Cannot afford to live together

inch_high

I want my girlfriend and son to move in with me.

The trouble is, as a single parent in a 2 bedroom flat, she gets the following benefits:
Tax credits £6340
Housing Benefit £2500
Child Benefit £1060
Her rent is £500 a month so with the housing benefit its pretty much £300 a month.

At the moment I have a lodger who gives me £350 a month. I cant really afford to have less than that. So for my OH to match that it would cost her £50 a month more than she is paying now - which isnt much, granted.
But a a couple, we would only get £1600 in benefits (£1060 child benefit and £540 in tax credits). So she loses £5800 in tax credits!
We are both on around £17 - £18k a year.

Am I missing something here? How can she be so much better off as a single parent? I know obviously it's there to help single parents etc, but it's not like I can provide £5800 each year from under the floorboards!
Am I missing something?

Spendless

How old are her kids? Could she look for a job? You wouldn't have 2 x gas/electricity/water/house insurance bills etc.

Dontknowanymore

She looses £5800 tax credits but gains £17k a year from yours, you will both have a combined income of over £30k a year, with one less household to run.

Dontknowanymore

Spendless wrote: »

How old are her kids? Could she look for a job? You wouldn't have 2 x gas/electricity/water/house insurance bills etc.

I read the OP as they are both in work and she earns as much as he does.

rachbc

Spendless wrote: »

How old are her kids? Could she look for a job? You wouldn't have 2 x gas/electricity/water/house insurance bills etc.

She has a job - she bring sin c£17k pa

Joint out goings will be less - I lost out on a tax credits when I moved in with my now hubby but it was worth it for all the non financial gains.

Does she get any maintence payments for the NRP?

Rather than looking at what she looses look at what you gain together - a joint household income of £34K

Dontknowanymore

Also if it will only cost her and extra £50 a month to stay with you, that is hardly not being able to afford to live together!

Gosh I would give that up and more to have a family household.

Mojisola

A joint income of 34k+ - you should be very comfortable!

mountainofdebt

So if I get this straight the OP's girlfriend earns £18K and gets nearly £10K a year in benefits.

Not having a go at the OP's girlfriend but it does make you wonder doesn't it......

Idiophreak

inch_high wrote: »

Cannot afford to live together

I don't really know if you appreciate that this just isn't the case?

Not being able to afford to live together is not the same thing as "being as well off living together". Do all the sums about which bills are currently duplicated, which you'll have to pay more for, which benefits you'll lose and work out a cost p/a of moving in together.

If you think that you living with your girlfriend and son is worth that amount of money, do it. If you'd rather have the money, stay living apart.

19lottie82

She gets these benefits because she is a single parent. If you move in together she won't be.

Although I don't know your exact financial details, I don't think it's necessarily true that you "can't afford" to move in together, more likely that you aren't too keen on the drop in income. There's a difference.

As others have said, £36 k + the remaining benefits that you have discussed are perfectly adequate to fund a 2 adult + 1 child household.

clearingout

So what you're saying is you can't get past the idea that you'll have to live as a couple and share your lives, your household bills, your wages with your girlfriend and her child? are you actually ready to move in together?