Low paid employment

karltin

Hi everyone and before I start I must warn you all that I am fairly new here so please go gentle on me

Currently I am married, unemployed for over one year and in receipt of the usual JSA, Housing Beinefit, Council Tax Benefit and Child Tax Credit as we have 1 child (8 Years old).

I have applied for many jobs without success until yesterday where I attended an interview for a full time job and have a feeling that I impressed them enough to call me in for a second interview hopefully.

I would be keen on taking the job should I be given the chance but there is an uncertainty in my mind in relation to the salary.

During the interview I was informed the starting salary would be £285 per week rising to £300 per week after 3 months before deductions. I believe after Tax & National Insurance deductions the starting "take home" salary would be approx £235 per week.

I am aware that I may be able to claim Working Tax Credits and still be able to claim Child Tax Credits but I believe my existing Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit will stop.

My questions are.....

Can anyone please tell me what exactly will I be able to claim should I take the job detailed above with a starting salary of £285 per week before deductions?

Is there any certain figures, benefits included, which I can rely upon which will give me an exact figure which I will be receiving each week?

Basically, if I am entitled to it, I need to know that if I am offered the job on the salary listed...

How much Working Tax Credit would I receive weekly?
How much Child Tax Credit would I receive weekly?
Would all of my Housing Benefit stop?
Would all my Council Tax Benefit stop?

I am very keen on this job but being a 40 year old family man I really do worry that should I take it I will be financially in a much worse position than I am now. I was made redundant from my job after over 20 years and I was earning this salary 20 years ago but given the current climate I have no opinion but to seriously consider this position but hate the uncertainty of not knowing what I will be finished up with at the end of the week.

I wish I could just find a end figure of exactly how much I would be taking home every week with everything included, simple as that

Many thanks for you patience everyone and I look forward to any replies.

Thanks again

samantham06

Hi, I have had similar issues before when trying to work out if I am financially better off working..
I always use www.entitledto.co.uk all you have to do is input all your details (rent..expected wages ect) and it will calculate how much housing benefit and working and child tax credit you are entitled to.
Maybe you could use this, work out how much better off you would be and go from there?

[Deleted User]

http://listentotaxman.com/ is a great website for helping calculate wages

and http://www.turn2us.org.uk/ should help you calculate any benefit entitlement.

karltin

Thanks for the helpful replies Samantha and Joanne.

I have filled in my details and it appears I would be working a 40hr week for approx £1.75 extra per hour and this does not take into account transportation costs (over 25 miles back and forth) and dinner money. Additional to this I would have to pay my full Council Tax and nearly all my rent.

Very disheartening indeed to be honest

McKneff

Ah yes, but self respect is priceless, as well as being a good role model for your child.

And theres nothing wrong with home made sandwiches for your dinner.

You could always do a budget planner

Chrissiew

Self respect is all well and good and very nice but not if it comes at a price, not being able to feed your family properly, not being able to pay rent or bills, it's really easy for someone in a well paid job or being comfortably able to look after their family properly to say take any job no matter what the cost just to gain self respect, it really can't be that simple all the time

karltin

My self respect is very much intact believe me. I have worked my entire life and I will not lower my self respect to do 40 hrs a week for £1.75 per hour and potentially sink my family into financial hardship operating as a slave for this run down country.

Additional to this the work involves shifts and, in fact, I will end up seeing very little of my son. The main ingredient of being a good role model does not involve taking a job with pay I was earning 20 years ago and having the state top it up to barely survive.

We all can have our own opinions though.

karltin

bullbar wrote: »

I shouldn't really say this being a Civil Servant for many years, but I can in a way agree with you.

It's not that you will only be earning a small amount more than benefits, but the loss of a family life, the extra costs of working such as travel that would break it for me.

If someone said to me that I would be better off by £70 a week, working 40 hours over what my benefit income was I would probably say that £70 is £70!

But if it cost me £35 in petrol + extra wear & tear on the car AND I hardly ever saw my family with working anti social hours, I would more than likely tell them were to stick the job!

That net level of increased income (£35) and the family would do it for me.

As has been said, self respect does come into it, but at that price - no, not for me.

The government are already playing around with the NMW for youngsters, next it will be adults. It won't be long before it is abolished and then we will see wage rates drop even further. It would be no surpise to me to see in a few years that adults will be working for under a £5 an hour!!

Very well put bullbar and you have described my situation exactly as it would be.

Thank you.

McKneff

karltin wrote: »

My self respect is very much intact believe me. I have worked my entire life and I will not lower my self respect to do 40 hrs a week for £1.75 per hour and potentially sink my family into financial hardship operating as a slave for this run down country.

Additional to this the work involves shifts and, in fact, I will end up seeing very little of my son. The main ingredient of being a good role model does not involve taking a job with pay I was earning 20 years ago and having the state top it up to barely survive.

We all can have our own opinions though.

Re the text in bold. If you wouldnt lower yourself, then what you are saying you would be quite happy on benefits then, which is even lower than £1.75 an hour so even more financial hardship. It doesnt make sense.

Anyway, it isnt £1.75 an hour, it's an extra 1.75 an hour x 40

I'm 62, Ive done some crap jobs to feed my family over the years, never gave a thought as to how much the difference was in regards to benefit, just got on with the job, never claimed benefits in my life, apart from now and that's only 60% of my state pension. Nothing else.

BigAunty

It's not £1.75, it's about £7 an hour, above the National Minimum Wage.

But yes, I agree you are victim of the high cost/low wage economy.

It could be a springboard into better paying employment - easier to get a better job from a job than from the dole.

But if you are offered it and turn it down, you could lose your JSA - I expect there are sanctions involved where people do not take up jobs they have sought, other members can confirm.

You can also see your child, not far off going to secondary school in a couple of years, in the remaining 128 hours left in the week, like you would have in your previous employment that spanned the first 6 years of his life. Perhaps your wife would like to get a part time job to boost the family income?

FBaby

karltin wrote: »

My self respect is very much intact believe me. I have worked my entire life and I will not lower my self respect to do 40 hrs a week for £1.75 per hour and potentially sink my family into financial hardship operating as a slave for this run down country.

Additional to this the work involves shifts and, in fact, I will end up seeing very little of my son. The main ingredient of being a good role model does not involve taking a job with pay I was earning 20 years ago and having the state top it up to barely survive.

We all can have our own opinions though.

So are you saying that others should continue to be slaves so that YOU can continue to rely on benefits to feed your family...

I'm confused, you say you are married, does it mean that your partner doesn't work either? If that is the case, than your child will be in the same situation than millions, seeing one parent before/after school, and the other an hour or so in the evening... oh wait, that's even better than my children who only get to see both of us for a couple of hours a day whilst we slave away...

In any case, you should wider your horizon...it is not just about what that job means for you tomorrow, but what it will mean in many more tomorrows. You have to start somewhere, and if it means not making much more working than whilst on benefits, than so be it, but hopefully, it means that in a few years time, you WILL be better off. Or are you saying that you intend on remaining on benefits for however long until you are somehow offered a well paid job...knowing that if after a year this offer is all you've managed to get, your chances of a better job whilst staying longer on benefits will get lower and lower.