No Benefits for parents
 

Got a call on Thursday from a nice lady from the social informing me that in November this year the government are stopping giving benefits to single parents who's youngest kids are over 11 , they MUST go back to work, she asked me a few questions on the phone and said would i like to go to an open day that they have going on in Blackburn college at the end of this month, which i said yes to, at this open day they are going to inform parents of hidden benefits aparently, things that the people down the job centre dont tell you about, she knew that i'd been looking for work anyway and seemed rather pleased that she'd got a happy person on the other end of the phone...has anyone else had the call yet?

i am please with this but will it make other mums have more kids just so they can stay on the benefits system that bit longer? i bet it will

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

I think before they start forcing mothers back to work, they should make it 'doable'. You have to earn a really good amount of money to go back to work, because once you pay childcare, rent etc, its hard to make working worthwhile

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

i think what they are saying Nik is that kids of that age can look after themselves? was telling my dad about this yesterday and he said....'and are they going to create jobs for all the millions of people that they are telling to come off benefits' i suppose he has a point

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

With all the Poles going home after they have made the money they wanted there should be work about.

Are they saying you have to earn something and they will top it up still?

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

yeah i think so Neil, thats why i'm going to this open day at the end of the month, theres tax credits and all that i think, i've been looking for a job for a while now so i'll just go to see what sort of jobs they have on offer, doesnt bother me in the slightest really but i bet this has panicked some parents

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

Didn't we only get Polish Plumbers?

Is Flashy Corgi registered?

If she is she can afford a live in Nanny.
:cool:

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

I am sure that if the goverment gave employers help with the cost of employing people, at least for a limited period, then employers would create suitable jobs.
These jobs would not have to be full time and could be focused around school times or even centred on home working.

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

I'm still not sure its a good idea. Think about the youth culture today, and the problems society has with it. Turning aload of 11 year olds on the streets whilst they're mams are at work isnt really going to help, I wouldnt have thought.

During schooltime, its not as bad as the holidays, and where else can you get the same amount of holidays as the schools in a working environment.

I think I was probably about this age when I started 'looking after myself' during the day, but I know a lot of kids that at 11years old would not be safe or mature enough to do so?

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

Are you proposing even more taxes?? :eek:

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

As flashy has said the amount of financial help that is out there to get back to work is alot more than people realise.

The question of immature 11 year olds (said immature as some 11 year olds are very mature) left on there own is covered by childcare up to the age of 16 that can be claimed as part of your working/child tax credit awards.

There is also a 4 week cross over regarding benefits to allow people to adjust to going back to work, there's help with costs for attending interviews and purchasing smart clothes for interviews which is monitored.

A point I really want to make which is especially relevant to people in rented housing..when notifying housing/council tax benefit that you have started work and have put a claim in for tax credits, they CANNOT wait until your tax credit award comes through to work out your housing benefit entitlement, they have to base it on your wage and then when your tax credit award is sorted they have to reassess your benefit claim and can only treat any back payment of tax credits as savings and upto £6000 is disregarded!! Also any maintenance you may receive from a former partner is not classed as income for tax credit purposes but is for housing/council tax benefit purposes

Any queries on how your benefits could be affected please ask on here or by pm

:)

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

Certainly not, just better use of the taxes we already pay for peop0le to do nothing all day.

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

[quote=harwood red;592524
Any queries on how your benefits could be affected please ask on here or by pm

:)[/quote]


its so bloody confusing Lesley, it kinda makes me dread having to fill a million forms in, and what hapens if i get behind with rent? what happens if i cant manage off just my wage until the tax credits come through? was discussing this with my mate yesterday and those are the questions we came up with

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

Offical childcare for under 11's is difficult enough to find, over 11's is nigh on impossible :(

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

Think you'll find, especially in this thread that is aimed for single mothers, you are not paying taxes for someone who does nothing all day.

And with childcare, tax credits still only pay 80% max of childcare, less if you have a decent income. I got caught last year by earning too much to claim childcare payments, but by the time I'd paid that, housing etc I would have been as well off by not working

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

Does this mean the government are guilty of sex discrimination and single fathers don't have to find a job ? :D


It's definatley aimed at single parents regardless of gender :)

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

of course this thread is aimed at single parents, thats why i wrote single parents in my original post

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

I was just going to say that.

Certainly in the school holidays you would have a problem if you had an 11 year old whom you were not confident to leave home alone.

I use holiday club for my children in school holidays and I am not aware of any holiday club that takes children over the age of 8.

It's not currently a problem for me as my two are under age 8 but when my eldest turns 9 I will have a problem. I won't want to leave him at home while I go to work but there are no holiday clubs that will take him. :(

I don't know why they don't take over 8s but the same seems to apply to childminders too.......is it for insurance purposes? I don't know.

