Couples with kids vs single parent
 

Couples with children 'have to work THREE TIMES as hard as single mothers to stay above the poverty line', claims report | the Daily Mail

According to this a couple has to work 3 times more hours than a single parent to get the same income.

Is this fair?

I dont think it is. Ok i dont have kids and im not married but i still dont think thats fair that the couple have to work 48 hours to a single parents 16 to get the same income.

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

I'm a sigle parent, I get Tax Credits but still have to work 35 hours a week to get by.

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

couple might have to work 3 times as hard to get the same income but single parents have to work 3 times as hard at home......

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

But in the hours they are saying a couple has to work means that one of them is full time and the other is part time / less. If they had no kids, they would probably both be working full time and not get government handouts and would be no better off

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

What a load of tosh!!!

Trust me, as a single parent who has her last day at work today (redundant incidentally before i get accused of owt else), I have been told what I am entitled to and it is a joke.

I know which I'd prefer

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

I think the statement Lies, Damn Lies and statstics applies here:rolleyes:

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

Dont worry jaysay 90% of statistics are made up anyway.

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

Only 90%.............?

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

I don't think this is true at all, but it would take a hell of a lot of time and effort to find the true statistics, as I am pretty sure that the true statistics aren't readily available!

It's very rarely I meet a nuclear family struggling more than those from single parent families that I know though. It seems the families that miss out most on government help are those that are earning above average salaries but have numerous children to support rather than just one or two. That's just from my own personal observations though.

It all depends on a persons career though and their lifestyle choices in my opinion.

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

Would be interesting to hear what a couple on low income have to say about this. As the article reads it does seem to be biased towards single parents.

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

but a couple on low income would be entitled to working tax credits so don't know how this bears out

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

This is another example of the Daily Mail - they're trying to frighten their core Tory market by telling them how poor they all are under Labour!!!!

The only thing that really concerns me about all this is that Shillelagh reads the Daily Mail!!! :)

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

When I was married I didnt struggle for money no-where near as much as I do now as a single parent

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

I understand what you are saying and don't think this is any way a reflection on single parents. It does however seem unfair that a single parent only needs to work sixteen hours before getting top up benefits and a couple have to work forty eight hours to be entitled to same benefits.

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

Not sure how it affects those on minimum wage but I know when we started living together the net result was around a £50 reduction than the income we had as separate households.

It's a very poor report which basically highlights certain financial issues but which fails to highlight a hell of a lot of practical issues faced by single parents. Probably a quiet news day.

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

The 48 hours is between them though, when I worked I was working around 60 hours a week most weeks so 48 would have been a short week for me. That works out really as 1 working full time and the other maybe doing a few hours. If they do less hours anyway they get child and working tax credits, so long as they work over 30 hours. The example they used in the article where she was better off single may be true in a way but she does not work and her husband is self employed which is variable and can sometimes be awkward to work with the benefits as they calculate it from your previous years earnings not off what you are earning at present

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

Right that explains it a bit better, didn't know the minimum hours worked was thirty before a couple could claim.

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

Yeah, to qualify for a higher rate of working tax credit you have to work a minimum of 30 yrs per week, there is a lower rate but guess they do this so people dont sponge as much, maybe a way of controlling it a little, i dunno, can only say what i know from experience

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

Without getting my calculator out I would guess that the 30 yrs per week would have to be leap years!
:D

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

thats just how it feels when you have kids em :D

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

Oooops - Simple mistake, trust you to pick up on it Less

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

Hey, at least it shows that I, and at least one other actually pay attention to the contents of your threads!
:eek:

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

I dont think they do. They would be entitled to working tax and child tax dependant on income, as long as one works over 16 hours I think

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

Good point! - Its appreciated, thanks :D

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

Not really up to scratch on the rules just going off what Emzy said.

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

i dont get working tax as me and my partner work he works full time i work part time, i have always been told that if i didnt work i would get more benefits, but thats not what i want, i want to be able to earn the money myself, i dont think it would be fair if only my partner worked, i like going to work thinking im doing something for the family as well even though is not much,and before someone shouts at me i am not saying nothing bad about people who has kids and dont work (just so we are clear )

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

Yeah sorry Bernie, hadnt seen page 2 of the thread when i posted my reply

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

am sure, (but could be wrong) that you get working tax credits if you working more than 16 hrs a week but you get a higher entitlement if you work over 30 hrs a week (all pay dependant of course)

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

Thats correct. However a couple can work 30 hours between them to qualify for the 30 hrs a week extra credit whereas a single parent has to do the 30 hrs on their own.

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

It would be interesting to see where they get their figures from. I have just put myself through the tex credits system as

Single parent with one child working 16 hours on minimum wage, net income for year would be £10,290.

Married with one child and wife not working, 40 hrs a week on minimum wage, net income would be £14,172.

I don't know how housing benefit would apply to the lower figure if both situations could claim it, but I do know the single parent would get a 25% reduction in council tax.

As I said before very bad report. Would have been better if they gave better examples.

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

Mick works 40+ hours a week and when im not on maternity i work 28 hours a week, we hardly see each other when hes comming in at 5.30 i go to start at 6pm til 10pm and all day saturday, im on minimum wage and he never knows what hes going to earn as he gets paid by how much asphalt he lays. I get very little tax credits because he earnt more last year as he worked away, this year hes lucky if he brings home £250! and i can tell you that us as a couple with 3 kids working over 60 hours between us we are very poor. (All donations can be made to my paypal account!) lol.

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

A few years ago I went for an interview for a job and the person interviewing asked how much per hour I would work for. When I told him he got his calculator out, started tapping away, turned round and told me, "I've no doubt you could do the job but I can get someone who claims benefits to do it for less than that."

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

Lets face it, this is just another headline where figures are manipulated to attack a another group of people which are an easy target. The debate about single parents and benefits is always guarenteed to evoke a response.

I dont think any mother (or father for that matter) sets out to become a single parent. Its not exactly in their life plan, but it happens, you deal with it and make the best job you can.

Anyone that can slate single parents should try it for a month. Maybe then they'll realise that any extra money you MAY get in benefits, you'd gladly trade to be in a happy family environment, or even for an undisturbed bath

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

Totally agree. The stereotypical single parent of breeding kids from mid teens with numerous fathers while living off benefits is far from the truth. The majority of single parents have been left in that position by useless/selfish/waste of time partners, it wasn't asked for or planned.

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

What Id give for an undisturbed bath!! Or just an hour to myself to relax!

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

I dont ask for much, a hot cup of coffee would do me, you know, the ones we used to have a couple of years ago where its still hot when you've reached the bottom of the cup x

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

Agree totally was a single parent myself when my kids were young and it isn't easy.

Re: Couples with kids vs single parent
 

I think the point is you can make statistics fit anything you want, as has been said before its a very poor article, and isn't much use to anybody only to wind people up.