Does this sound right?

hulahoop09

Hiya

Okay so hubby is having a real tough time where he works causing him to be depressed and it is getting worse (he has been there for over 6 years). After advice from another MSE'er I went on entitledto.com just to see what would happen if he were to find a different job which would mean a pay cut from next year when I go back to work after SMP. I put in different scenarios as advised and thought I would have a nosey if he was to not work (earn £0 in current year - previous year obviously he would of earnt in just job), and me earning 12k working 30 hours pw. Well to say I am SHOCKED is an understatement! It says we would get help of £266pw ctc/wtc. Thats like over 13k per year. One of the pay drops I put in was him earning 13k. But based on him not working means he could stay at home and look after the children and we would be better off doing this than us both working and paying someone else to look after our children while we are both going to work! Surely that cant be right! It would be a dream for one of us to stay at home and take care of them until they go to fulltime primary school but I surely didnt think it was feasible! Obviously we never want to rely on tax credits but I am just shocked and now I understand why I hear of so many people staying at home to take after the children while one parent works full time! We have a mortgage to think about but accoring to entitled to we would also only pay £20 pm council tax instead of £100 we currently pay!

I have claimed about 1 months worth of JSA all my working life (I have worked for the past 12 years) and hubby has never claimed JSA as he has always been in some sort of work for the past 12 years also. We were able to claim approx 5 months worth of ctc when our first child was born but then the rules changed and it was reduced to £0. And we obviously get child benefit. I am not one to rely on anyone but me and my husband so for me to see the above is baffling!!

hulahoop09

Well just been on the hmrc tax credits calculator and that advised (pro rate) that IF I worked and hubby didnt combined we would get £690 ctc/wtc per month. Not sure where entitledto.com got its figures from!! Lol.

Makes me feel better knowing we arent working for nothing but also that we could afford for hubby to take a pay cut if needs be come next year.

midnight_express

The problem is that entitlement to benefits can and do change all the time, so giving up work is a big risk. Also tax credits are famous for making large overpayments. If it was me I'd make sure I had several grand in savings before giving up work.
It's also worth remembering that once you've been unemployed for years it's very difficult to get a new job.

midnight_express

The benefit calculators aren't always right.

hulahoop09

No he wont be giving up work completely I was just checking if he were to take a job with kess pay and checked if he wasnt working out of curiosity. Lol.