As it happens I have a very good mum who will help me out but what about people without family to help them? :confused:

I think that any initiatives to get people back in employment are a good idea but this is a major issue in the school holidays and one that will need to be addressed before many people can go back to work.

Some 11 year olds will be ok at home but some won't and it all depends on the hours you work. Perhaps part time would not be too bad but full time?
I wouldn't want to leave an 11 year old alone for a full day.

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

My childminder finished having them when they left junior school but I never asked her why. Maybe it's because a lot of 11 yr olds these days are wannabe teenagers :D

Have they changed the rules yet regarding grandparents acting as chilminders for tax credit purposes. I know they were talking about it but never noticed if they did anything

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

I remember that being talked about too but it never came about.

At the moment you can only get tax credits when you use official ofsted registered childcare.

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

i've just come up with a wonderful ideal job...i'll go and work in the school :D:D:D lol that sorts the school holiday problem out doesnt it :D:D:D

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

That's a great idea and would solve the problem for you but unfortunately all the parents of over 11s in the country won't be able to find work in a school. :rolleyes::D

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

thats true H, think i may just have to become a dinner lady :D

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

Just been told by my sister-in-laws dad that they are making you go back to work when your child is 7, our Chrissies uncle got a call the same day that i did and they told him that because his youngest is now 7 he will have to go back to work too, will let you know if this is true or not on Tuesday after ive been to the open day

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

Apologies, my fault. Typed without thinking







again....;)

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

My daughter has been coming home from school on her own for the last 3 years, no great hardship if they can be trusted with a door key and have the good sense not to set the place alight.
She used to ring me at work as soon as she got in, if I didn't get the call I rang the school, since she is now at secondary school we have more mutual trust.
Kids need the independence and parents are gonna have to learn to let go and earn, this recession isn't going to go away lightly and staying home on benefits really shouldn't be an option.

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

Whilst I agree with parents going back to work, I always worked evenings when mine were young I can't help but wonder where all these new jobs are going to come from. We have lost so much vital work from the area with industries closing down, I just can't see how there are going to be jobs available.

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

If we closed our borders to all except those who passed a set criteria and sent the East Europeans home I am sure we would have plenty of work.

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

Agreed but is that likely to happen?? And even if it did the jobs that have been lost would not suddenly reappear just think about all the factories that have gone and will never reopen!!!

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

Dya know I have just invited my neice to come and live with us over here because she was having trouble getting a job over there in accy.
She has been for quite a few jobs over here and guess what ??
They all been taken up by the poles. Typical .
Now before anyone starts im not against the poles or anyone else for that matter , but what I am mad at is when the majority of jobs on the fylde coast are taken up by them and there is nothing left for our own.

Something needs to be done IMO.

How can they expect single mums/dads to go back to work when the jobs arent really there for the single folk / school leavers, and people who are in an easier position to work than mums and dads ?

Just my gripe

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

So you are not againsy Poles as long as they are not working. Would you prefer they just claimed our benefits instead?

I am against them being over here. I am not being nasty or racist, I just don't think this Country can support anyone else at the moment.

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

from what I read in the international press it seems the Poles and other EU citizens in the UK are supporting themselves in minimum wage jobs without any Govt. handouts ( even contribute to the economy), seems its some the natives who dont want to work and are happy living on either handouts or demanding "top-up subsidies" before even considering getting out of bed in the mornings , if a Pole can live on what they pay at Hollands Pies why cant a native ? a loaf of bread costs the same for both , and in most cases the cost of living for a native in any country is lower than that of a foriegner........ :confused: :confused:

and before anyone starts bitching and moaning .......I don't remember a British birth certificate saying "I am special, I am entitled" ........get over it , you are born , you live , you die ........make the most of it , end of story

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

That is only part of the story.

After talking to several Poles most of them are only here short term to make a set amount of money. One I spoke to was here to make say £10k. He would then take that money home to use to but a house for his family.

They tend to live together in shared houses to reduce the cost. They try to spend as little money as possible so are not really adding to the local economy. The whole idea is to take money out of the UK back home.

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

yep, your correct, but they are only doing the same as thousands of Brits who are working in the Gulf/Saudi/Nigeria etc. and no one complains about them (in fact the UK Govt. gives them a tax break), they are doing the jobs that the locals don't want (think Saudi) or the jobs the locals as yet cant do ( think pipe welding in Nigeria) ,
simarly with a lot of young Brits who do a 'gap' year in Australia and live in similar situations
What I do find intriging is the fact that the 'eastern europans' seem to have a different physiology than the Brits , they seem to be able to bend their backs and thus get jobs in the agricultural industry which the british seem unfit for ;) ;)

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

Maybe they have shorter legs than us ;):eek::D

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

[quote=steeljack;595409]from what I read in the international press it seems the Poles and other EU citizens in the UK are supporting themselves in minimum wage jobs without any Govt. handouts ( even contribute to the economy)/quote]

Maybe the international press needs to check it's facts. The poles get any top up benefits we get if they are entitled to them. It wasn't so long ago there was uproar because they were claiming child benefit in both countries, even though the children concerned were still in Poland.

