Worried sick over Universal Credit, can anyone advise?

BBBNH

Firstly, apologies of this is the wrong section or if these questions have been asked alot. I couldn't find anything

I have been doing a little research on Universal Credit as I have started to hear things about it which sounds quite daunting, the trouble is I can't find anything set in stone, and some things I am reading are contradicting eachother.

I'm a single parent, self employed on a very low income. My child is 3 and is in private nursery. I can't work any more than 18 hours as I don't have the money to pay for more nursery hours. My business is new and I am struggling. I went back to education and retrained for this new career expecting to do fairly well for myself and my daughter and unfortunately this isn't the case, I believe it's to do with the recession and people not having the money to pay for my services (that sounds a bit dodgy!) Some weeks i'll earn nothing after i've paid my rent (I rent a room above a shop) Other weeks i'll earn about £60-£70 tops. I don't receive housing benefit, just CTC and WTC.

Can anyone advise me how i'll be affected? Do I need to up my hours in order to be eligible for UC? Do I need to ensure I'm bringing in minimum wage in order to qualify for UC? It looks to me like I might be better off trying to find a job in a supermarket/shop/restaurant and shut my little business down, which is very unfortunate, but i'm one of those people who rely on tax credits and can't really see a way out at the minute.

Any advice appreciated.

northerntwo1

They are apparantly allowing a 12 month grace. If after 12 months your business is not bringing in money then you need to find a part time job (16 hours) that entitles you to full time worth of tax credits.

At the moment (if you are honest) you are getting benefits with no earnings and surely you can see why they are not in agreement that this is OK. Why is your daughter in nursery if you are not earning?

Will she be starting school so less money going forward?

BBBNH

she is in nursery so that i can try and earn a living. i don't have the luxury of free childcare from family.

she will start school in 2 years, and i will be able to work some more hours then.

tigeress289

Slightly confused here as I thought that if you were self employed and doing 30 hours a week and earned under say £5000, you would receive a WTC to make your income upto around £8500 and receive full housing and CT credit.

Ellejmorgan

Doesn't she get 15 hours free nursery, I thought every child got this from age 2..

Pedent

BBBNH wrote: »

Can anyone advise me how i'll be affected?

Yes, but the details of Universal Credit are still being finalised. Nothing's set in stone.

BBBNH wrote: »

Do I need to up my hours in order to be eligible for UC?

No, or at least certainly not yet. The hours you're expected to work will depend on your circumstances, and with a pre-school age child I can't see them asking you to work more than 18 hours/week. When your child starts school, though, then their expectations of you may change.

BBBNH wrote: »

Do I need to ensure I'm bringing in minimum wage in order to qualify for UC?

No, but you probably will have to choose between being treated as if you earn minimum wage for the minimum number of hours that they think you should work (which may be fewer hours than you actually work, and for some with full time caring responsibilities will be zero hours), and at least looking for and if you're offered it taking better paid work.

BBBNH wrote: »

It looks to me like I might be better off trying to find a job in a supermarket/shop/restaurant and shut my little business down, which is very unfortunate, but i'm one of those people who rely on tax credits and can't really see a way out at the minute.

If you continue to earn much less than minimum wage from self-employment, then that may be true. It looks like right now a minimum wage job would at least double your earnings (if one were available that fitted around your childcare responsibilities). There is a move away from topping up the incomes of those who for lifestyle reasons choose low paid self-employment topped up with benefits when they could support themselves through employment.

You do have some time, both before you're migrated to Universal Credit and before your child goes to school. Hopefully you can use that time to grow your business to the point where none of this makes a difference to you. Good luck!

OrkneyStar

Ellejmorgan wrote: »

Doesn't she get 15 hours free nursery, I thought every child got this from age 2..

Age 3 in Scotland, not sure about the rest of the country though.

merlin68

I think your missing out on some benifits here, you should be getting housing and council tax benifit plus 70% of child care paid and 15 free hours.

jjj1980

All children qualify for the 15 hours a week free care for 38 weeks of the year from age 3.

Some nurseries have provision to start this from age 2 but it's usually those run by local authorities, not private nurseries.

BBBNH

Thank you for the replies so far, particularly pedent, very helpful.

My daughter doesn't qualify for 15 hrs free nursery until january & even then it's only during term time, they average it out and i'll be about £30 better off a week, but i assume that will come out of my WTC?

I don't need HB, i choose to live with my mum, drives me mad but so be it!

Does anyone know when it'll be set in stone? I need to make plans i guess. I'm confused by the whole minimum wage thing?

Does anyone know if it will effect maternity allowance, child benefit etc... Or is it just CTC and WTC?

Sixer

You'll get transitional protection under UC until you have a change of circumstances, so you should be entitled to what you get now.