Single parent

serendipity79

Hi.

I'm looking for some information about being a single working parent.
Very shortly my husband and i will be seperating & he will be moving out.
My husband doesn't work but i am working full time.

I am currently working full time but this won't be possible as a single parent as the shifts are extreme - earlies being 4.45am & the latest 1.30am.
If i ask work for part time hours this would be possible to fit in around my children as with part time hours, its 4 hours a day & on a fixed shift rather than full time where your shifts change every week & are not child friendly.

What i'm wondering is, i've heard about the universal credit and that single parents have to work a certain amount of hours.
Would 20 hours a week be enough?
With work its either full time at 37.5 hours or part time at 20 hours.
I have 5 children ranging from 12yrs - 2yrs.

Also as a soon to be single parent is there anything else i need to do? Being a single parent is really daunting and i'm worried. I have no family to ask for advice or help. My husbands family no longer talk to me due to me being the one who wants to seperate.

Thank you

RAS

If you have a child under 5 years old there is no requirement to work AFAIK.

Might however be wise to do some work as this enable you to keep your career going until the youngest is in school.

Poppie68

As a single parent you will need to work the min of 16 hours to qualify for WTC, i'm not sure this will be changing under UC.


Sorry just to add...

try the 'Policy in action' universal credit calculator also try the 'Turn2us' calculator, (sorry i can't get the links for some reason). They should give you a better idea of what you will be entitled to.

sammyjammy

Don't worry about UC it will be some time before it would afffect you and by working 20 hours a week you would more than cover the requirements they would have of you with your childrens ages, don't forget to notify HMRC of your change of circumstances. Do you claim any other benefits? Don't forget to notify your Council that you will be the only adult living in the house to get your 25% discount.

Best of luck, I am sure you will cope fine.

shedboy94

If your husband doesn't work, would it be possible for him to look after the children to enable you to keep working FT? (assuming he is the father of course)

serendipity79

Thank you for the replies.

We are currently in receipt of child tax credits & child benefit.

My husband could look at the kids if i were to work full time but as he'd be moving out, he'd need to look for working to support himself. He could look after the kids until he found work.
It'd be different if my full time work were set hours then maybe he could find work to fit around that but because my shifts change every week there would be no way that he could work around my shifts.

I definitely want to stay in work as i love work & it's been really good for me as i used to have panic/anxiety attacks & would stay in for months/years at a time & working has given me some of my confidence back + its good for my kids to see me working.

Thank you.