18 and Pregnant with no income at all?

matj16

SuperHan wrote: »

You can still go down the University route. I believe there are special dispensations for families, so maybe get in touch with Student Loans Company and see how it will affect your application.

For example, doing Law at Leeds is only 10 hours a week contact time, which shouldn't be too difficult and will allow you to get a part time job too. Universities will be understanding of your circumstances.

Or just go and find a job. Employers can't use your pregnancy against you, and if you feel more comfortable, only tell your employer once you have a job.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

finished my law degree last year. Not a degree i would pick if i was expecting! (not full time anyway...ignoring the obvious issue that im male)

to be able to keep up with seminars, lectures and overall study you are looking at a full working week for personal study alone. 40 hours personal study as mentioned above alongside 'contact' time is an average for almost all degrees especially law.

sulphate

SuperHan wrote: »

You can still go down the University route. I believe there are special dispensations for families, so maybe get in touch with Student Loans Company and see how it will affect your application.

For example, doing Law at Leeds is only 10 hours a week contact time, which shouldn't be too difficult and will allow you to get a part time job too. Universities will be understanding of your circumstances.

Or just go and find a job. Employers can't use your pregnancy against you, and if you feel more comfortable, only tell your employer once you have a job.

As well as the obvious issues that matj16 pointed out, perhaps you could suggest where the OP should live? Some universities do offer family accommodation, but this is often oversubscribed, and accommodation in halls of residence may not be suitable. As for shared housing, this is also oversubscribed in some areas and a bunch of students may not wish to live with a screaming baby in the next room. What about paying for childcare? Part time shop/bar work etc is not likely to be worth doing, the childcare rate per hour is probably more than she would be paid.

OP I suggest you get yourself down to the council offices and explain your situation. Your mother may well have to make you homeless before you get anywhere. In the meantime, I suggest you start looking for work. You wouldn't be entitled to statutory maternity pay but you can still get maternity allowance. Baby's father can be chased through CSA as others have said.

PlymouthMaid

There was a very similar thread only recently (it was even a law degree being disussed too). The overwhelming opinion was that it was madness to start a degree and give birth all in one year and the likelihood was the the student would flounder and fail. I think this would be likely.

The OP seems to have already moved away from the degree idea at this time. The biggest problem seems to be her mother making her homeless which I think is outrageous. Still if the woman has to be so unreasonable and heartless then the OP does need to get to Shelter and the Council pronto and also, I would suggest, to an agency who can talk through options with her. I hate the idea of abortion but I am sure there are times it is appropriate and this could be one of them if the young woman has no support and no job and was not planning a baby. Note I said it 'may' be one of those times as it is a very personal decision and probably not one I could have made.

nannytone_2

this is a very similar thread to one a few weeks ago....
oh im 18 and pregnant ... the father doesnt want to know and my mother has disowned me!
possibly it is true ... but nowsays ... how many families would turf out a pregnant 18 year old?

Kimberley

Please stick with Uni, my daughter still went to Uni when she fell pregnant and graduates next year when her son will be 3 so you can do it.

Hope your mum rethinks chucking you out. You need family support, talk to a trusted family member.

Good luck x

Viberduo

I see part of the issue here being the OP is bipolar so things like mood swings could of caused problems with a relationship and the teenage hormones just made it worse.

OP could be a vulnerable person, may of been taken advantage of by the ex i.e she could be clingy and does anything to make him stay or whatever just as aborting the baby could be really bad for her mental health situation.

System

Are you getting help with the bipolar? I have it myself and god forbid I got pregnant I would have support but still find it pretty difficult so make sure you are getting all the support you need medically

If day the first thing (aside from making sure you're ok health wise) is can anything be done to patch things up with mum? It seems pretty harsh for her to kick you out when you really need her support. As others have said the council may assist you with being homeless but I'd see that as a last resort if things can't be sorted with your mum. Are there any friends. Or fmaily members who could help out?

In regards to uni, some unis can be very supportive, I have a friend who fell pregnant in her first year and the uni helped her find suitable accommodation, and gave her extra help and time off when she needed it, they also had day care which she could use, so don't totally write it off.

If you don't feel ready to go could you perhaps defer for a year? Not sure if for that year you could claim income support once baby is born, plus there would be hold tax credits too.

