can you actually afford to have a baby?

[LikeJohnnYoko]

I thought they actually had to apply for jobs and go to interviews regularly x

The honest people do - career claimants tend to be getting away with an insane amount, but your average jobseeker due to the recession - middle aged, laid off due to the need to cut costs, will get scrutinised and made to feel like absolute rubbish for needing to claim.

 

[redbear]

I thought they actually had to apply for jobs and go to interviews regularly x

I think they do but the job center dont check, my mum gets them handed into her office all the time people will put things like 'have a bad back' so they wont get a job!xx

 

[cosmicgirl]

I thought they actually had to apply for jobs and go to interviews regularly x

The honest people do - career claimants tend to be getting away with an insane amount, but your average jobseeker due to the recession - middle aged, laid off due to the need to cut costs, will get scrutinised and made to feel like absolute rubbish for needing to claim.

That's awful, they must be able to see through these people like a window!
How frustrating x

 

[cosmicgirl]

I thought they actually had to apply for jobs and go to interviews regularly x

I think they do but the job center dont check, my mum gets them handed into her office all the time people will put things like 'have a bad back' so they wont get a job!xx

Hmmm, lots of people have a 'bad back' don't they
It's so good when you see them in the paper and they've claimed thousands over the years saying they can barely walk then there's a photo of them playing a round of golf or breakdancing! x

 

[Happyfeet]

I thought they actually had to apply for jobs and go to interviews regularly x

The honest people do - career claimants tend to be getting away with an insane amount, but your average jobseeker due to the recession - middle aged, laid off due to the need to cut costs, will get scrutinised and made to feel like absolute rubbish for needing to claim.

My Husband felt awful when he had to go and sign on after he was made redundant. His GP said that he isn't suited to heavy manual labour, long distance driving, or working with heavy machinary because of his fibro and crazy meds and the guy behind the desk at the job centre literally said to him "what's the point in looking for any work then?". How encouraging!

 

[redbear]

Yeh you kinda know when its false because they will put no previous jobs too etc, its not fair on the genuine people trying to find work.

 

[littlemiss83]

I thought they actually had to apply for jobs and go to interviews regularly x

Yeah you do, or you get cut off, you have to show which jobs you have applied for. And if they find a job for you on their system & you refuse to apply for whatever reason then you are sanctioned (cut off) one of my close friends is on JSA and has been told she has 6 weeks or so on JSA then if no job she has to work voluntarily for where-ever she wants, then after I think 14 weeks of that, if still no job she has to work voluntarily for where-ever they please, which is in most cases poundland - its so degrading. They are really cracking down on it & its basically slave labour making people work voluntarily for a very little amount of JSA. To add insult to injury when they use the likes of poundland, poundland actually get money, i duno if its 4k or something similar but they get money for letting these ppl work voluntarily how messed up is that. The volunteers should be getting it.

The whole system riles me up, the govt are cutting things left right & centre & people seem so oblivious to it all.

Cameron has plans to stop housing benefit for everyone under 25, for everyone, with or without children, i think he wants to bring this in in 2014 but its not been put thro parliament yet so its not a definate. But basically if this goes through people under 25 will more or less be kicked out of there homes. Its so sad, there will literally be homeless children.

This is why I feel so strongly that benefits shouldn't be a lifestyle choice, because its gonna get a hell of alot harder in the next couple of years.

People are already out on the street, homeless, without money because their JSA & housing ben is stopped & there is literally nothing else to fall back on. Just now people with children are protected but they wont always be.