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

I am willing to bet that immigrants are privy to a lot more information about what benefits and tax breaks are available than most brits, they may be working minimum wage, but they get plenty of handouts, to get back on thread though, there are not enough jobs about, and primarily because foreigners are doing many of them, the jobs about dont pay enough for childcare and if the tax credits stop when a child is over 11, people are going to be leaving jobs not finding them, and going back on benefits.

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

Start an after school club flashy, see if you get any help from the people who are changing the rules, but dont hold your breath! :rolleyes:

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

well you've all give me a lot to ask them on Tuesday, i'm going to attempt to write all this down, whats your betting that they cant come up with all the answers?

i am definately going towards the school work thing, i think that would be the best for both Reece and myself where holidays are concerned, i leave Reece in the house on his own now if he doesnt want to come somewhere with me but it isnt usually for very long PLUS my dad lives next door anyway (not that he's ever looked after Reece for me :()

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

Perhaps they are only reporting selected facts because in the local paper we have a priest remonstrating with the Job Centre for not having an interperter available for the Poles to speak to.

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

I read that - what surprised me was they said 2000 polish people in Accrington area.

That is why that new bureau de change has opened - they will be sending money orders in polish currency back home.

I see no good reason why the poles can't use some of their OWN money to have an interpreter visit the job centre with them.

PS did you see that news item recently - 3 polish families were living in the loft of someone elses house.(had broken through the dividing loft wall)

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

this is what i have to explain to everybody that moans at me about not working.
i would love a job but it has to be enough for me to pay all the bills

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

Im with you on that one (although do love seeing every new thing that my boys do for the first time) I know if i was to go back to work at this stage I would miss so much of their "growing up" and also not have enough money to live off by the time I have paid for child care for them both

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

I completely agree with you , sorry if I didnt come across too clear.
I myself applied for a job some time back and was outdone by a polish fella.:mad:

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

I went back to work when my kids were age 5 & 6 for 4 days a week and managed well financially before that I worked at the weekends

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

right, ive just been down and sat there for two hours for them to tell me nothing i didnt already know...basically whats going to happen is that as from November this year they are taking lone parents off benefits and putting them on job seekers allowance, you will have to prove that you have applied for as many jobs as possible in the two weeks between signing on, theres only so long you can be on job seekers too before they take you off that

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

I think thats the major problem, it appears to me that as British there is not as strong a support network as other nationalities, making it easy for them to work etc.

Think about it, we all laugh or comment on families of poles or whoever livving in a small house to cut down outgoings, or shring the responsibilities. You have a strong family netwrok, it enables the individuals to work for less money as the outgoings are split, work unsocial hours etc etc etc.

Businesses are more family run, and family ties are stronger. I know of a number of asian families that are able to afford lovely houses, posh cars etc because the family arrangement. And in this day and age, who can blame them.

I may be wrong, just my opinion

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

There was a similar story as early as 1960 when the 1st Pakistanis were arriving in this country. In those rows of terraced houses where there was no division in the loft area there were, reportedly, row upon row of immigrants sleeping between the rafters from one end of the terrace to the other. It may have been true, on the other hand it may be an urban myth, I never heard of a loft lodger falling through anyone's ceiling. ;)

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

Thats what I am getting at Willow. When I was working I was paying £500 per month out of my wage for my little ones childcare. I had no help from tax credits etc. Its ridiculous

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

Thats the problem i am having atm.....

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

So ya get a job, ya have child care paid for, but what about the rent?, can ya still afford that, because ya probably wont get full housing benefit now ya working or council tax!

....and what if the child is ill? what then?...I doubt ya employer will let ya have time off, do you?

so all ya lone parents out there, will ya be better off.......I dont think so:(

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

Depends on the level of childcare you need. I was better off working and my daughter going to a childminder after school than I was on the very brief time I had on benefits. Also depends on what you earn of course.

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

Some working mums with husbands have a hard time when they have a man like this

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

Working mums with husbands like that don't qualify as single parents though ;)

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

It is like having an extra child

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

I am glad you said some. Do you ever say good things about men?

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

I enjoy the company of men more than that of women - no 'bitching' etc
There are just some who never grow up

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

If women want to put up with husbands like that then I have no sympathy with them :rolleyes:

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

Got rid of #1 - glad you approve :D

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

Wanna bet :D:p

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

I think the answer to that is a resounding NO :rolleyes:

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

Well you would say that wouldn't you
ala Mandy Rice Davies
since you are the only man on Accy Web who merits my dislike :p

Re: No Benefits for parents
 

Ouch that really hurt..............:hothothot