How does Jobcentre view limiting availability due to school run requirement?

reg091

About to be separated and move out of the family home. I have no income so need to sign-on until I can find a job. As the welfare of the child (7) is the most important thing at this time then we have agreed that I will continue to do the school runs and have him until ex finishes work and can pick him up. He will be living with the ex though.
How will this sit with the Jobcentre? Will they accept my limited hours job availability or say I have to be available for full-time work and to find before/after school care for child?

[Deleted User]

 This is what breakfast and after school clubs are for along with the government payments to help pay for it. 

74jax

Do you need to work full time (in order to pay for bills etc? Or will part time suffice?
If you need the income of a full time job then consider breakfast club. 
Shift work could help? 

reg091

_shel said:

 This is what breakfast and after school clubs are for along with the government payments to help pay for it. 

Thanks @_shel , I appreciate that but I want to try and keep my boy's routine as same as possible during this difficult time for him. 

reg091

74jax said:

Do you need to work full time (in order to pay for bills etc? Or will part time suffice?
If you need the income of a full time job then consider breakfast club. 
Shift work could help? 

I could just about get away with working part-time with the ex paying me for the "service" of school runs and after school care. Boy will come to me at weekends so that knocks out weekend work.
I appreciate this may all sound like "having cake and eating it"! I am just sounding out the possibilities of what would be the best situation for him. The best situation for me would be working full-time, but if I can work part-time, with some state assistance, then that would be better for him. I suspect the state is unlikely to take that charitable a view though - it's not their job to make my boys life better just because I have failed!

[Deleted User]

reg091 said:

_shel said:

 This is what breakfast and after school clubs are for along with the government payments to help pay for it. 

Thanks @_shel , I appreciate that but I want to try and keep my boy's routine as same as possible during this difficult time for him. 

 Id check out at least breakfast club in his own school. Many do milk & toast from about an hour before school so he'd still be with his teachers and classmates. 
 After school would be different so you'd be right. 

pinkshoes

reg091 said:

_shel said:

 This is what breakfast and after school clubs are for along with the government payments to help pay for it. 

Thanks @_shel , I appreciate that but I want to try and keep my boy's routine as same as possible during this difficult time for him. 

Fair enough, but that's choosing to make yourself unavailable. 

My son loves breakfast and afterschool club. I pay £14 a day for wrap around childcare from 7.30am drop off and collection at 5.30pm.

Could you work night shift 10pm til 6am?

theoretica

reg091 said:

74jax said:

Do you need to work full time (in order to pay for bills etc? Or will part time suffice?
If you need the income of a full time job then consider breakfast club. 
Shift work could help? 

I could just about get away with working part-time with the ex paying me for the "service" of school runs and after school care. Boy will come to me at weekends so that knocks out weekend work.
I appreciate this may all sound like "having cake and eating it"! I am just sounding out the possibilities of what would be the best situation for him. The best situation for me would be working full-time, but if I can work part-time, with some state assistance, then that would be better for him. I suspect the state is unlikely to take that charitable a view though - it's not their job to make my boys life better just because I have failed!

Assuming full time is 36 to 40 hours a week, which hours would you be looking to work? I just can't see how you have enough hours in your week in blocks that would be useful to an employer, unless you go for night shifts.

reg091

Thank you all, you have really helped to clarify things for me. You can probably appreciate that I have a lot on my mind at the moment (!) and am finding it hard to think straight.
Night shift seems the obvious answer, and I hadn't thought of that. Of course that would definitely be seen by the Jobcentre as limiting my availability so I think the more I think this through the more I realise that a full-time wage is what I need.

74jax

reg091 said:

I74jax said:

Do you need to work full time (in order to pay for bills etc? Or will part time suffice?
If you need the income of a full time job then consider breakfast club. 
Shift work could help? 

I could just about get away with working part-time with the ex paying me for the "service" of school runs and after school care. Boy will come to me at weekends so that knocks out weekend work.
I appreciate this may all sound like "having cake and eating it"! I am just sounding out the possibilities of what would be the best situation for him. The best situation for me would be working full-time, but if I can work part-time, with some state assistance, then that would be better for him. I suspect the state is unlikely to take that charitable a view though - it's not their job to make my boys life better just because I have failed!

I don't know what you mean sorry.

Are you talking other children to school,  which you are paid for? Could you expand hours and become a full time child minder? 

Lomast

Why if the child is living with the other parent are you doing both school runs?
I accept its more difficult as you have separated but for years my wife and I have found jobs that means one starts early and therefore picks up after school and the other starts later and therefore drops off. 
Also bear in mind unless you are a single mother with multiple children the amount of state support available is unlikely to even cover half of your rent