any help for a stay at home dad?

fluffy70

If anyone can offer some signposting or advice I would really appreciate it

I work 37hrs a week for 20k a year, am married and have a nearly 5year old about to start school in 2 weeks

My husband has been self employed as a general maintenance man/ kitchen fitter/ bathroom fitter/ jack of all trades since 2008 (he previously worked as a fork lift driver but had to leave because of ill health

Basically since I returned to work full time in early 2011 he has been been the main childcarer while our son has been at nursery part time and now especially in the non term time. He has no income, his last work was as a self employed agent for Provident (yes I know he has some shame in that one but someone has to do it and he was trying to bring some money in. Unfortunately he ended up paying to work for them after they started fining agents for recession hit customers but that's another lengthy story)

He's not in perfect health - he has GERD and IBS-D/C so his life is restricted in what work he can do, but he can look after our son perfectly well, even though our son understands that sometimes daddy needs to not be as hectic as he sometimes can be with him.

Until next Friday we receive CTC for our son's childcare costs (just under what we pay)and minimal WTC as husband did make the grand sum of £3000 profit last year on his self assessment. From next Friday there are no childcare costs and therefore no CTC. I'm trying to keep us all on my salary, but we're behind on Council Tax, have debt coming out of our ears after our one bedroomed flat was repossessed 2 years ago and we now rent a house from my best friend for less than market value (thank god for good friends).

Am I right in thinking that I should get the Child Benefit signed over to him? He often spends days in with our son as there isn't any money to take him out anywhere but the local park and sometimes not even then if there's no petrol in the car (I cycle or walk to work). At least if he had the CB it could be used for what it's intended for - at the moment it gets consumed into bills and food.

Is there anything else he could be entitled to? With him not working we find that we're in the catch 22 situation - even though he's self employed he hasn't paid the right contributions for JSA apparently (and yes he would look for a part time job once son was in school if he could find one to fit with school hours). I've asked him to relinquish the self employed status as he's not really anymore and isn't bringing money in so the self assessment process is a farce with zeros everywhere - he has no qualifications (2 GCSE's due to poor health from when he was a kid and undiagnosed dyslexia - however he IS intelligent, just lacking confidence and presence sometimes). We decided that I should be the main worker as I have a good education and valid skills/ work experience so can possibly have more of an earning potential for the family.

Apologies for such a long wheeze but I feel like I'm going around in circles.

ANY advice (positive) would be welcomed

Thank You

p00hsticks

fluffy70 wrote: »

Am I right in thinking that I should get the Child Benefit signed over to him?

Sorry, I can't help with the rest of your questions, but I'm pretty certain that the answer to this bit is YES - as the recipient of Child Benefit, you husband should then get NI credits which will count towards him getting a state pension later in life.

nannytone_2

i' a bit confused.
when did he stop working?

it would help if the child benefit is in his name, as he would get NI credits whilst he is unemployed.

pmlindyloo

As already said transfer the CB into his name becuase of the NI credits.

Next, de-register as self employed and look for a part time/full time job.

He has been a house husband up to now but when your child starts school he will be able to work.

There are no benefits that you would be entitled to that I can think of. He isn't entitled to contribution based JSA because he hasn't paid the correct NI contributions and he isn't entitled to income based JSA because of your earnings.

You can check your entitlements with the benefit checker on www.turn2us.org.uk in case I have missed anything. If your OH can't find a job then I think you might be entitled to more Tax Credits next year.

If you are having difficulties with your finances there are only two remedies I am afraid - up your income or reduce your expenditure.

If you have debts that you are having difficulty paying then post on the Debtfree Wannabe board. It is a really useful place for non judgemental help. The people on there are also experts in money saving ideas.

fluffy70

Thanks everyone

He will look for a job for when son starts school (he's started looking already) but finding one that fits between 9.00 to 2.30 is proving hard as I'm already at work by those times. I've been looking for a higher paid job too but I'm in a lucky position of a permanent contract and everything out there appears to be one year temp contracts in our area and that scares me for the sake of an extra couple of grand a year.

Expenditure is right down now - the car will most likely have to go at the end of this month as we can't afford to put it through an MOT, but we could probably get by without as son's school is basically 200 yards from our front door and I cycle or walk to work. We already budget food shop, my clothes are charity shop finds, he hasn't bought any as he doesn't have his own money (his sentiment not mine) and the only new shoes that have been bought in the past two years are for our son.

One of the main issues he has though is his health -
nannytone - he stopped working on an employed basis in 2007 - he was diagnosed with bladder cancer and his employers refused to acknowledge or accept medical records that he was ill as 'someone else that they employed had had bladder cancer and they didn't have that treatment'
His last paid work as the self employed sales agent for Provident ended at the end April 2011. Since then he's done some remedial kitchen repairs for friends, laid a kitchen floor for a friend and done some domestic plumbing - all tiny amounts of money. His GERD and IBS make things quite hard for him and I think we'll just have to try to find something that can work around those and when he gets poorly

but thanks everyone for taking the time to read and advise - much appreciated.

nannytone_2

if your husband hasnt worked since april 2011. i dont understand why youve been getting any help with childcare .... or do you just mean the 15 hours a weel that all 3 and 4 year olds get?

he wont be entitled to any benefits in his own right as he wpnt have sufficient contributions.

you earn too much for working tax credits, but will get some child tax credit.

also, it may be worth looking at LHA and council tax benefit.
would be a minimal amount, but you may get some

pineapple123

Cant offer much help but how about him getting an evening /night job so you can both work around looking after your son with less problem in school hols or if your child is off school sick.


(Sorry dont know how angry face got on here.)

Dunroamin

Would he have any interest in setting up as a child minder?

babyblooz

Caring for several children is very tiring.

cte1111

I would suggest that you and your husband have a look at the Up your Income board on here. There are lots of different ideas for earning whilst you are looking after children. I've done mystery shopping (need to keep the self employed registration) which might be more difficult without a car but it depends if you live near towns or can go there cheaply by public transport.

As your husband has some experience of door to door work, maybe Avon, Phoenix cards, Bettaware etc would be an option?

I would certainly also have a go at claiming council tax benefit, I think you are on the border line for it but no harm in trying.

fluffy70

nannytone wrote: »

if your husband hasnt worked since april 2011. i dont understand why youve been getting any help with childcare .... or do you just mean the 15 hours a weel that all 3 and 4 year olds get?

he wont be entitled to any benefits in his own right as he wpnt have sufficient contributions.
you earn too much for working tax credits, but will get some child tax credit.

/B]

Hi Nannytone - he's been doing bit jobs here and there as I mentioned in my earlier post and all income has been declared - and as I said he made the wonderful profit of £3000 last year so we have been eligible for costs towards childcare costs on top of the NEG funded hours - and I'm afraid that you're wrong about earning too much for working tax credits - it may not be much but we do still get WTC based on last year's income although that's about to change based on current updates to HMRC.