balancing work with child financially

LegacyUser

I know this isn't actually a problem and I'm extremely lucky to be in this situation as job offers don't always come easy.
I lost my job last year when i was pregnant. I was devastated but I had my savings so we were ok.
For now though I am struggling financially. My partner is a student and has no income. We had been paying rent, paying for baby stuff etc with my savings but that's all but gone now. Truth be told I do not have enough money for rent this month and he has shown no signs of finding a job. I'm also paying for his dart and buses to college which was fine when I had a good job but I can no longer afford to do that. I am trying hard to make money however I can.
I have had lots of interviews in the last while and today I got two offers. They are not in my career area but I don't mind this as long as I can pay the rent. They are both retail jobs. I can't choose which one though.
Both hours are pretty crap as they are 20 hours per week. One of them said sometimes it will be 25 hours while the other said the hours will go fulltime around Christmas.
The one with fulltime hours at Christmas is only until January as it's Christmas staff but I know that there is always a possibility of being kept on after this if performance is good. That temporary job pays 50c more per hour.

I am struggling to choose though and not sure how I can afford the creche as well as rent. I've told my partner he is going to have to miss some classes in order to mind the baby as we have not got enough money to survive as it is. He is not happy about missing college to 'babysit' but I have no options.
I called the local community creche but we are too late to avail of the family subvention scheme unfortunately. I don't want to be on social welfare and I am willing to work anywhere in order to pay my way and keep my baby in a safe home.
I just feel very stuck and not sure which option will work. I'd love any advice or any examples of how other parents managed part time work with a child. Family is not an option unfortunately.

LegacyUser

Does your partner not have creche options via their college?

Shrap

Wow, they're hard choices OP and you sound like a super-responsible parent (unfortunately, not only to your child but to your bf as well).

I don't know how you'd choose, although clearly the option with the more long-term prospects would at least see you beyond Christmas.

My big question though is does the college have child-care facilities? Perhaps a subsidised creche? Sounds like it's beyond time for your bf to stop calling parenting "baby-sitting" and start calling it his responsibility.

IvoryTower

Is your partner looking for a part time job? You can't pay for his transport if you can't afford to pay the rent. If I was him I would be looking at differing college to look after my family. Part time job at the very least. "Babysitting!?", it sounds like he's more worried about himself than his family.

Do you have family that can help? I would probably move home in this situation but I understand that's not always an option.

fits

What exactly is your partner contributing to your family?

Rubberchikken

it's great that your oh is in college and presumably studying with the future in mind, but the present is important too. you need to talk with him and see what can be done. he really shouldn't regard looking after his child as 'babysitting'. he's 50% responsible for it plain and simple.

the job that sounds like it could become permanent after christmas sounds like a good option. you seem like someone who's willing to put in the effort and this could be rewarded in the new year by this retailer.

best of luck.

PinkLemonade

OP, have you written here before?

Your OH is not pulling his weight, have you spoken to him about this?

LegacyUser

Rubber chicken that's exactly what I am thinking too. Maybe if I take the higher paying job and work impressively over Christmas I might be kept on longer!
No I haven't as I don't normally have any issue with my partner as he does work hard in college and never misses his college placements which can often be very tiring for him. His mother is also very good to us and has always worked hard to provide for him. He's the first in his family to go to college so I definitely do not want to discourage him. He has the rest of this year and next year and then he's finished.

Is there anyway around the cut off point to avail of the family subvention scheme? His mother doesn't work Mondays so would gladly take baby that day and my partner will take baby at weekends that I am working. It's the other 4 weekdays we need arrangements for, that won't cost much!
My family are not originally irish and no longer live here although I grew up here. Of course if they were here they would help us too.

If I am working 20 hours per week do I lose all of the jobseekers benefit? I am not sure how it works.
My boyfriend has applied for jobs but never seems to get anywhere near the same call backs as I have.
If push comes to shove and we lose this house I know we can temporarily move with his mam but I would really, really like to prevent this from happening.
I didn't actually realise there were childminding facilities for students?? I will most definitely tell him to check this out today! That would be a huge weight off our shoulders.

CaraMay

College is a luxury and not a right but he seems to think it is. He needs to defer for a year, find a job and finish college at night. Years ago when I finished school jobs were scarce and that's how many many people did it. He needs to stop acting like a kid.

pwurple

You're supporting two children here, not one.

OP, please get over your foibles regarding social welfare, you have a family to support. You've paid tax previously, you're claiming back what you paid in. That is what it is for. Sort out Family Income Supplement at the very least, and anything else that can be claimed. Also get on the social housing list, pronto, and apply for rent allowance. Make sure your boyfriend knows exactly what it is going on by the way. Being faced with homelessness and the housing list might wake him up too.

You have zero income and several dependants. Time to get very real, very fast. Money is not going to magically appear.

Colleges usually have student creches.

Worst comes to worst, maybe you can let the rented place go, move in with family with your baby and jettison (temporarily?) the other dependant.