Starting Part Time Job will it affect my benefits?

paulmapp8306

Childcare costs are rediculously high.

My wife is looking for work, but childcare costs for our two for both before school and after school ammount to £150/week, which is more than my wife would earn at min wage - plus shes got transport costs.

there is little incentive for 2nd earner to actual work at present unless its over min wage.

and for those comments about unfair - I think there should be the SAME incentives to work regardless of if your a first wage earner or second. Descrimination is a bad thing in all aspects of life.

That incentive should be an increase in disposable income if you work - that is after any costs incurred by working (transport, childcare, loss or benefits etc). If there isnt a net increase in income then there is no incentive at all to work. It doesnt need to be that much I guess (though there are those out there who dont se why they should work 39 hours a week for an extra £40 a week - they equate that to earning £1/hour NOT the fact their supporitng themselves rather than the taxpayer doing it), but you should see some benefit to working - especially if that work takes a parent (particularly a mother) away from her children longer.

paulmapp8306

Re-Tax credits.

You need to declare ANY change in circumstance when it happens. Its max effect will only become apparent on mext years award - but it will affect this years as well. That goes for whether you loos a job part way through a year (so you get wome tax credits but not the full ammount) or if you get a job part way though.

Its actuall possible to have to pay BACK tax credits if you get a job part way through a year. for instance (and probably unlikely) if you dont work April to December, then get a job in Jan at £40k per year, you will effectivly earn £10k in this period - that will reduce your annual award, and you may have already received more than your entitled to in this tax year.

Happened to a friend of mine the other way. He earned nearly £40k, and paid out for things as he always had. He lost his job in September, but is entitled to very little this tax year as hes already earned £18k this year. While its understandable, he cant get money back he spent assuming he'd have his job all year (mobile contracts, sky TV, holiday etc). While everything not necessary has now been cancelled hes still having to live on less than hes got comming in.

zagfles

paulmapp8306 wrote: »

Childcare costs are rediculously high.

My wife is looking for work, but childcare costs for our two for both before school and after school ammount to £150/week, which is more than my wife would earn at min wage - plus shes got transport costs.

there is little incentive for 2nd earner to actual work at present unless its over min wage.

and for those comments about unfair - I think there should be the SAME incentives to work regardless of if your a first wage earner or second. Descrimination is a bad thing in all aspects of life.

Well UC will make this a lot more equal than now, you'll be glad to know.

That incentive should be an increase in disposable income if you work - that is after any costs incurred by working (transport, childcare, loss or benefits etc). If there isnt a net increase in income then there is no incentive at all to work. It doesnt need to be that much I guess (though there are those out there who dont se why they should work 39 hours a week for an extra £40 a week - they equate that to earning £1/hour NOT the fact their supporitng themselves rather than the taxpayer doing it), but you should see some benefit to working - especially if that work takes a parent (particularly a mother) away from her children longer.

You're never going to get a big incentive to work if childcare is about the same as the wage you'll be earning, whatever the system. You need to be earning a reasonable amount more than the childcare costs, otherwise what is the point? It'd be like paying £50 a day travel to earn £50 a day.