wages same as benefits - what would you do?

plzhelpmesave!

Hi after some advice please for my friend who want's me to give her some advice I'm totally stuck on this one!

She's an avon lady working around school hours and making £200 a month ish. She's got 4 kids and they have been getting CTC and WTC to top up - around £250 a week.

She's been applying for jobs and has been offered one - with good prospects and has said yes to starting in a couple of weeks.

However she's already panicking at costs of childcare, kids are all in primary school. Her hubby is working full time on low wage so kids will have to go into before and after school club for her to get to work around £100 a week.

So on her wage of £20K she's get £1328 a month and be spending £400 in childcare so looking at about £900 a month after everything, not incl petrol and all normal work expenses. They have no family nearby and she said no friends will take on 4 other kids before and after school - which I agree with!

She now wants to NOT take up the job as she say's as a family they would be worse off and kids would suffer as she'll be out from 7.30-6.30 daily with travelling, and will still have to do a lot of the household & mum duties.

She's asking me what to do but I'm not sure what to advise her!!

Thinking about her kids I'm tempted to tell her to stick with avon, but I do think it would be good for her confidence and long term job prospects to get back into work.

Anyone been in a similar position?? Would be great to hear how you made a decision and what you felt afterwards?

Thanks for any replies

Mum_to_3_boys

You have to weigh up if the extra pressure she will be putting herself under worth it in comparison to the time away from her children. I would wait until all 4 at secondary school. x

Teahfc

Good prospects she mentioned.
Self respect.
Surely if she has sense and pride it is a no brainer.
Her 4 kids and hubby will I am sure be more proud of a working mum than a benefit reliant mum ?

Tell her yes from me.

nodiscount

If it had good prospects she might kick herself for letting this opportunity go. She may not get another offer like this again. With benefits getting harder to claim she might be onto a good thing by getting back into work now.

SkyeKnight

If they still qualify for tax credits (which I guess she would if they currently get £250/week) then the can get tax credits towards childcare which cover most of the cost (70% I think). Alternatively, if her work or her husbands work have childcare vouchers then that will also save money - usually more than the tax credits. Surely that makes quite a big difference to the calculation?

[Deleted User]

where its financially possible i suspect mums best at home whilst kids in junior school,but thats what we did and its a personal opinion

barbarawright

You know how employable she is. Do you think she's likely to get a similar job with a 5 year blank in her CV?

plzhelpmesave!

Thanx guys for useful and honest comments.

Will pass on to her and tell her to check what support she wd get towards childcare before she turns down job...

Ive been self employed so i could work around kids ..been hard but doable...has meant financial troubles for us forv years on 1 wage til i started project working

Worth it to be home with kids

FBaby

And of course, childcare costs will go down with years. If she has 4 in primary school, one much be closed to living. Then when the youngest gets into their last year, maybe they will be ok to be at home after school with eldest and walking their themselves.

My friend will be returning to a £40k job with about 1 hour 30 minutes commute each day, and all of it will go in travel and cost of childcare. Not entitled to any tax credits so they will live off her husband salary which is lower, but he can't take time off it. She is doing it though because she knows that ultimately, it will benefit her.

In the end, only your friend can decide whether she wants to prioritise the next few years, or longer term. It is a case of working hard, being tired, not as much time with kids, but little gain now but a better financial situation in a few years time, able to pay for her children to go to better colleges for instance, taking them on great holidays etc... or gradually losing all her tax credits and struggling to get a job paying over minimum wage and surviving on her husband's small income. Of course, that will also depends on his prospects and health.

terra_ferma

Teahfc wrote: »

Good prospects she mentioned.
Self respect.
Surely if she has sense and pride it is a no brainer.
Her 4 kids and hubby will I am sure be more proud of a working mum than a benefit reliant mum ?

Tell her yes from me.

I agree about prospect, the other comments are just judgmental.
Kids and hubby will be proud of their mummy regardless of her working status, being a working mummy, being a stay at home mummy or whatever.
Suggesting that young kids should be less proud of their parents because they are on benefits is wrong, what about disabled parents who can't work, or someone made redundant after working hard until that point and struggling to find a job?

Anyway it's a tough decision, she needs to have her husband's 100% support (meaning 50% share of the duties, shared fairly according to each person's work commitment).

fannyadams

get your friend to complete this to see if she is better off doing avon or taking this job
http://www.turn2us.org.uk/benefits_search.aspx