universal credit confusion.

lorny80

i am lost about these changes. for the life of me i cant make head nor tail of any details i find online.
from what i am reading i am coming to the conclusion that our lives are going to have to change. drastically.
husband works full time, £1300 a month, £1760 ish b4 deductions, we have 3 school age kids.
i work pt, very pt, only earn £200 a month.
currently we claim ctc.
how does the new system work? is it based on hours worked? salary? will both parents have to work?
im confused.:o

princessdon

You should be fine, you are over income for conditionality, (from quick
Maths)

lorny80

really stupid here, but is conditionality the bit where you have to sign and say you will actively seek alternative employment?

lorny80

to make the hours up?
to what?

god im confused.
its taken me years to get used wftc messing about.

princessdon

lorny80 wrote: »

to make the hours up?
to what?

god im confused.
its taken me years to get used wftc messing about.

They now expect people to earn 35 hours at National Minimum Wage *if able* - certain groups have different conditionality.

So a single would neeed to work 35 hours, and if they are currently part time, look increase either income or hours.

For a couple this then changes. Both are required. So it is 70 hours at NMW for No Conditionality. Your wages are above this so it's fine.

If they weren't (lets say for arguments sake your OH earnt £12K) and worked Full Time. Then you as a couple would be expected to work , seek work to increase hours.

There are rules for parents depending on ages of child. Eg 5 - 13 year olds are only expected to look during school hours, under 1's are not expected, 1 -5 - to be "work prepared" (ie have a chat every now and then about the possibility.

So as long as one of the couple (or both) earn 70 hours at NMW it places them out of conditionality. If they don't they need to look to increase income.

lorny80

so as a couple.
£5.80 X 70 hrs.= £406 (per week?)

which is £1624 per month?

are our earnings counted before or after tax?

princessdon

lorny80 wrote: »

so as a couple.
£5.80 X 70 hrs.= £406 (per week?)

which is £1624 per month?

are our earnings counted before or after tax?

NMW depends on age (I think it's 6.19 or something now). yes that is BEFORE tax, NI.

Also not all benefits are affected, so hypothetically lets say you as a couple were £20 short a week - in benefit terms this may be 50p per week. So you can treat your earnings as having the £20 to avoid conditionality and only be say 50p worse off.

Couples who both work, should be better off as there is less of a taper. Also Childcare is paid for ANY hours - so at the moment you can't claim childcare - but you could under new rules.

There are a huge amount of positives

lorny80

thanks for that. it is all very confusing and for the life of me i couldnt figure out head nor tail of the calculator!!

does the £1624 change in relation to the amount or ages of children aswell?

lorny80

£6.19 X 70 hrs.= £1733

you were right about the minimum wage.

princessdon

lorny80 wrote: »

thanks for that. it is all very confusing and for the life of me i couldnt figure out head nor tail of the calculator!!

does the £1624 change in relation to the amount or ages of children aswell?

Yes in a way. Lets say your youngest was

under 1 - Then it's only 35 hours (as you are a carer and your 35 hours are exempt.

between 1 and 5 - Again exempt apart from work prepartion (similar to what Lone Parents have now)

Between 5 and 13 - Only need school hours (hard to find) and can refuse any work that isn't

Over 13 - it's now 70 hours any job.

So in a way the ages do affect it.

lorny80

children are 5,8 and 13.