Single parents and working... ?!

[lilgemsy]

Ok so, Ive been single since being pregnant and now my LO is 17 months old.
I had 4 jobs before having my LO but had to give them up due to not being able to afford childcare and whatnot on my own, plus I have no one who could look after Ollie for free / cheap while I worked :/

Just wondering, how on earth do single mums with babies manage to go back to work?!
Any tips?!
I love being a mum and all but staying at home all the time is really not my thing :/ I miss working for a living!

Oh and I know Id qualify for childcare help but thats only 70% of the costs.... I dont have any qualifications so its hard for me to get a job above min wage.

 

[jackie2012]

With my oldest i was like that i worked my butt off and at the end of the day i was bearly covering daycare rent ect. so ii just said one day thats it im going to school applied for it got in pretty quick applied for scholorships took out a student loan.
I finish a one year course and came out with two tickets and found a good job.

I ended up getting about half of my student loan forgiven because i was a single mom and i got just as much money to live off of from them as i did working. and for the last few months of it i had to end up working nights just to finish. it sucked big time and i can remember a few times not having enough money to buy both of us food. so mom had to go without.But looking back it was the best thing i could have done.

I think the thing to do is pick a goal and work towards it it sucks at times and going without does too but it is so worth the effort once you do get there.

It was supposed to be my temporary job until i figured out what i really wanted to do and ended up loving it so much i have stayed in the field.

It may take awhile and be hard but so is just making ends meet and only being able to get low paying jobs.

 

[Cazamatazaaa]

Hey hun, im a single mummy and i work part time, 3 days a week, my kids go to a childminder and full time school, and tax credits pay up to 80% of fees. I am much better off working xxxx

 

[teal]

I worked full time up until I went off on mat leave, took 14.5 months mat leave (worked out well with holidays etc) and went back to work part time when my son was 12.5 months old.

I claim 70% of child care costs. For me it's definitely worth while working because if I didn't work although I'd save child care costs, I'd drop all my working tax credits xx