Child Benefits / Working Tax Credits - Would we Qualify

92203

Hi There,

I currently work down South. I earn a decentish wage (£35k) and my partner is a nurse, earning approx £25 K.

Neither of us are from the South so don't have any family roots etc down here. We also have no hope of being able to buy a property in a safe/decent area if we stay down here, though have been saving for a deposit.

My OH has been offered a job up North and we have found a house which we are aiming to buy, near to family etc. I am hoping that my employer will allow me to work from home in the future, though failing that I will continue to live down South and come back up for weekends.

The aim will be to move closer to family and have a baby.

Unfortunately, there will be less employment opportunities up North, though I would expect to be able to earn £20K as a bare minimum (I have factored down to £16K as an absolute worst case scenario).

We can comfortably afford to live with me on £16-20K and my girlfriend working as a full time nurse, however things get tricky if she has a baby and has to go part time and pay for childcare etc.

I used the turn to us Benefits calculator to work out what we would be entitled to based on me earning £20k (full time) and my girlfriend earning £14k as a part time nurse (having had a baby), childcare costs of £360 PCM, and mortgage payments of £680 per month.

It said we would be entitled to just over £1K PCM in benefits (screenshot at the bottom of this post.

Would we really be entitled to that ? 10 years ago I was earning a paltry £14K per annun and my girlfriend was unemployed - we got nothing apart from her JSA. It was a major struggle. Presumably having a child is what makes the difference?

This is what it came up with ;





Thanks

92203

flea72

You must have input your figures wrong, as you would no way be getting that amount of CTC/WTC. Did you wrongly put your childcare amount as weekly not monthly, as thats the only way i can see you get those amounts.

flea72

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tax-credits-entitlement-tables-working-at-least-16-hours-and-paying-childcare/tax-credits-entitlement-tables-working-at-least-16-hours-and-paying-childcare

92203

flea72 wrote: »

You must have input your figures wrong, as you would no way be getting that amount of CTC/WTC. Did you wrongly put your childcare amount as weekly not monthly, as thats the only way i can see you get those amounts.

Thanks, I definitely entered it as a monthly amount. I put my wage down as 16K and my girlfriend earning 14k (working 26 hours per week). It also asked is for our outstanding mortgage amount (116k).

This is also based on our child being under 3.

Assuming the calculator is incorrect, realistically what bwould we get (roughly)? I do not want to set us up for having a life we can't afford by having a baby.

Edit: Just seen the link - based on our joint income we would be entitled to very little in terms of child tax credits

flea72

92203 wrote: »

Thanks, I definitely entered it as a monthly amount. I put my wage down as 16K and my girlfriend earning 14k (working 26 hours per week). It also asked is for our outstanding mortgage amount (116k).

This is also based on our child being under 3.

Assuming the calculator is incorrect, realistically what bwould we get (roughly)? I do not want to set us up for having a life we can't afford by having a baby.

Edit: Just seen the link - based on our joint income we would be entitled to very little in terms of child tax credits

Your mortgage has no effect on entitlement, so i dont really understand why they would need that figure.

Once you are over tax credut thresholds, it makes sense to claim childcare vouchers through your employer to help cut costs. If your wife is planning on working for nhs, they usually have subsidised nurserys for staff too

zagfles

The figures in the screenshot are the full amounts of WTC/CTC, which you'd only get on income below £6420. Not £30k+

dawn_rose

I dont even get that for three children on similar circumstances.