It might be worth seeking advice a) from CAB and b) I think rethink or MIND have advocates who can help you sort out these kinds of things

eva-ford

sulphate wrote: »

As well as the obvious issues that matj16 pointed out, perhaps you could suggest where the OP should live? Some universities do offer family accommodation, but this is often oversubscribed, and accommodation in halls of residence may not be suitable. As for shared housing, this is also oversubscribed in some areas and a bunch of students may not wish to live with a screaming baby in the next room. What about paying for childcare? Part time shop/bar work etc is not likely to be worth doing, the childcare rate per hour is probably more than she would be paid.

OP I suggest you get yourself down to the council offices and explain your situation. Your mother may well have to make you homeless before you get anywhere. In the meantime, I suggest you start looking for work. You wouldn't be entitled to statutory maternity pay but you can still get maternity allowance. Baby's father can be chased through CSA as others have said.

Abortion is just not an option for me. I have thought long and hard about it and im mainly concerned that after the abortion it will effect me massively mentally as I know how I get. I love the baby too much to do that. I went for an abortion twice because the father of the baby asked me too and at the time I didn't know what else to do. The first time I ended up backing out before I went to even take the pill and the second time (suction operation) I was crying so much that they refused to do it. Every time I went it felt like I was forcing myself to do something I didn't want to do.

I was thinking about doing the llb degree at open uni and then transferring the credits to an actual university once I feel able to go back, that way It doesn't take any longer. However, my main concern is my A level results, because of this stress I don't know if I have passed at the necessary grades (ABB) My first exam was just after I found out I was pregnant, like literally a few hours after and was crying and nervous and didn't get to finish it and that was my most important exam.

If I don't pass my A levels ideally I would like to go back to join year 14. My head teacher (who doesn't know im pregnant yet) has me still enrolled incase I haven't got the grades and she wants me to come back in September if I haven't. This means that I wouldn't and am not entitled to JSA as I phoned them up today. So if I am not entitled to JSA nor income support until im more pregnant and my mother has kicked me out, then what benefits do I get that will pay for basic necessities like food and heating/electric?

At the moment I have no where to go. I haven't been brought up on benefits my mum and dad owned there own business and made a lot of money probably the reason why they are so opinionated. I have never had to be independent before or rely on the state and its quite degrading. At the moment im going to drive down to Surrey as my friend lives down there and stay with her for a week.

Ames

I'm at Leeds uni and wasn't able to transfer Open University credits.

stevemLS

eva-ford wrote: »

Abortion is just not an option for me. I have thought long and hard about it and im mainly concerned that after the abortion it will effect me massively mentally as I know how I get. I love the baby too much to do that. I went for an abortion twice because the father of the baby asked me too and at the time I didn't know what else to do. The first time I ended up backing out before I went to even take the pill and the second time (suction operation) I was crying so much that they refused to do it. Every time I went it felt like I was forcing myself to do something I didn't want to do.

I was thinking about doing the llb degree at open uni and then transferring the credits to an actual university once I feel able to go back, that way It doesn't take any longer. However, my main concern is my A level results, because of this stress I don't know if I have passed at the necessary grades (ABB) My first exam was just after I found out I was pregnant, like literally a few hours after and was crying and nervous and didn't get to finish it and that was my most important exam.

If I don't pass my A levels ideally I would like to go back to join year 14. My head teacher (who doesn't know im pregnant yet) has me still enrolled incase I haven't got the grades and she wants me to come back in September if I haven't. This means that I wouldn't and am not entitled to JSA as I phoned them up today. So if I am not entitled to JSA nor income support until im more pregnant and my mother has kicked me out, then what benefits do I get that will pay for basic necessities like food and heating/electric?

At the moment I have no where to go. I haven't been brought up on benefits my mum and dad owned there own business and made a lot of money probably the reason why they are so opinionated. I have never had to be independent before or rely on the state and its quite degrading. At the moment im going to drive down to Surrey as my friend lives down there and stay with her for a week.

I too have attempted not to give an opinion. I think you will struggle massively on an llb course.

However, more importantly, if this is your third pregnancy by the time you are 18 next time you see your doctor/midwive perhaps you should ask for some advice around contraception.