Help!!! Need advice on best thing to do

elle2409

Hi all, new to MSE so bear with me if im in the wrong section, pointers would be great.

So life story as quick as possible, i have always worked, since coming out of school at 16 after GCSE's. I now have 3 children, work 30 hours at a pub so its shift work nights early's etc, my partner also works as management at the same place. To avoid childcare we work alternating shifts. Thus it being very rare we are in the house at the same time with him having to work 52 hours a week.

Struggling to stay on top of the children (who are 5, 3 and 18 months by the way), the housework, and our relationship i have suffered a bit of a mental break down. Im now on anti depressants and having to attend counselling.

So alot of people have told me that something has to give as i am just stretching myself too thin. So i am toying with the idea of giving up work to focus more on home life. The children are still young and i miss spending time with them and the time i do spend with them im knackered so its no fun anyway.

So basically what i am asking is if i were to give up work, what am i intitled to claim for, my partner has a pretty good salary so would be considered as 'low income' i wouldnt have thought, but i would be giving up 150-200 a week.

Any help or advice would be muchly appreciated.

sammyjammy

Pretty much nothing, you can make a claim to JSA if you want to actively seek alternative employment but your claim will be sanctioned whilst they investigate the leaving of your job and could be disallowed for up to 26 weeks. Without you saying what your partners salary is its impossible to tell if any kind of tax credits is involved.

dseventy

Cant think of much you could claim for.

JSA is out as you left your job and not job-seeking.

ESA is possible, but not given partners income.

DLA is about care/mobility needs, but hard to get.

Its worth checking a benefits calculator on-line to see if housing payments are possible.

D70

BigAunty

Use the Turn2us online benefit calculator to model various scenarios to see if any of your drop in employment income is offset by things like housing benefit (if a tenant) or tax credits.

A couple with kids are only required to work 24 hours between them, with one of them working at least 16 of them, to qualify for working tax credits, just in case your partner was considering reducing his hours to help you.

I came across DWP figures which showed that some households with one in low paid part time employment actually only net slightly less than an identical household with the same housing costs earning nearly 4 times them because of the way taxation and benefit withdrawal works, perhaps aggravated by child care costs, can't really remember.

Download the MSE budget planner and work through the site to identify how you can slash household costs and live ultrafrugally - if you don't qualify for much or any in the way of benefits, then you need to live on a reduced income. Make a realistic budget and then stick to it.