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Single parent with 18 year old about to start uni
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Elle83, I apologise if I read things wrong but I am very genuinly worried about my situation and how quick it is about to happen. I really have no problem with getting more hours if its possible but in such a short time? I must have been stupid to not have foreseen this happening because as I said before I thought a full time student meant just that and expected to have at least another year or so before I needed to work more hours and have been studying for more qualifications in anticipation.
I really must say though that apart from what I wrote no one knows or should assume to knowmine or anyone else's situation. I am quite close to retirement and I have a 90 year old mother to take into consideration. I voluntarilly give many hours a week to vulnerable families who are finding life very very difficult and I hope that I really make a difference. I also need a new hip but it seems i'm not quite old enough to get one yet but I don't want to claim for my disability as I prefer to work for as long as is possible. Who knows I may be able to get a new hip when I'm sixty then I can enjoy my "paid leisure time"
Sorry but you've not really said anything here to change my opinion.
I'm on lone parent related benefits because I have to supervise my 2yr old at all times; make his dinner, do his laundry, clean his bum even. What on earth do you need to do for an 18yr old that takes up most of your week?
I'm sure you do do other things, we all do, but you're wanting to claim as a single parent when you don't even have to do much actual parenting anymore. You really didn't get nasty responses - they were factual ones.
Your 90yr old Mother is only your worry if you she is dependant on you alone to care for her, in which case you could ask about carer's allowance. Otherwise you are her relative who likes to visit and those that do actively care for her will be paid for doing so.
No-one has said you're not entitled to any benefits - what some of us have said is that it's obviously wrong to think you're entitled to single parent benefits when your child is a self-sufficient adult.
You've posted here to say that "I don't want to claim for my disability as I prefer to work for as long as is possible." but you've happily been claiming tax credits and housing benefit all these years on the basis that you're somehow needed at home to care for a child old enough to have been taking care of themselves most of the time.
If it is actually that you have health concerns preventing you from working longer hours then you should be enquiring about disability benefits and not lone parent ones which is what your intial post quite clearly enquired about.0 -
elle i think this is a bit harsh. her op did not actually say she wanted, or expected, to say on lp benefits. she said she would like advice on what she could claim.
i agree she has been a bit daft and unprepared, but i think this is purely down to not knowing or understanding the benefits system. she says she has only claimed benefits for the last two years, and shes in her fifties. chances are she just did not fully appreciate what was meant by 'student' etc. and the differences between lp/ disability benefits. and yes she was perhaps a bit hasty claiming people were rude or nasty. but obviously she hasn't read some of the vile crap that gets put on here sometimes to compare it too. :eek: .......... or maybe she has and was sh*tting herself!
i know there are true, devious benefit blaggers who give the rest a bad name. i honestly dont think this lady deserves to fall in that catagory. if she has only claimed for 2 years of her adult life (shes nearly retired), even the usual haters would struggle to condemn herWe cannot change anything unless we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses. Carl Jung
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Hi Space rider, Glad you used the service but sad you can't get it now. Think it sounds slightly differently to the one that operates around here. I'll speak with a few people and get back to you although I suspect that you know about all services available to you already. If I can help then I will.0
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Hello Sjay, Thanks for your support but this person does not worry me at all. She knows nothing about me like I know very little about her. A two year old is a very active little person and quite rightly her mother should be at home looking after her, its her job after all. I know these things because I might be a bit of a lazy person now, I have very little to do after all but there was a time not so long back that I had three little ones under four one of whom needed specialist nursing around the clock and physio every single day for the first five years of his life. Oh my how did I cope eh? Oh and I forgot to mention there was no such thing as tax credits at that time so I went to work in the evening five days a week.
Housing benefit? Whats that? The most I've ever received is 50pence a week. And you are correct in saying that I claimed for only the last two years and that was out of desperation. Think that on reflection Elle will be claiming an awful lot more than I've ever done considering her child is still only two. Good luck to her.
Thank you anyway.0 -
Hello Sjay, Thanks for your support but this person does not worry me at all. She knows nothing about me like I know very little about her. A two year old is a very active little person and quite rightly her mother should be at home looking after her, its her job after all. I know these things because I might be a bit of a lazy person now, I have very little to do after all but there was a time not so long back that I had three little ones under four one of whom needed specialist nursing around the clock and physio every single day for the first five years of his life. Oh my how did I cope eh? Oh and I forgot to mention there was no such thing as tax credits at that time so I went to work in the evening five days a week.
