A couple: 1 employed, 1 self employed

[Deleted User]

Can anyone clear up what (if anything) my wife is entitled to being self employed but now out of work due to Covid19?
I work full time, I'm still getting paid but she has had to stop work mainly because of the schools closing but also through choice/advice regarding social distancing.

My wages pay all our bills and investments, her wages go into our savings..... now we are down £1500 a month, what can she apply for? From what I can gather, it is only the £74 a week or £246 a month.... yet if she was employed by someone else to do the same job she would be getting £1200. Is this correct?

Jeremy535897

I doubt you will be eligible for universal credit, and there is nothing else that is likely to help unless her business necessitated property occupation or was in the tourism, leisure or hospitality industries. If she is due to pay any self assessment tax on 31 July 2020 it is deferred to 31 January 2021. There is no guarantee that, if she had been employed, she would have received £1,200 a month. Her employer would have had to apply for the coronavirus job retention scheme, lay her off and put her in it. That is not going to happen for thousands of employees.

[Deleted User]

Yes, she was in the leisure/hospitality business...   She closed a day before Boris announced it, but we were wondering about the losses and how we make it back. Without sounding like a whinge, it just seems unfair that people who never work get £40 a week more than they were already getting (I have no idea why), then the people who he made stop working only get £74 and that's assuming she is entitled to it because of my wage. 

Most people live to their means and have moneys saved, but because some people earn more than others, their bills are higher too, so forcing one income to close completely has a massive effect on the joint income. 

It appears the government have forgotten about 4.7m self employed and their partners 🤔

Jeremy535897

The whole welfare system is unfair from that point of view. Why do people who have savings from sacrificing all their lives have to pay for social care, while those who have spent everything they earned get it for free? Plenty of self employed people will struggle, but so will many employees, who are asked to take pay cuts, move on to zero hour contracts with no guarantee of work, or are just sacked.

[Deleted User]

I'm not even getting into a Welfare rant, I'll he here for 3 weeks. I understand the difficulty in the Governments decision as each person expects what is best for them.... and you cant please all of the people all of the time. Just have to ride the wave and see what happens 

diggingdude

I would suggest that you stop paying into your Investments at this moment in time

mattyprice4004

Your view is correct - as I posted in another thread, being self-employed is inherently more risky from a job security point of view.
This is a risk that can be mitigated with savings or insurance, should the worst happen - but being self employed definitely means you have less of a 'safety net' should something happen like this. 

I am also self-employed. 

[Deleted User]

diggingdude said:

I would suggest that you stop paying into your Investments at this moment in time

I don't mean stocks and shares as they could go anywhere and I wouldn't even know where to start... I was meaning a couple of rental properties, but that's beside the point. 
Just wing it and see what happens appears to be the best option

VeronicaReid

Maybe you can put off some bill payments.
For self-employed it`s easier to provide themselves

[Deleted User]

VeronicaReid said:

Maybe you can put off some bill payments.
For self-employed it`s easier to provide themselves

Thanks, we aren't skint, I'm asking a generic question as I have friends in similar positions.