What can I do?

silly_moo · 14 September 2018 at 3:15PM

Hi all, hope you can give me some advice. I've never claimed any benefits so have absolutely no clue how these work.

My DH was made redundant a few months ago and hasn't been able to find work. I am able to work overtime to make extra cash but our outgoings are higher than income at the moment, mostly due to childcare.

DH asked for advice at the job centre and was told we have to take kids out of childcare if we can't afford it, however waiting lists in the area are so long that if we take them out, we may not be able to find spaces once DH finds a new job.

I've filled in one of the benefits calculator forms and it said we may be eligible for child tax credit based on my income, but do I understand correctly that we are not eligible because both of us would need to work at least 16 hours a week and we have savings to help us through?

So where do we go to see if we're entitled to any help when taking children out of childcare is not an option?

We're in Scotland if that changes anything. Thanks.

Comms69 · 14 September 2018 at 3:32PM

silly_moo wrote: »

Hi all, hope you can give me some advice. I've never claimed any benefits so have absolutely no clue how these work.

My DH was made redundant a few months ago and hasn't been able to find work. I am able to work overtime to make extra cash but our outgoings are higher than income at the moment, mostly due to childcare. - sorry this sounds stupid, but if your husband is unemployed why are there any childcare costs at all?

DH asked for advice at the job centre and was told we have to take kids out of childcare if we can't afford it, however waiting lists in the area are so long that if we take them out, we may not be able to find spaces once DH finds a new job. - That's life im afraid. If you cant afford something you stop spending on it. I don't see why the taxpayer should pay for your children to be looked after when a capable parent is not doing anything.

I've filled in one of the benefits calculator forms and it said we may be eligible for child tax credit based on my income, but do I understand correctly that we are not eligible because both of us would need to work at least 16 hours a week and we have savings to help us through? - I agree the system is confusing, my understanding was a parent working 24 hours a week would qualify.

We're in Scotland if that changes anything. Thanks.

And that may be why it's different to what I understand it to be. But I will just say that your husband either needs to find any work, or needs to look after the children. The situation is clearly not sustainable unless you're happy to see savings disappear.

silly_moo · 14 September 2018 at 4:01PM

Well obviously DH is looking for work and ready to start at a moment's notice. If we planned for him not to work we would have stopped childcare weeks ago. If we take the children out of childcare, and a job comes up, he would not be able to take the job, it's as simple as that I'm afraid.

My understanding was that a lot of people on benefits get help with childcare, why not people who just have a temporary problem who have never claimed anything before?

TELLIT01 · 14 September 2018 at 4:08PM

Is your husband claiming JSA based on his NI contributions? If not, why not?
Why can't people with a temporary problem get help with childcare? Simply and sadly because "them's the rules" whether we like them or not. Not having a go at you, simply stating the reality of the situation.

Comms69 · 14 September 2018 at 4:12PM

silly_moo wrote: »

Well obviously DH is looking for work and ready to start at a moment's notice. If we planned for him not to work we would have stopped childcare weeks ago. If we take the children out of childcare, and a job comes up, he would not be able to take the job, it's as simple as that I'm afraid.

My understanding was that a lot of people on benefits get help with childcare, why not people who just have a temporary problem who have never claimed anything before?

But he kind of job he's looking for aren't ready to take him at a moments notice, otherwise he'd already be working. Recruitment process is going to be at least a month.

But you're right it's as simple as that and unfortunately it's a gamble you need to take.

Some people get help with childcare, but you aren't on benefits. You're working. Whether you've claimed or not is irrelevant, it's not a savings scheme

silly_moo · 14 September 2018 at 5:02PM

Comms69 wrote: »

But he kind of job he's looking for aren't ready to take him at a moments notice, otherwise he'd already be working. Recruitment process is going to be at least a month.

It's 2 months notice for childcare as well so it really isn't as easy as stopping at a moment's notice.

So does anyone know if there's somewhere we can go that would tell us what the options are?

silly_moo · 14 September 2018 at 5:05PM

TELLIT01 wrote: »

Is your husband claiming JSA based on his NI contributions? If not, why not?
Why can't people with a temporary problem get help with childcare? Simply and sadly because "them's the rules" whether we like them or not. Not having a go at you, simply stating the reality of the situation.

Yes, claiming contributions based JSA at the moment.

I wonder if those rules would leave us better off if I stopped doing overtime, DH stopped looking for work and we just sat on our backsides claiming whatever we can, because I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case :mad:

FBaby · 14 September 2018 at 5:26PM

Would the childcare provider at least agree to a reduction of hours in the in the interm? They might show some understanding and be prepared to be flexible .

Caz3121 · 14 September 2018 at 5:40PM

silly_moo wrote: »

I've filled in one of the benefits calculator forms and it said we may be eligible for child tax credit based on my income, but do I understand correctly that we are not eligible because both of us would need to work at least 16 hours a week and we have savings to help us through?

there are 2 types of tax credits, child tax credits - you can apply if you have children
working tax credits which would only apply if you were both working - it is the wtc that links to childcare help
for CTC you need to look at your household income for tax year 17/18 and compare it to what you expect the household income to be 18/19
note that you need to estimate what it will be up to April which will be hard as you don't know when he will find a job. If it turns out the income ends up more than your estimate there would be an overpayment (up to the total paid if you go over the threshold)
do you rent or have a mortgage? did he receive redundancy payment? you mention you have savings, are these over £16k?

silly_moo · 14 September 2018 at 5:59PM

Sunny_Intervals wrote: »

I know you're frustrated, but there's a number of people who post here to try to help people and are on long-term benefits for various reasons themselves. That was a little hurtful.

I'm sorry if I offended anyone, I certainly didn't mean to.

I don't know much about the world of benefits, only what I glimpse through various Facebook groups for mums and my understanding is that there are a lot of families where the mother decides to stop working after having children, they claim benefits, get extra free hours at nursery etc and get along just fine. Then I compare this to our situation where we'd only need help temporarily and not long-term and can't help feeling this is unfair.

silly_moo · 14 September 2018 at 6:04PM

Caz3121 wrote: »

there are 2 types of tax credits, child tax credits - you can apply if you have children
(...)
do you rent or have a mortgage? did he receive redundancy payment? you mention you have savings, are these over £16k?

thanks, do you know what the thresholds are for claiming CTC?

we have a mortgage, currently going through the process of claiming from our mortgage PPI but it's a long process and we're not sure if our claim will be successful.

yes to the redundancy payment and yes to savings over £16k. this is why we felt we could manage to pay childcare costs while DH is looking for work but the job prospects aren't looking as promising as we thought.

What can I do?

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