mum returning to work...

SiV1981

hi all...

still kinda new round here... but thought i'd say hi and see what you guys think of my current position..

i left work to raise a family in 2005, seven years ago now.

i have three children, as of September two will be in full time education and one will be in part time...

my initial plan was to be an at home mum till they all got to full time education (1 years time), but plans have changed, as i need money to pay off negative equity so i can move to be closer to a terminally ill parent.

my parents in law have offered to help with some childcare which takes some of the pressure off... but will prob still be paying a child minder for the youngest for about 2 days a week.

have been frantically doing the maths

wage = 14500 (pro-rata. term time only)

so adjusted wage = 9760 p/a gross
= 813 pcm
(averages from estimates, based on 35 week school year spread over 12 months)

reduction in tax credits = -200
child care = -156
travel (train no railcard) = -90

meaning my actual wage pre-tax is
= 370 pcm
= 4440 pa


whick means i'll be working for the equivalent of about 3.40 per hour :eek:

It's just not right i tell you!!.... ah well... i don't have any other optoins, you guys think of anything i've missed??

looking into rail cards..... darn confusing though!!

thanks

SiV

an9i77

It's just not right that you have to pay your own way after all these years of other people picking up the tab for you. Just not right I tell you!!

SiV1981

an9i77 wrote: »

It's just not right that you have to pay your own way after all these years of other people picking up the tab for you. Just not right I tell you!!

I think that's a bit unfair really.

It's not like I've been living off benefits, My husband works hard, pays his income tax, and i have been doing sugar-craft on the side of all the parenting, plus i'm returning to work before my youngest is 4.

i'm sure you can understand that it's a bit of a shock, though

i'm sorry you found my post offensive

slickc2100

SiV1981 wrote: »

hi all...

still kinda new round here... but thought i'd say hi and see what you guys think of my current position..

i left work to raise a family in 2005, seven years ago now.

i have three children, as of September two will be in full time education and one will be in part time...

my initial plan was to be an at home mum till they all got to full time education (1 years time), but plans have changed, as i need money to pay off negative equity so i can move to be closer to a terminally ill parent.

my parents in law have offered to help with some childcare which takes some of the pressure off... but will prob still be paying a child minder for the youngest for about 2 days a week.

have been frantically doing the maths

wage = 14500 (pro-rata. term time only)

so adjusted wage = 9760 p/a gross
= 813 pcm
(averages from estimates, based on 35 week school year spread over 12 months)

reduction in tax credits = -200
child care = -156
travel (train no railcard) = -90

meaning my actual wage pre-tax is
= 370 pcm
= 4440 pa


whick means i'll be working for the equivalent of about 3.40 per hour :eek:

It's just not right i tell you!!.... ah well... i don't have any other optoins, you guys think of anything i've missed??

looking into rail cards..... darn confusing though!!

thanks

SiV

I agree with you its not right as I was in a similar position myself, sorry I can't offer you any advice but I do wish you all the best in whatever is you do or decide.

[/QUOTE]It's just not right that you have to pay your own way after all these years of other people picking up the tab for you. Just not right I tell you!! [/QUOTE]

Actually no its not right,,,,,because the people who are genuinely relying on other people to pick up the tab such as OP and myself..actually do try and do something about it and go back to work to better ourselves for whatever reason.

But in this climate we might aswell join the rest of the millions who actually sit at home sponge off the state and do naff about it and don't want to because not only are you getting paid more to stay at home, you get to spend more quality time with your kids and develop a mother & baby bond over the most important years of their life....

OP is on here asking a genuine question with regards to returning to work she is at the least trying...doesn not need people coming on here slating her!!!!!:mad::mad:

tooldle

Have you run your figures for combined income through one of the calculators? It's possible that you might get some help with the childcare.
Another thought would be to look at proper full time jobs, rather than term time only. Whilst the childcare will be higher, the take home will increase. Managing holidays between you etc, might give more in your pocket, and allow you to pay off the negative equity faster. We both work, when our child was younger we would stagger our holidays to minimise childcare costs. It is important to have family time as well though, I hasten to add.
I sympathise, but it is important to remember that childcare costs do not last forever.
As a tax payer, I commend you for attempting to reduce your draw on the state through tax credits.

SiV1981

done all the calculators... and unfortunately, don't qualify for any help with childcare..as we we shouldn't be paying enough on a weekly basis to qualify. Hoping that the school i'll be working for does childcare vouchers, so at least i'll save a tiny bit of tax there!


i can see your point on the full time vs pro-rata argument, but as we have three children, the childcare over the holidays that we couldn't cover with holiday time would be immense, some places give reductions for siblings, but its not much. Plus my experience is in a school based role, returning to work after a career break is hard enough without changing jobs too, lol

thanks for your input though, good food for thought!

tooldle

Hi Siv1981. I see your point, but it may be worth making the calculation. When my child first went to school, we used a combination of holiday clubs (various locations) to get through the holidays. Prior to school, we had used a full time nursery. Each of us get just over 6 weeks annual leave plus bank holidays. School holidays are roughly thirteen weeks. Over the course of a year, we would take a few weeks family holiday and then use the rest to cover as much of the school holidays as possible. Four weeks each, would give eight weeks total cover, meaning childcare was needed for roughly three weeks per year. If you were able to manage something similar, you could have 52 weeks of full time salary, with only a small additional hit for the holiday cover.
Another option would be to target your employers carefully. Find one who would allow you to work extra hours and bank them to use over the school holidays. My employer is very flexible, and I can bank hours to use when it suits. I normally manage an extra week and a halfs holiday this way. Another option is to work compressed hours, fitting annual full time hours into school term time.
Lots of options out their to consider.
Good luck to you, I hope you find something to suit that allows you to acheive your aims quickly.

duchy

Wow
I guess it depends on your perspective.

You've spent the last few yearssubsidized by the state yet still ended up in negative equity. Now you want to work again and are moaning your subsidy is less ? Plenty of parents would kill for a term time only job and appreciate it.

Talk about your glass is half empty !

SiV1981

duchy wrote: »

Wow
I guess it depends on your perspective.

You've spent the last few yearssubsidized by the state yet still ended up in negative equity. Now you want to work again and are moaning your subsidy is less ? Plenty of parents would kill for a term time only job and appreciate it.

Talk about your glass is half empty !

i don't think i ever moaned about "reduced subsidy" as you put it... rather commented that it was different than i initially expected.

i apologize that i am not perfect in your eyes..

Negative equity is not something that was created by me.. the down turn in the market, was not caused or influenced in any way by myself, or my choice to take a couple of years out of employment to raise my children, and i think you'll find there are thousands of people across the country in a very similar situation. plus i was not supported by the government, i was supported by my husband... and if you want to comment about the way he and I choose to run our finances and relationship, that is even further out of your jurisdiction than blaming me for the current economic and social downturn.

and i am officially out of here......Trolls my !!!! every post on here has been hated, torn down and i have been abused and made assumptions over... all by posters with those lovely medals

keep your elitist website.... so glad you are all perfect in every way, have fun with that!

Takeaway_Addict

Hardly an elitist website, quite the opposite infact.

However, the point people have made is correct...albeit badly put. Benefits shouldn't be seen as a way of life, they should be seen as helping those in need through tough times.

You also need to appreciate the positives that you can get from working such as creating new friendships, boosting morale and moving onto better paid jobs ultimately.

Beckyy

It would only be for 1 year though, until your youngest is in full time education? You might find you can get some help with childcare costs, and stagger holidays to reduce them more.

Have you applied for any jobs yet? You might find it takes longer than you expect to find one, so I would start now if you can. Best of luck.