Chance of being pregnant - do I go ahead with it? How do benefits work

narabanekeater

Where you live Sarah must be very different to where we are
My DD gets 15 hours a week which used to be just 12.5 but increased as of today
Those had to be took as 2.5 hour sesions

sarahl1983

Hi i live in the north of England.
My son was in a college nursery and he could go for all the hours i was in college for and when he went when i started work he was at another nursery whilst i worked 8:30 to 5:45 and they only charged me for half a day which was from 12:30pm.

nicola1982_2

It's a big commitment having a baby, however money shouldn't really be the issue. You will never be in the position where you cannot afford your baby so long as you are sensible. Child benifit and family tax credit do help, plus SMP/AMP. If OH works he will be responsible for rent etc, if he tries to suggest otherwise it is worth pointing out that your full time role as a mum is unpaid.

LondonDiva

I'm being a little slow, but are you saying that you are thinking of having a child knowing in advance that you can't maintain him/her financially and intending on relying on benefits as a long term solution?

If I've read it incorrectly, I apologise.

If I haven't, I would strongly urge you & DH to review your outgoings, start saving and look to getting jobs with maternity / paternity leaves etc as a better plan for the family and child.

lottee

sarahl1983 wrote: »

I chose not to work when i had my son, i did get benefits and why not if i was entitled to them. I work now and i'm paying taxes so in the long run i'll be paying a lot more back than what i got back then.
Some people live off tax payers money all there life and there's nothing wrong with them and they claim sick or take drugs that's what bothers me.
If you want to have a baby have one even if you have to not work.
I was a single mum when i had my son and didn't get back with his dad til my son was 2 due to personal reasons.

And 3 years is how old your child has to be to get the free child care. It is mornings or afternoons it's not 2 hour sessions. Most nurseries open at 7am and close at 6pm. The cut off time for morning sessions is 12:30pm. So it's up to 5and a half hours a day. I work for 4 hours whilst my son is in school now and employers do have to be flexible in most cases if you have children. After 26 weeks working you can apply for flexible working and if they refuse which is rare Ithey have to give a valid reason and you can appeal. This is how i got my hours in work. The 26 weeks applies to maternity pay too.

There was no free childcare when my son was 3 - he is only 5.5 now, I had to pay for the extra hours he was in nursery, as the funded sessions were only the times I mentioned above.

And yes, if someone is entitled to benefits, then of course they should claim. I wasn't questioning the fact that you or anyone else received benefits; Shame for us that we have always so say earnt too much to be entitled to any help.

I wondered why you thought it was best to stay at home for the first 3 years.

Spendless

lottee wrote: »

There was no free childcare when my son was 3 - he is only 5.5 now, I had to pay for the extra hours he was in nursery, as the funded sessions were only the times I mentioned above.

lottee- when my youngest (just 5)was leaving private nursery 18months ago, the nursery manager mentioned a change in the fundied sessions. It didn't apply to me so I wasn't fully listening but I *think* some areas have allowed 2 free sessions to be joined together.

note to self - read the rest of the posts -lol.
Sarah can you give us more details, were you getting free childcare because you were on certain benefits and studying?

CarolynH

vaio wrote: »

From all the small employers out there "thank you"

Actually, small employers get 104% of SMP back from HMRC. The additional 4% is intened to go towards admin and also recruiting and training an interim replacement.

vaio

CarolynH wrote: »

Actually, small employers get 104% of SMP back from HMRC. The additional 4% is intended to go towards admin and also recruiting and training an interim replacement.

SMP is £117 for 39 weeks = £4560

4% = £182.

Newspaper sits vac ad in our local sunday paper is £220, plus training plus admin etc etc.

daphne_descends

vaio wrote: »

SMP is £117 for 39 weeks = £4560

4% = £182.

Newspaper sits vac ad in our local sunday paper is £220, plus training plus admin etc etc.

Yet if someone leaves

4% of 0 = 0...

Sarahsaver

Any update on this suituation?