Lone parents allowance ends - what now

Builderfromhell

Got letter from SW telling me that as my youngest daughter has just turned 14 my lone parents allowance will stop immediately.
Didn't expect it to stop for a few years.

Hoping someone can advise me on what benefits I might now get. 2 daughters aged 18 and 14 still live with me so outgoings are pretty much the same.

I plan to go to CWO asap to get allowance while waiting.

Any advice appreciated.

Chucken

As far as I know, you apply for JSA.

mrsbyrne

You will sign on for Jobseekers Allowance. You will have to sign on once a month and be looking for and available for full-time work. You will register for FAS. If there is a full time course of education you would be interested in that might help you in the future to get back into the workplace, you could get the back To Education Allowance instead of JSA. Its a really good idea, trust me;) You will be collecting your JSA in the post office every week, you cant get it paid into a bank A/C. Where i live, the CWO wouldnt give you a payment until you had actually applied for the JSA.

Builderfromhell

Thanks for replies.
The reality is that I would not really be available for work as I drop kids to and from school, cook and clean etc. But the rules have changed and I guess S/W don't see it that way.
I wonder if JSA allowance will be more or less the same as lone parents. I guess they will means test again and the same means will apply.
My concern is that when I apply for JSA that they will ask for accounts for when I was self employed. I was self employed before I started on Lone parents.

I guess I should try to lodge application for JSA and then go to CWO for support while I am waiting.
Situation may not be so bad if I can smoothly go from one payment to another.

hdowney

Without meaning to sound smart saying you are not available for work because you cook and clean will not earn you many friends on here. People who work also have to cook and clean when they get home, you manage your housework AROUND you job.

As for dropping your kids to school, you said they are 18 and 14, they sound plenty old enough to drop themselves to school - do you live very far from the school or something.

If you claim for JSA yes they will means test you, but presumably if you passed means for Lone Parents and your circumstances haven't changed much then you will be fine for JSA. However the social do ask you every now and then to prove you have been jobseeking, so you will need to be actively searching. If you are not and cannot prove it they will cut your money.

Builderfromhell

Thanks for reply.
I drop 18 y.o. at school bus at 7.20 am and then bring 14 y.o. to another bus stop for 8.30. Collect one from bus at 4.30pm and the other at 5.00pm. I live 30mins drive from bus stops.
Agree that people do work around such arrangments but I would imagine most do part time or casual work.
If work became available in my local rural area I would need to leave at about 4pm to collect kids. That might work.
Will fill in form stating available for work and register with FAS.

Have found info. on Citizen's advice web wage which seems to suggest allowance for JSA and Lone parents is the same.

hdowney

Builderfromhell wrote: »

Thanks for reply.
I drop 18 y.o. at school bus at 7.20 am and then bring 14 y.o. to another bus stop for 8.30. Collect one from bus at 4.30pm and the other at 5.00pm. I live 30mins drive from bus stops.
Agree that people do work around such arrangments but I would imagine most do part time or casual work.
If work became available in my local rural area I would need to leave at about 4pm to collect kids. That might work.
Will fill in form stating available for work and register with FAS.

Have found info. on Citizen's advice web wage which seems to suggest allowance for JSA and Lone parents is the same.

Fair enough your kids need picking up. As to the housework, no most don't do part time or casual work. People work 40 hour weeks and do their own housework. Who else is going to do it for them if they don't? No one wants to live in a kip so it has to get done.

Yes I would look and see could you get a pt job in your local area.

wmpdd3

Please bear in mind, you cant say you will only take part time work. You cant say you will not be available for 1 hours every evening from 4 to 5.

This isnt opinion, this is from knowing people who were cut off for making statements like that to the deciding officer.


Maybe a course close to where your kids go to school would suit.

mrsbyrne

Be very carefull. If you claim JSA and you are not available for full time work you are commiting fraud, and be assured you will very quickly be asked to produce evidence of this.
your only concern seems to be that you will be financially the same as when you were on OPFP. You probably will, but the conditions of JSA are much different, sticking to the signing on regime, going to the PO every week, searching for a full time job and keeping proof of this. Its a lot trickier.
Im sorry but the remark about cooking and cleaning and dropping the kids to school was unfortunate. Many thousands of mums do all these thing while holding down fulltime jobs, there isnt a SW payment for being a homemaker. Its certainly not JSA.

StillWaters

I'm a lone parent and work full time. You may need to buy in some help, pay someone to collect them, or send them to an afterschool homework club if their school does one.

However if you are out of the workforce for some time, you may be better off spending the next year upskilling or reskilling to make yourself more employable. These courses are normally finished about 3 or 4 in the afternoon. Make an appointment to see the guidance counsellor in your local VEC who will talk through all the courses out there.

The best of luck in this new chapter of your life.