Back to work?

AshamedAnon

Hi, im 27 my wife is 25 we have a 7 year old child. We currently get esa at 294.90 every 2 weeks, child tax 62.72 a week, child benefit 20.70 a week, carers allowance 64.60 a week, PiP 229.20 every 4 weeks, housing benefit etc.
My wife would love to be able to work, she currently cares for me as i suffer multiple mental health issues.
I've tried looking into numerous sites about working tax credits etc but i just can't get my head around it all. I have been speaking to my wife and told her i would be willing to try to work although i feel sick to my stomach about it as deep down i do not think i would cope. I don't know what are options are and I'm worried if i do try and work then can't do it i wouldn't get benefits again potentially putting my family's security at risk.
I feel ashamed that my mental state is holding my family back when they deserve so much more.
What i need help with though is if she worked minimum wage part time/full time... would we get any help? And then also if i was to join in in working part/full would there be any help then?
We believe we will only get minimum wage as we both come from poor backgrounds and have no GCSE's, i was forced to take home education and my wife's parents encouraged her not to goto school. We know the odds are against us but we want to break the cycle and show our child the right way to live any help would be greatly appreciated.

pmlindyloo

AshamedAnon wrote: »

Hi, im 27 my wife is 25 we have a 7 year old child. We currently get esa at 294.90 every 2 weeks, child tax 62.72 a week, child benefit 20.70 a week, carers allowance 64.60 a week, PiP 229.20 every 4 weeks, housing benefit etc.
My wife would love to be able to work, she currently cares for me as i suffer multiple mental health issues.
I've tried looking into numerous sites about working tax credits etc but i just can't get my head around it all. I have been speaking to my wife and told her i would be willing to try to work although i feel sick to my stomach about it as deep down i do not think i would cope. I don't know what are options are and I'm worried if i do try and work then can't do it i wouldn't get benefits again potentially putting my family's security at risk.
I feel ashamed that my mental state is holding my family back when they deserve so much more.
What i need help with though is if she worked minimum wage part time/full time... would we get any help? And then also if i was to join in in working part/full would there be any help then?
We believe we will only get minimum wage as we both come from poor backgrounds and have no GCSE's, i was forced to take home education and my wife's parents encouraged her not to goto school. We know the odds are against us but we want to break the cycle and show our child the right way to live any help would be greatly appreciated.

My suggestion would be for you to have a long term plan for this and do one step at a time.

So, start with something called Permitted work.

You can read about it here:

https://www.turn2us.org.uk/Benefit-guides/Employment-and-Support-Allowance-Permitted-Work/What-is-permitted-work-Employment-and-Support-All

You could work for up to 16 hrs at national minimum wage and still get all the benefits you receive now.

This will give you an indication of how you will cope with working whilst still having a safety net of your benefit money.

If things go well then you can apply for jobs of 16hrs or more a week and claim working tax credits. There is still a safety net here in that you can do a rapid reclaim for ESA if the job doesn't work out for you/hrs don't suit if you make this reclaim within 12 weeks.

Your wife can actually do some work whilst on Carer's Allowance but this would be counted as income as regards your ESA claim (I think there is a small disregard) so it would be sensible to use the permitted work option first and see how it goes.

poppy12345

pmlindyloo wrote: »

Your wife can actually do some work whilst on Carer's Allowance but this would be counted as income as regards your ESA claim (I think there is a small disregard) so it would be sensible to use the permitted work option first and see how it goes.

Yes, a partner can work up to 24 hours per week and the first £20 is ignored and then the ESA is reduced £1 for £1.

AshamedAnon

Thank you for the replies i will look into permitted work.

AshamedAnon

Am i right in thinking both me and my wife could do permitted work?
So if my wife worked less than 16hrs a week less than £125 are benefits are untouched? Or does this only apply if i work less than 16hrs a week?

poppy12345

AshamedAnon wrote: »

Am i right in thinking both me and my wife could do permitted work?
So if my wife worked less than 16hrs a week less than £125 are benefits are untouched? Or does this only apply if i work less than 16hrs a week?

No, it only applies to you. Your wife can work up to 24 hours per week but anything she earns over £20 will reduce your ESA £1 for £1.

calcotti

pmlindyloo wrote: »

If things go well then you can apply for jobs of 16hrs or more a week and claim working tax credits. There is still a safety net here in that you can do a rapid reclaim for ESA if the job doesn't work out for you/hrs don't suit.

Not sure if this will be possible if OP is in UC full service area.

poppy12345

calcotti wrote: »

Not sure if this will be possible if OP is in UC full service area.

As there's already a claim for CTC then they would have a choice to move to UC if their area is a full UC but they wouldn't have to move across.

https://www.welfare-benefits-unit.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/What-triggers-a-claim-for-Universal-Credit-in-a-full-service-area.pdf

pmlindyloo

calcotti wrote: »

Not sure if this will be possible if OP is in UC full service area.

I have amended my post - I missed out that a rapid reclaim would have to be made within 12 weeks and the OP could go back to being paid as he is now.

Having said that I am not completely sure that when in a full Universal Credit area this would be allowed.

From my reading it seems that the rapid reclaim would be linked to the old ESA claim (if within 12 weeks) and would therefore be treated as a continuous claim and not a new claim. However, I believe you still have to complete a form for a new claim and then the 'computer' automatically links it with the old claim. I suspect the OP might be automatically referred to UC when making this 'new claim'.

The OP might want to ask the DWP about whether he could do a rapid reclaim ( if he is able to start working 16 hrs or more) if things did not work out.

calcotti

poppy12345 wrote: »

As there's already a claim for CTC then they would have a choice to move to UC if their area is a full UC but they wouldn't have to move across.

https://www.welfare-benefits-unit.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/What-triggers-a-claim-for-Universal-Credit-in-a-full-service-area.pdf

My comment referred to ESA not Tax Credits

calcotti

Thanks for your post pmlindyloo. You have exactly captured my concerns as to why rapid ESA reclaim may not be possible. I was short of time when I posted earlier hence my rather brief comment.