I thought work was suppose to pay!

Colin_Hunt

racon wrote: »

Hey Dippy. You can't say that as everyone is different. Your comments make little or no sense when I think of a friend that for over 26 years has worked in various supermarkets filling shelves, stacking the warehouse etc. Not much of a chance of promotion there and certainly little in the way of ladders.

How does your friend get stuff off/on the top shelves ?

RichardD1970

racon wrote: »

Hey Dippy. You can't say that as everyone is different. Your comments make little or no sense when I think of a friend that for over 26 years has worked in various supermarkets filling shelves, stacking the warehouse etc. Not much of a chance of promotion there and certainly little in the way of ladders.

Didn't the ex Tesco CEO start off stacking shelves?

FBaby

I am also happy for hear suggestions how working full time for that little extra per hour is a good thing

You have two choices: You work full-time, do everything to impress your employer, get promoted, earn more, get promoted again, or apply for still better paid jobs. You struggle with home life, but make your personal life suffer rather than your son. Look forward to when your son is 18 and moves out, and you are in your lovely owned home, nicely decorated, looking forward to some freedom to travel, able to help your son with university, and then even maybe consider dropping some of your hours.

Or, you can take as little hours as you can whilst maximising benefits for as long as you can so you can enjoy a fun life with your son. Look forward to him turning 18 and going to uni, whilst you convince him to go to college locally because you don't know how you'll cope when you don't get tax credits for him any longer. Then he moves out and you have to move out or somehow found more money to pay for the extra bedroom. You can't get any more hours at work and even if you do, it will never pay as much as it did when you could claim benefits for your son.

Of course, it doesn't have to be this way, but there are more and more threads from single parent wondering what the future will be like when their youngest finally leave the household because they have enjoyed a life on benefit rather than trying to better themselves.

OldMotherTucker

iammumtoone wrote: »

Ok yes I admit bad choice of title work does pay at the fantastic amount of 1.63 per hour less 25% of the childcare costs.

So is an extra 1.63 per hour worth putting a child into an environment that isn't the best for their development.

Hang in there - it seems endless at the moment but in now time at all, he'll be in school!

Being a working mum does require a lot of networking and flexibility - and not all benefits are monetary ones;)

tomtom256

iammumtoone wrote: »

Ok yes I admit bad choice of title work does pay at the fantastic amount of 1.63 per hour less 25% of the childcare costs.

So is an extra 1.63 per hour worth putting a child into an environment that isn't the best for their development.

Why isn't nursery the best for their development?

As long as it's a good nursery it should be fine, but that is open to debate and is often more a personal choice.

They socialise with their peers and have fun to boot, as opposed to just being stuck with mummy.

What happens when they then progress to school, is this not the best environment for them either?

We would all love to be stay at home parents, but that doesn't get the bills paid, put a roof over your head or afford a few of lives luxuries, like a holiday to the seaside.

NYM

racon wrote: »

Hey Dippy. You can't say that as everyone is different. Your comments make little or no sense when I think of a friend that for over 26 years has worked in various supermarkets filling shelves, stacking the warehouse etc. Not much of a chance of promotion there and certainly little in the way of ladders.

There is always a chance, it just depends on whether someone is prepared to work a little harder to get it. Apathy is what keeps someone on the lower rungs, aspiration and a desire to do as well as you can brings that next rung within reach.

FBaby

We would all love to be stay at home parents, but that doesn't get the bills paid, put a roof over your head or afford a few of lives luxuries, like a holiday to the seaside.

Well actually, that's the issue, being on single benefit can do all the above, hence the dilemma. It's not a case of working now vs not working now, it's a case of working now vs working in years down the line, however, people are so focussed on immediate gratification nowadays, which is no surprise really considering that that's how the last and current generation has been brough up. They want something, their parents do everything to get it to them asap and the notion of investing efforts for future rewards is lost. Even better, those who do invest for the future are told they are lucky and no more deserving when they finally get to enjoy the rewards.

AngelOfTheNorth

FBaby wrote: »

Of course, it doesn't have to be this way, but there are more and more threads from single parent wondering what the future will be like when their youngest finally leave the household because they have enjoyed a life on benefit rather than trying to better themselves.

Mmm, this would worry me too. It also relies on the tax credits system staying as it is, or similar, until the youngest child becomes an adult- if OPs boy is full time childcare age, that suggests he's under 3. I would not necessarily bet on the current setup still being in place by 2030. While I absolutely see why people choose to rely on tax credits, and why others have no choice but to do so, depending on the state for most of your income is not a risk free proposition. I'm not sure I'd want to go down the 16 hours route without a good long term plan to be out of it in a few years.

And of course, it should be mentioned that the child will have another parent, unless circumstances are very unusual. He should also be making a contribution.

bloolagoon

OldMotherTucker wrote: »

Hang in there - it seems endless at the moment but in now time at all, he'll be in school!

Being a working mum does require a lot of networking and flexibility - and not all benefits are monetary ones;)

The ops child is already in school. Nursery confused me but I think it's like my child's school where they use the nursery room for wrap around, but her child is in school and has been for some time.

lemontart

http://www.thesalarycalculator.co.uk/hourly.php

a very useful tool when working out how much you need to earn