSA.

HappyMJ

Vejovis wrote: »

if your youngest is 5 you'll be expected to have one parent working 35 hours at NMW at least, and the other parent working school hours since the children will all be at school. of course you dont have to claim anything, in which case you wouldn't be expected to work

Since when?

Currently no one is forced to work at all to claim child tax credits.

Notmyrealname

kingfisherblue wrote: »

I may be wrong, but if you are not seeking work, I don't think you will be forced into work, as you havve a partner to provide for you and your family. At the moment, if you are a SAHM, you might receive a bit more in child tax credits, but are not forced into work as you do not claim JSA or income support.

I think this is aimed at people who have nobody working. Even with tax credits the only reason you get more is because you earn less. If someone was earning 24k whilst his wife stayed at home and you had another couple earning £12k each, childcare aside they'd get the same money.

The problem with this latest govts bright idea is that whilst they want you to look for work and allow you to restrict it to school hours, the simple fact is there are very few jobs that fit in with that so TBH, they're still going to be paying so many people out as to make the whole exercise cost more in administration than they save in benefit payouts.

Vejovis

HappyMJ wrote: »

Since when?

Currently no one is forced to work at all to claim child tax credits.

did you read my last sentence?

oh and since UC conditionality was introduced. because there will not be any ctc or wtc

zagfles

alex21 wrote: »

We got a memo thru at work last week that the age will be reducing to 1yr old unless some other exemption reason for not seeking work. I have no other details as yet but thought you might appreciate a heads up on this. Don't shoot the messenger.

Nope, they won't need to look for work, but they will have to "keep in touch" with the labour market. This is what it says in the white paper:

Keeping in touch with the labour market[FONT=FS Me,FS Me][FONT=FS Me,FS Me]. Recipients will be in this group if they are a lone parent or lead carer in a couple with a child over one but below age five. They will be expected to attend periodic interviews to discuss their plans for returning to the labour market.[/FONT][/FONT]

zagfles

langold wrote: »

im a stay at home to 3 children my husband works 45 plus hours a week, will i have to get a job when the youngest is 5? i dont have any family to help with childcare and im worried about the cost of it and the avaliability of it, many thnaks

It depends how much your husband earns - if he earns at least double NMW for 35 hours (about £425 a week now) you won't need to seek work at all whatever the age of your kids.

But while your kids are under 12 the requirement will be lower.

See this thread in particular Sixer's posts:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3621977