[Newbeginnings 🙂]

Childcare is a huge expense and worry I completely feel your pain 😣

I remember looking into all of this when I returned to work after maternity. I previously worked full time before having my son, however as the max amount universal credit would pay towards help with childcare was £646.35 per month i realised the bill would be higher for a full time place at nursery. It made sense for me to go back part time and claim universal credit to top up my wage and then I qualified for help with childcare.

 

Now my son is 3+ I am able to get 30 free hours and the universal credit mentioned above still applies to the remainder bill. (As long as you are working you can claim both of these together).

 

The other thing to look into if you are not able to reduce your hours is different settings disruption the ‘30 free hours’ differently. So my sons nursery will only apply the discount for max 6 hours a day which means I pay the full amount for the remaining 4 hours. (standard day rate is based on a 10 hour day). Whereas his preschool (attached to school I hope he will attend 🤞🏼) is completely free with the 30 hours funding. I provide a packed lunch, it’s school hours, term time only so harder to navigate with work but the saving is definitely worth the juggle!

 

Hope this helps!

Welcome to message me if any of this doesn’t make sense!

🙂

• This reply was modified 1 year, 3 months ago by Newbeginnings 🙂.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 3 months ago by Newbeginnings 🙂.

[Newbeginnings 🙂]

completely understand your concerns, it doesn’t sound healthy, what about trying the school nurses? Share your concerns and let them escalate it to SS if they feel it’s necessary?

[Newbeginnings 🙂]

Hi hopes and dreams,

what a difficult and stressful situation to be in 😔

Factually your ex has absolutely no rights over your baby until he is on the birth certificate. If you have any doubts about her safety (given his unpredictable, aggressive behaviour and drinking) do not let him have unsupervised access.

Keep and document all abusive communication, if you feel threatened & scared report it to the police. (Courts will take this into consideration if you do ever get to that point).

Right now he can not take you to court over a child that legally isn’t his (until his names on the birth certificate) think long and hard about whether you want him on the certificate, you can always add him on later once things have calm down, however once he is on it you can never remove his parental rights (then he has the right to take you to court for access & custody etc).

As for finances as soon as little one is here  you should be entitled to housing benefit, council tax reduction etc, call up your energy and internet provider and explain they sometimes have special rates for low income families. I would start your application for universal credit now if you haven’t already? As there is an initial 6 week assessment period before you first payment.

Hope this helps!

[Newbeginnings 🙂]

Hi, it is so overwhelming leaving a relationship with children, I completely understand / remember where you are coming from.I would start trying to find rentals that accept housing benefits (or the housing element of universal credit). Submit your application to UC as a single person with 2 children, do you expect that your 2 kids will live / move with you more than 50% of the time? If so as a single parent living alone you will get support from universal credit (even working full time) Unless you have significant savings over £6k or other incomes / rentals properties etc. There is a 6 weeks assessment period before your first payment so best to do it now while you try find alternative accommodation. Once you have signed a contract on a property etc you can then update the rent part of your claim.

http://entitledto.co.uk is a really good calculator to work out what you might be entitled too. (It will also tell you the maximum amount of housing benefit you can get on an property in your area which will help you to work out your budget / what you can afford on your own).

You can get support / reduction on council tax, (you get an automatic 25% for a single person occupancy but you can also apply for council tax support on top of this).

Lots of companies internet and energy offer discounted tariffs for single parents / low income / UC. So make sure you explain your situation before you sign up with them.

Hope this helps! 🙂

[Newbeginnings 🙂]

Hi, it is so overwhelming leaving a relationship with children, I completely understand / remember where you are coming from.

I would start trying to find rentals that accept housing benefits (or the housing element of universal credit). Submit your application to UC as a single person with 2 children, do you expect that your 2 kids will live / move with you more than 50% of the time? If so as a single parent living alone you will get support from universal credit (even working full time) Unless you have significant savings over £6k or other incomes / rentals properties etc. There is a 6 weeks assessment period before your first payment so best to do it now while you try find alternative accommodation. Once you are moved in etc you can then update the rent part of your claim. <

http://entitledto.co.uk is a really good calculator to work out what you might be entitled too. (It will also tell you the maximum amount of housing benefit you can get on an property in your area which will help you to work out your budget / what you can afford on your own). You can get support / reduction on council tax, (you get an automatic 25% for a single person occupancy but you can also apply for council tax support on top of this). Lots of companies internet and energy offer discounted tariffs for single parents / low income / UC. So make sure you explain your situation before you sign up with them.

Hope this helps! 🙂

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