 

[becciboo26]

I genuinely do have a bad back, scar tissue on my spine which constantly hurts from a nursing job lifting an elderly patient about five years ago and I still work, I could be signed off, it is getting worse esp since pregnancy, lifting baby and giving birth. I will work for as long as I can manage. I hate sitting at home doing nothing! Xx
Sent from my HTC Wildfire S A510e using Tapatalk 2

 

[becciboo26]

I thought they actually had to apply for jobs and go to interviews regularly x

I think they do but the job center dont check, my mum gets them handed into her office all the time people will put things like 'have a bad back' so they wont get a job!xx

Hmmm, lots of people have a 'bad back' don't they
It's so good when you see them in the paper and they've claimed thousands over the years saying they can barely walk then there's a photo of them playing a round of golf or breakdancing! x

Yes that is funny, but also infuriating Xx

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[MrsR]

DH claims JSA. He has been sent to college, is currently on a volunteer work placement for 4 weeks, his advisor posts him out application forms and is always made to feel shit when he goes to sign on. What has riled me is, whilst I love the fact we are getting a lot of help (eg being mailed application forms) and we're incredibly grateful, I know that they aren't doing this for everyone and I think it's unfair. Everyone should be treated the same.
As for 'bad backs' I think I'll keep my mouth shut as I suffer with a 'bad back' and wouldn't want to be judged unfairly for it.

 

[Humesy]

This thread is brilliant , I've just read the whole lot!

LJY - that was fab. When I was unemployed, I felt like shit, they weren't very nice or helpful. Thankfully needed JSA for a very short period of time, but with the way the economy is I feel sorry for the honest people claiming benefits, it's soul destroying,

I think the minimum wage comment CAN be valid, how I read what the lady was saying was,

Some people on minimum wage CANT afford a baby , be it down to debts, high cost of living etc etc, and some people on low incomes know theyre situation is going to change. Others can survive extremely well on low incomes, people with no debts, little direct debits other than living costs. Some people live within their means , others dont. So yes some people on minimum wages can wait till situation is different, maybe not more money but debtas cleared? nicer area for living in etc etc. it all boils down to personal choice and what the individual wants for their own child. No way is the right/wrong way IMO if the children are loved nurtured and nourished.

Cosmic - you seem a prime example of someone who 'shouldnt' work , someone who could 'use the system for what its for' and think the world 'owes them a favour' BUT you said youve saved for this baby , your working right till EDD and your providing for your family despite having to leave your kids to do it and be financially worse off, my hat is off to you. you are a minority, that would be a tough decision for anyone. but you should be incredibly proud of yourself, if the rest of the UK were like you, there would be a hell of a lot more benefits for people resulting in TC thresholds probably being higher and perhaps people like you whos dispisable income is low would actually reap some of the benefits of our system and get alittle back from the lot theyve put in.

IMO, people living on benefits (i dont mean TC either ) i mean JSA and IS imo should not PLAN to have more kids.

Some times i think its a vicious circle too, if some of the people on benefits earned their own crust i think their self esteem and the satisfaction they would get would be priceless, its just taking that jump xx

 

[AugustMum]

I've enjoyed reading this thread.

Im on income support and wouldn't dream of having another child while Im in my current situation. Me and my partner can't even live together because we would barely have enough for food. When I go to my 6 monthly review of benefits Im told Im under no obligation to find work and Im not entitled to any courses or help for getting back into work. I've been searching for a Job for over a year now and been to countless interviews and quite frankly it's demoralising. The thing that really gets to me though is the way the benefits works means if I had another child and didn't work then Id be able to stay off work and my partner could live with us. But really.....all I want to do is work!!! They need to make it more worth while for mothers to work and companies need to be a bit more flexible with families. I struggle to find jobs that have hours even remotely suitable for childcare.

 

[mumsy4]

My friend claims single but has the father of her 2 kids living with her. And he's on 25k a year but shes at collage and says if they were to be legit she couldn't afford college or the childcare.
That pees me off a lot, me and my other half couldn't afford to live together either, but when we had a child together we had to make it work, so he went from from being responsible for himself, to being responsible for me, his child AND 2 other kids who were not his.
So it does piss me off when she claims single for the 2 kids that are his..IYKWIM

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[Iriki]

I think the minimum wage comment CAN be valid, how I read what the lady was saying was,

Some people on minimum wage CANT afford a baby , be it down to debts, high cost of living etc etc, and some people on low incomes know theyre situation is going to change. Others can survive extremely well on low incomes, people with no debts, little direct debits other than living costs. Some people live within their means , others dont. So yes some people on minimum wages can wait till situation is different, maybe not more money but debtas cleared? nicer area for living in etc etc. it all boils down to personal choice and what the individual wants for their own child. No way is the right/wrong way IMO if the children are loved nurtured and nourished.

