Hi Harissa, Fi has given you excellent advice, I agree that you should talk to your school about support with trips.
I know that volunteering seems like a company gets a benefits claimant for free labour, but there is the other side that often people who do volunteer within an organisation tend to be first on the list once a job comes up. I know many single parents who have got back into the work force this way, in a job that they thoroughly enjoy.
Call One Parent Families free on 0800 018 5026 or visit their website http://www.oneparentfamilies.org.uk for further information on housing benefits and any other benefit queries you have, they are extremely helpful and are dedicated to supporting single parents.
These are testing times for you Harissa and I am sure many, if not all the single parents on this site can empathise with you, keep in touch and let us know your progress or frustrations. Good Luck :)
Harissa, it does sound like you have been through the mill, or going through it, good luck with the tribunal, let us know how it went.
Visit http://www.singleparents.org.uk/span/publications you can download information from a recent research project about the realities of being a single parent and working, the challenges involved in moving forward into sustainable employment and the related policy suggestions for overcoming these challenges. Obviously it won't be much help with finding you work and peace of mind, but it could help to feel like you are not alone. I am sure you will be able to relate to the issues.
Remember with all this going on, it is still important for you to have some good times, whether they be a picnic in the park or luxuriating in the bath, the future will get brighter, just look after yourself.
Has anyone found a way out of the poverty trap?
Hi harissa
So glad you won the tribunal.
I so agree with what you say about benefits for lone parents. Easy targets, really aren't they? Media hype it all up so the public start pointing fingers, and then the government acts. I'm sure none of those finger pointing would choose to live this way.
Best wishes.
Hi Harissa
Great news about the tribunal :P
Often single parents are society's scape goats for one thing or another, as it was mentioned somewhere else on the board. We go to work to build a better life for ourselves and our children (and to stop being such scroungers of the state benefit system!), then as there is no childcare for over 11's we have to leave our children to their own devices until we get home. Then we are blamed for not being at home raising them! Ironic!
It is a struggle but there are many many single parents out there that know the realities of working and raising self disciplined, intelligent, caring children, you are not alone :)
I would suggest that you talk again to your Lone Parent Advisor at the Job Centre about what the situation will be if you take the Saturday job, just to ensure that you don't lose out on the £40 back to work money.
Here, here.
I also wonder why we get letters saying that 'This is what the law says that we need to live on' and then you get paid less because of an overpayment you are paying back and a community loan etc, so surely they are obviously breaking the law because we are now living on less than what the law says. Bizarre.
Anyway good luck with your Saturday job, if you decide to go ahead and take it, I agree, £20 is an extra £20, that makes £80 a month, people that have never had NO money have no idea how much £20 really is.
Take care of you
I agree harissa, it is a real worry. Sorry to hear about the job, I know it took me a while to get a "chance" when I went back in. Doing two jobs in tandem as Fi suggested, is one answer. Another idea is what about a private cleaning job? You could just do a few hours to earn your extra £20 and in the meantime look at what you might need to do to update your skills. In my case it was an IT course while I did cleaning work.
I know a lot of people who suddenly take that drop in income when their child leaves school and I don't think enough publicity is given to it.
Try not worry too much and spoil the coming break
Take care
Louise :)
Just a quick thought: if you have to go to the hospital regularly (or only occasionally) then do ask at the desk about travel costs, most hospitals appear to have schemes to refund people's bus fares if they are on Income Support
Ah, maybe not, worth a try though ;)
Hi Harissa - I feel for you, honey - I really do: you sound like you've had an incredibly rough deal and you're being very brave.
My understanding was that if you took a job that was less than 16 hours a week you would still qualify for JSA - have you explored that option with the Job Centre? There might be something else out there that would bring your hours up above the 16 hours required to claim working tax credit. When I was first on my own with the kids I ran two jobs in tandem for a year to do that, until I got myself in a position to manage on just the one (which was 18 hours at that time). Having 2 jobs was a strain, though - so if your health has not been good be wary of that.
And no child should miss out on school trips because of parental income. Working in a school now myself I KNOW that head teachers have the discretion to pay for low-income families' trips out of school fund. I know sometimes we're too proud to ask for help - but please be aware that the option exists. Talk to the head teacher in confidence sometime.
Take care and let us know how you get on. Lots of love, Fi x