benefits?

[BellaBoo0512]

My due date is just over 5 weeks away and I was wandering if there is any way of finding out what benefits I will be able to claim once my baby is born? I've been on the jobcentre benefits calculator and it is so confusing and keeps telling me different things. I also need to find some way of finding out if it is worth me going back to work at the end of maternity leave as a lot of my friends are telling me that given childcare and travel costs I may as well stay at home? I'm so confused :/ I only work 30 hours a week over 4 days and it costs me £20 a week travel costs and a nursery placement is around £40 a day around here so that's all my wages gone :/

 

[mandaxx]

If you're a single mum you will receive fifty pounds for you through income support, fifty for baby through tax credits, 18 pounds child benefit and around 100 pounds housing benefit depending on the area you live. This is weekly. So that's a total of 218 pounds a week towards you baby and rent. You will also get milk vouchers of about 6 pound a week to spend on formula milk if you don't want to breast feed and if you do you can spend them on vegetables.
However if you are married or living with someone this all changes. You don't get vouchers or income support. The person you are with is expected to keep you and baby on their wage and you will receive tax credits and child benefit only. As far as childcare goes, I'm not sure exactly how much you get but you do get help when you're a single mum. If you work 16 hours a week you can get working tax credits as a top up. Ring citizens advice and explain to them and they will work it out for you. Hope that helps xxx

 

[mandaxx]

I forgot to say, you will be chased to get back into work as soon as your baby turns one if you are a single mum. This is part of the new government initiative and cuts xxx

 

[BellaBoo0512]

thanks for your reply hun I'm not a single mum, I'm married. I would like to go back to work part time if I could, but if we can manage with me staying at home then I would prefer to do that rather than put my son in a nursery. I just don't know what the best thing is to do and there seems to be conflicting information online. What I would really like is to go back to college and get my teacher training NVQ but I have been told I would have to pay as I have already completed a NVQ in business admin

 

[rowleypolie]

i dont live in the UK so I cannot tell you as far as benefits go, but in my personal experience daycare and travel expenses made it so I wasnt even making minimum wage. I have 2 kids and the cost was high, this is baby 3 and there is no way i could afford to work- i would have to pay $60 a day for daycare and my normal wage was only $90...it would be 2/3 of my income. I started doing daycare at my home. Now i stay home and get to do the mommy thing full time and i get paid to watch other peoples kids. i actually make more money and dont have to worry about my kids

 

[BellaBoo0512]

i dont live in the UK so I cannot tell you as far as benefits go, but in my personal experience daycare and travel expenses made it so I wasnt even making minimum wage. I have 2 kids and the cost was high, this is baby 3 and there is no way i could afford to work- i would have to pay $60 a day for daycare and my normal wage was only $90...it would be 2/3 of my income. I started doing daycare at my home. Now i stay home and get to do the mommy thing full time and i get paid to watch other peoples kids. i actually make more money and dont have to worry about my kids

That is a really good idea although, I don't have the qualifications to be able to do that

 

[rowleypolie]

lol, qualifications? i am not licensed I just got word out amongst my friends and a lady that lived down the street was going back to work after being a SAHM for 10 years and needed someone. Its not too hard- its like having extra kids

 

[mandaxx]

Yep I'm married too seriously we get the crappy end of the stick where benefits are concerned! Does your hubby work? Is he self employed? His hours are taken into account before they pay you anything and the more he works the less help you get unfortunately. College mightn't be as bad as you think. I did my a levels on job seekers allowance at the time, then I went to uni to do firstly nursing and was paid a bursary and still received child tax credits. I changed to a foundation degree in medicine and got a student loan, a very good one. It really is worth giving citizens advice a wee ring, they are great xxx