That's exactly how it was meant Humesy.

 

[redbear]

The volunteer thing gets me mad if pound land have room and need for volunteers then they could hire them! Its just a way to get free workers, my bil is on jsa and they told him he had to do six week unpaid work for this company and there was no chance of a job at the end, it was community service- they met at the community service place and the only difference was what they wore- it was disgusting since he worked so many years and was made redundant.

 

[Humesy]

I've enjoyed reading this thread.

Im on income support and wouldn't dream of having another child while Im in my current situation. Me and my partner can't even live together because we would barely have enough for food. When I go to my 6 monthly review of benefits Im told Im under no obligation to find work and Im not entitled to any courses or help for getting back into work. I've been searching for a Job for over a year now and been to countless interviews and quite frankly it's demoralising. The thing that really gets to me though is the way the benefits works means if I had another child and didn't work then Id be able to stay off work and my partner could live with us. But really.....all I want to do is work!!! They need to make it more worth while for mothers to work and companies need to be a bit more flexible with families. I struggle to find jobs that have hours even remotely suitable for childcare.

This is TERRIBLE!! can u do a full time course and get childcare paid for that way? and are you entitled to WTC while doing a course? May be worth looking into, plus if you have some skills you may love your line of work even better xx

 

[AugustMum]

I have a degree so can't get any help at all. I had planned to go college this year in the hope of going on to train as a nurse but due to ALOT of funding cuts Im entitled to nothing. If I was on JSA however then I would be so Im just back to applying for everyjob I can. Luckily there's a new big shop opening soon and they're holding a 3 day recruitment fair. I plan to be there half an hour before it opens on the first day lol. I think I might just refuse to leave until they hire me!

 

[AugustMum]

My friend claims single but has the father of her 2 kids living with her. And he's on 25k a year but shes at collage and says if they were to be legit she couldn't afford college or the childcare.
That pees me off a lot, me and my other half couldn't afford to live together either, but when we had a child together we had to make it work, so he went from from being responsible for himself, to being responsible for me, his child AND 2 other kids who were not his.
So it does piss me off when she claims single for the 2 kids that are his..IYKWIM

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He earns £25k and she still claims as single with him living there?! Im not saying £25k is a huge amount but surely it would be enough to live together and her go college? They might just have to sacrifice things. My partner isn't on much more than minimum wage but has huge travel costs so we would literally have pennies left to buy my LO clothes etc. Once I've got a part time job (although hopefully full time) he'll move in and that's been planned regardless of me going to college next year. We just need to sacrifice things.

 

[natashateale]

I am loving this thread.
My first was not planned ( I fell pregnant on the pill with my OH) I was only 17 BUT me and my partner both worked. He worked full time and me parr timr as I was also finishing my college course. We were not living together we couldnt afford a deposit. We cud afford our baby then and even to this day she goes with out. For2.5 year we saved what we cud ( living at home was how we managed to save) and borrowed abit from his parents and bought our own house.
Now after 1.5 years of us living in our house, my partner has changed jobs ( his choice) and is earning more than ever and has very good benifits and I still work part time as thats all I need to plus I get all day every day with my little girl as I work nights. We started for another baby after his probation period ended at his current job as we felt it was the right time and we can afford another now.
We have paid for our daughter and will be paying for this one too. I cant stand these that living on tax payers money and have 2 3 or 4 kids!!! And then complain they cant find work to work round kids well maybe if u stopped having kids that u cant afford then u may of had a better chance.

 

[Me, My Girls & I]

What's disgusting about doing voluntary work to give back a little of what you're receiving?

AM, G earns around that and I'd be massively better off as a single parent! Granted he's paying off a lot on his car, but even then I'd be better off! Its just wrong! It's like yiure penalized for being a stable hard working family!