Why do working couples choose one to work 16 hours

davnav

Myself and my partner are working full time now as shes just started working,
But after speaking with alot of other people they are working full time but most of their partners only seem to work for 16 hours only, whats the reason for the 16 hours.As my parnter is working full time it seems most of her wages will be paying for the childcare now.
Whats the best way for couples to work to get the best outcome eg low pay less hours or higher pay more hours as this 16 hours has got me ?
Thanks for your time

huckster

It would assist those answering, if you advised what current Benefits are being claimed. If not UC, are you expecting any change of circumstances, that might trigger a move to UC.

The 16 hour issue depends on the benefit.

It is worth using a benefits calculator, such as Turn2us or Entitled to. You can mess around with the calculators and see how earnings affect you.

kingfisherblue

davnav wrote: »

Myself and my partner are working full time now as shes just started working,
But after speaking with alot of other people they are working full time but most of their partners only seem to work for 16 hours only, whats the reason for the 16 hours.As my parnter is working full time it seems most of her wages will be paying for the childcare now.
Whats the best way for couples to work to get the best outcome eg low pay less hours or higher pay more hours as this 16 hours has got me ?
Thanks for your time

My son-in-law works full time and my daughter works twenty hours a week. This works well for childcare for them, but my daughter also does voluntary work on top, has completed two NVQs and is about to start her degree.

They claim no benefits other than child benefit for their daughter. They don't qualify for tax credits, as between them they earn a little over £26,000. If they used childcare, and my daughter worked full time, they would probably qualify. As it happens, we live in a cheaper area of the country, and they are able to afford a mortgage and their bills on their combined wages.

Many years ago, childcare was much more difficult to find. I went part time after having my daughter because it meant that we didn't have to pay for childcare (and there were no tax credits to help in those days). We were both on low wages, but we managed.

Darksparkle

My husband works 37hrs over 5 days (full time for his employment) and I work 34hours over 4 days. This is best balance for us with childcare costs but depends entirely on income, costs etc as to what’s best for each family.

seashore22

I didn't work at all while the children were pre school age and only worked part time when they eventually started school. I didn't claim any benefits though, so can't comment on that implied aspect of the thread.

Not every family wants both parents to be working full time if that's at all possible, even if that means less money to spend.

[Deleted User]

https://childcare-support.tax.service.gov.uk/par/app/extendedentitlement

Diamandis

You both need to be working 16 hours to get help towards the cost of childcare.

sevenhills

kingfisherblue wrote: »

They claim no benefits other than child benefit for their daughter. They don't qualify for tax credits, as between them they earn a little over £26,000.

If they earn £26,000 they would be entitled to Child tax credit £1.48

So these things are balanced on a knife edge; if your daughter worked 3/4 hours less she would certainly get Child tax credit.
Perhaps that is the answer for the OP?

https://www.onefamily.com/hub/finance/tax-credits-and-benefits-calculator/

Darksparkle

sevenhills wrote: »

If they earn £26,000 they would be entitled to Child tax credit £1.48

So these things are balanced on a knife edge; if your daughter worked 3/4 hours less she would certainly get Child tax credit.
Perhaps that is the answer for the OP?

https://www.onefamily.com/hub/finance/tax-credits-and-benefits-calculator/

Depends when the child was born due to the removal of the family element. If after April 2017 they wouldn’t get tax credits on £26,000, if before April 2017 then yes they’d get £77 for the year.

Reducing by a couple of hours would likely entitlement them to CTC at some point but due to the income disregard it could be the best part of a year for it to kick in and even then it may not make up for the loss of income.

kingfisherblue

sevenhills wrote: »

If they earn £26,000 they would be entitled to Child tax credit £1.48

So these things are balanced on a knife edge; if your daughter worked 3/4 hours less she would certainly get Child tax credit.
Perhaps that is the answer for the OP?

https://www.onefamily.com/hub/finance/tax-credits-and-benefits-calculator/

Thank you. They would prefer not to claim any benefits if possible though. Also, my daughter's hours are a fixed amount and it wouldn't be possible to reduce them - most people that she works with are on the same amount of hours, and they have to work alternative shifts.

It may be useful information for others though.

davnav

Thanks very much all, I just thought I was missing something or doing it the wrong way.Just at the minute I work full time and my partner has started full time but she started to help but its looking like most of her small wages will be going to pay for the childcare as in before and after school club .Its looking like a waste of time her trying to help as the money she'll be getting will be getting a big hit.