Should I accept any job?

Robbie64

FBaby said:

It's hard to believe that even taking your son to school you won't have any time to look for other jobs with more hours. Surely you could do your search at home when he is back from school.

I also think you have plenty of time now to take the bus with him so he can be ready by September. Same with coming home alone. Now is the time to leave him at home in his own. 

I am actually quite shocked that single parents it gave to look for 25h work when their kids start secondary school. It should be ft. There are no excuses. 

Once the youngest child is 13 then the single parent claimant will be expected to work full time (35 hours). A child aged 11 is possibly too young to potentially be left to have to leave home alone on a morning and to come home to an empty house on an afternoon. Of course, in real life it does happen but there have been instances where parents have been prosecuted for leaving an 11 year old alone in a house. 12 years old is possibly slightly less contentious but the DWP just seem to be taking the cautious approach of imposing full time work requirements on a lone parent where the youngest is a teenager.

The 25 hours requirement is still stricter than on JSA where I think the DWP just expected the lone parent to look for work for 16 hours. Both are much stricter than the situation that existed until about 2008 where the lone parent would be on Income Support and would have no work requirements until the youngest child turned 16. Back then once the youngest turned 16 the lone parent had either to claim JSA or qualify for IS on other grounds (for example because of illness).

Spoonie_Turtle

FBaby said:

It's hard to believe that even taking your son to school you won't have any time to look for other jobs with more hours. Surely you could do your search at home when he is back from school.

I also think you have plenty of time now to take the bus with him so he can be ready by September. Same with coming home alone. Now is the time to leave him at home in his own. 

I am actually quite shocked that single parents it gave to look for 25h work when their kids start secondary school. It should be ft. There are no excuses. 

Wow, aren't you judgemental! Have you actually worked with children recently? I can tell you, if half the 11yr-olds I worked with were left at home alone that would have raised serious questions, and the thought of some of them having to endure a day at school not feeling at all comfortable and then coming home by themselves to an empty house until 5 or 6pm - just no. Absolutely not. And that was in normal times, before the pandemic which for many kids has been hugely traumatic.

Kids can be incredibly resilient and mature, but they can also take longer than their peers to 'grow up' and that's perfectly okay. What is not okay is complete strangers telling their parents what's best for these children they've never even met - suggestions to consider are one thing, but that's not really what's happening here, is it.


OP I don't know for certain what would be best with the work situation, but I'm sure you could look for more suitable work in some of the time you're at home, and having a job is better than not - it also does make you more employable. I understand not wanting to have to leave soon after but it's likely the school would understand if you needed to. And if you're hoping for a TA job, having a little understanding of how the particular school works could be an advantage over someone coming in completely from outside.

I know that some parents *can* be overprotective (I've seen it, so often!), but if you have good, open, honest communication with your son you will certainly know what is actually best for him, not some random strangers off the internet.

poppy12345

FBaby said:

It's hard to believe that even taking your son to school you won't have any time to look for other jobs with more hours. Surely you could do your search at home when he is back from school.

I also think you have plenty of time now to take the bus with him so he can be ready by September. Same with coming home alone. Now is the time to leave him at home in his own. 

I am actually quite shocked that single parents it gave to look for 25h work when their kids start secondary school. It should be ft. There are no excuses. 

This isn't the first time that you've4 been very judgemental in your comments. I'm guessing by this reply that you don't have children because if you did then you wouldn't have been so judgemental.

I have 3 children, although all grown up now and yes i was also a single parent but i would never ever have left them alone after school at the age of 11 because in my opinion they are just far too young to have that responsibility.

You really do need to be more considerate with your comments.

Cheechee

FBaby said:

It's hard to believe that even taking your son to school you won't have any time to look for other jobs with more hours. Surely you could do your search at home when he is back from school.

I also think you have plenty of time now to take the bus with him so he can be ready by September. Same with coming home alone. Now is the time to leave him at home in his own. 

I am actually quite shocked that single parents it gave to look for 25h work when their kids start secondary school. It should be ft. There are no excuses. 

Oh dear, you are very harsh!

No, it's not hard to believe, I think you've misunderstood something.

I didn't mean I couldn't work search for jobs with longer hours because of doing the school run, I meant that finding another job with the hours to fit around taking my son to school, being a midday assistant and then collecting my son again would be difficult.

There are so many very kind and helpful people on here and then along comes you. 

I'm trying my very best to find a job and hopefully it will be a full time position or perhaps 2 jobs in the not too distant future so please don't judge me for trying to find anything, even if the hours are limited so that I can be there for my son in the short term

olivia_black

Hello! 

it's really quite a bit and it seems to me that you could find something else. 

you can calmly combine 2 works and have time to take care of your son

Cheechee

olivia_black said:

Hello! 

it's really quite a bit and it seems to me that you could find something else. 

you can calmly combine 2 works and have time to take care of your son

Yes definitely, that's what I'm trying to do. But finding a job for about 2/2.5 hours in the morning and again in the afternoon might be hard to find . . . but my search goes on. Maybe I could leaflet drop??

ceremony

Cheechee said:

olivia_black said:

Hello! 

it's really quite a bit and it seems to me that you could find something else. 

you can calmly combine 2 works and have time to take care of your son

Yes definitely, that's what I'm trying to do. But finding a job for about 2/2.5 hours in the morning and again in the afternoon might be hard to find . . . but my search goes on. Maybe I could leaflet drop??

In my area some of the call centers do "split shifts" that are specifically designed for parents. It's not the most exciting work but it could be an option?

Emmia

Could cleaning be an option? Perhaps via one of the apps like Handy? You could then make yourself available for certain times of day, so that you can be around before/after school. 

Cheechee

Thanks for the suggestions.

Unfortunately, cleaning wouldn't be an option due to back/hip problems.

Call centres is something to consider.

Cheechee

UPDATE

I've been offered a job in a school to start in September
I've written a note in my journal for my work coach and updated in the jobs applied for section.

I received this message

' Job updated

Congratulations on getting the job. You'll still have to officially update us - either use your account to report a change or talk to your work coach if you have an appointment soon. '

Questions please

1)  how and when should I update them (I don't have another phone appointment booked).  Should I wait till September when the job starts?

2)  previously when working I was claiming working tax and child tax credits.  Now I'm on UC will I still get the equivalent of this within the monthly UC payment?

3)  the job is for 19 hours a week, will I still have to find another job to make it up to 25 hours (son is 11)?

4)  Will UC top up a low salary and will there be any commitments required from me?

4)  will I still need to look for a job over the summer hols to be able to still claim UC?  Finding a job during the summer will be tricky because I have no childcare.

Thanks