Housing benefit? Whats that? The most I've ever received is 50pence a week. And you are correct in saying that I claimed for only the last two years and that was out of desperation. Think that on reflection Elle will be claiming an awful lot more than I've ever done considering her child is still only two. Good luck to her.
Thank you anyway.
You've missed the point entirely, and not only that, you've very wrongly made the assumption that I'll be staying home and claiming benefits until my child is 18 just because you think that's a normal thing to do.
Instead of taking on board the point I've made that benefits are there for SPECIFIC PURPOSES and that being a single parent to an ADULT isn't one of them - you've just sniped at me and try to accuse me of "claiming an awful lot more than you've ever done". BTW it isn't "rightly so" my job either - my son does actually have another parent - but he's happily off earning thousands of pounds a year while he leaves me to deal with all the childcare on my own.
I don't care what you've done or when you've done it - the point is that you have no right to be claiming lone parent benefits when you no longer have any dependant children. It's a national insurance scheme not a savings account you get to draw on when you fancy it.
As I said before, if you have other problems then you should look into claiming for those. Sorry I bothered to try to be helpful now.0 -
I think the point that everyone has been trying to make is that according to the DWP you are no longer classed as a single parent. You are now a single person which means the benefits you once had now changes.
To get WTC you now need to work 30 hours a week and earn no more than £11k a year. If you are on a low income then you can get help with council tax and rent.
If that means going back to work full time to make ends meet that is what you will have to do.
I have just had to drop two days a week losing nearly a third of my wages because I have disabled husband. I don't believe him to be safe at home for long periods of time on his own. He get his benefits but because we have saved we don't get any extra help. We will have to manage.
All the best what ever happens in the future.
Yours
CalleyHope for everything and expect nothing!!!
Good enough is almost always good enough -Prof Barry Schwartz
If it scares you, it might be a good thing to try -Seth Godin0 -
Hello Calley w, thanks for your best wishes. Its not that I expected anything as a single parent just that I and a couple of my colleagues were not aware of the full time student thing changing after A levels. Bit of a shock I suppose. I was and am working towards higher qualifications myself in anticipation of losing WTC and FA I was just not aware that it would be this soon. You live and learn i suppose.
Thanks again0 -
Hello Calley w, thanks for your best wishes. Its not that I expected anything as a single parent just that I and a couple of my colleagues were not aware of the full time student thing changing after A levels. Bit of a shock I suppose. I was and am working towards higher qualifications myself in anticipation of losing WTC and FA I was just not aware that it would be this soon. You live and learn i suppose.
Thanks again
You are not the only one there are a lot of parents who are going to get a bit of shock over the next few years as there children leave school and college. And find that they are not going to get any more tax credits.
I afraid it is like everything you have to find out for yourself as no one seems to want to give you the information.
Again all the best and don't forget about DLA even if you not getting the help you can still claim and work as it is not means tested.
Yours
CalleyHope for everything and expect nothing!!!
Good enough is almost always good enough -Prof Barry Schwartz
If it scares you, it might be a good thing to try -Seth Godin0 -
The difficulty i've found with lots of departments is that they don't know much either. So yes you are correct in what you say you have to find out for yourself, hense the reason for using this forum.
Tell you what though, I am suprised at the venom spat at such a lot of people generally by the same people on many forums. Didn't know that there was so much hatred about.
I will certainly look into this DLA and see what happens, looking at the thread on this subject it appears that its easier for some than others. My only worry is having to leave my job if my employer doesn't think i'm fit enough. I'll have to cross that bridge when I get to it.
Thanks again
Yvonne0 -
Hi, i truly admire your thinking and in the way you are bravely seeking advice. This web site has clearly been developed for very good intentions and it seems it is winning regardless of all the ugly and selfish comments that arrive. Do what i have next time you get a rude response and that is research the sender! You will soon get to smell a rat and find out why they are so judgmental. Read Martin Lewis's statement on this. He needs lots of support himself to keep this site thing going. Perhaps when you have found your answers, and i hope you do, remember those that helped. I will0
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