Daughter's EMA

craftingqueen_2

My daughter's applying for EMA .Does her stepfather's earning's have to be included?

craftingqueen

Oldernotwiser

EMA assessment is based on gross household income, so yes.

http://www.centrallondonconnexions.org.uk/node/172

bizzy_d

craftingqueen wrote: »

My daughter's applying for EMA .Does her stepfather's earning's have to be included?

craftingqueen

have you recived your aplication through the post cos i haven't and i went obn the website for it t least 2 weeks ago

craftingqueen_2

hi bizzy_d we haven't recieved it as yet.

craftingqueen

fabwitch_2

My daughter was given the forms at School yesterday but she is not intitled to EMA because of household income. Which is sad because we have such a big morgtage and cant afford to give her money. Some of her friends will now be getting upto £30 a week , My daughter is so angry that the form says you can be earning why you learn. Yet she works so hard at at School, is still learning the same as her friends yet she will earn nothing for alll her hard work. If the Government wanted to help students they should have given a smaller amount of money to all students who work hard at School and not just for students whose parents are on a lower income as because some parents are just over the threshold the children are then peanilised and get nothing.

lexi

Fabwitch i totally agree with you. Your daughter shouldnt be penalised for her parents earnings. Child benefit isnt stopped if one family gets more money than the others does it? Plus teenagers want to learn & get a better career & sometimes need some extra encouragement. I remember my daughters lecturer before her first yr. She said make sure you take the opportunity to take EMA as she would rather her students do all the hard work & get the essays in on time than struggle with a part time /sat job to make money! Unfortunately it doesnt apply to all kids which to me is a shame.
Oh, to the OP yes you do have to declare your daughters step father's earnings. Again my daughters boyfriend was in the same position. I seem to remember tho, that he got a little bit of help with bus & book costs, due to the fact it was his stepfather. if you want i can ask him & get the right facts.

DazzerG

lexi wrote: »

Fabwitch i totally agree with you. Your daughter shouldnt be penalised for her parents earnings. Child benefit isnt stopped if one family gets more money than the others does it? Plus teenagers want to learn & get a better career & sometimes need some extra encouragement. I remember my daughters lecturer before her first yr. She said make sure you take the opportunity to take EMA as she would rather her students do all the hard work & get the essays in on time than struggle with a part time /sat job to make money! Unfortunately it doesnt apply to all kids which to me is a shame.
Oh, to the OP yes you do have to declare your daughters step father's earnings. Again my daughters boyfriend was in the same position. I seem to remember tho, that he got a little bit of help with bus & book costs, due to the fact it was his stepfather. if you want i can ask him & get the right facts.

and who will pay for everybody getting EMA?

The whole point of EMA was to provide support to children in low income families, enabling them to remain in further education (if so wished) instead of being pressured into work to help support their family.

I thought the income cut-off was about £30,000?

lexi

DazzerG wrote: »

and who will pay for everybody getting EMA?

The whole point of EMA was to provide support to children in low income families, enabling them to remain in further education (if so wished) instead of being pressured into work to help support their family.

I thought the income cut-off was about £30,000?

Dazzerg, all kids should be entitled as they are for child benefit. i mean i cant think of anyone who misses out on that, even tho there income maybe in their millions! The government came up with the idea, which on the whole was a very good one as i think far too many kids are not reaching their full potential & not as you said pressured into going into work. I firmly believe that the EMA scale should have been widened to give every student some sort of financial help & incentive. The way things are, students who have no control over their parents earnings can miss out, which i dont think is fair.

liney

Which is sad because we have such a big morgtage and cant afford to give her money

No relevance when claiming other benefits such as Child Tax Credit or Working Tax Credit either.

I believe there should be a cut off point too. Students have had part time jobs since Adam was a lad, so i'm sure she will manage.

fabwitch_2

My daughter has worked on a voluntary basis every Saturday in the Cancer Research Shop for the last 18 months. She does not want to give this up as she enjoys the work and feels she is giving something back to the community. Why should she have to give that up and find a paid job in order to get money when her peers get the EMA for nothing. The process is unfair. Most of the students at my daughters School use the money to go out at the weekend, cinema etc and do not use the money for School books or to help them stay on at School. £30 week is too much it would have been fairer to give all 6th form students £!0 week rather than some given £30 and others expected to physically go out and earn their money. I know a lot of students who feel whats the point of doing well if they are only penalised because their parents have done well and earn over the thresh hold. I do not know any parents who can afford to give the children £30 week.

lexi

Zziggi, am i to understand then that the EMA wasnt around when you went to college? if so then the encouragement for poorer kids to attend further education didnt apply but you went anyway. Not all kids need the encouragement, but money would help. As i said my daughter lecturer stated IF they could get EMA then hopefully it would help them study as the need to earn on a part time job wouldnt be there. Academically we vary beit rich or poor, so IF every student recieved payment in a scale (say £10-30) then surely this would help. I dont see there is any rich/poor questions when it comes to Student loans is there? Not everyone who is deemed wealthy has the resources to provide extra money for their kids. Mortgages are getting larger. Divorce is getting more common so many parents have to 'start again'. Maybe one answer would be to raise the cut off. i am just incredibly passionate about kids getting the best chances & as much encouragement as they can. Families do as much as they can with support & love but sometimes they could be offered more. All this is of course in an ideal world of we which we dont live in. Fabwitch, i applaud your daughter for her voluntary work & hope she gets where she wants to be in life!