Dad cannot get social welfare

skinny90

Hi All,

I hope you can help me.

My father was self employeed up until 12 years ago when he became ill, Had 2 heart attacks, loads of surgery. Packed it all in obviously and that was that.

Since then he was a carer for his parents until they passed away recently.

Now he is not getting a careers allowance and has 6/7 years until retirement.

He went to sign on however he was told you was not entitled to social welfare.

The reason for this was that my mum is defined as a high earner.

She earns roughly 43K a year.

To me 43K is not a lot of money for 2 people to live off comfortable

Is this right?

Is there anything we can do

We have been looking for work in the mean time but due to a skills gap and time out of work as well as past health issues its been some what difficult finding suitable roles

wifey28

skinny90 wrote: »

Hi All,

I hope you can help me.

My father was self employeed up until 12 years ago when he became ill, Had 2 heart attacks, loads of surgery. Packed it all in obviously and that was that.

Since then he was a carer for his parents until they passed away recently.

Now he is not getting a careers allowance and has 6/7 years until retirement.

He went to sign on however he was told you was not entitled to social welfare.

The reason for this was that my mum is defined as a high earner.

She earns roughly 43K a year.

To me 43K is not a lot of money for 2 people to live off comfortable

Is this right?

Is there anything we can do

We have been looking for work in the mean time but due to a skills gap and time out of work as well as past health issues its been some what difficult finding suitable roles

Yes it is right
He will not qualify for any means tested payment with a household income of 43k a year.


And as hes not worked in 12 years he doesnt qualify for any of the non means tested/benifit payments either.


43k is quite a substantial income so social will expect them to survive on that or for him toget a job.

splinter65

skinny90 wrote: »

Hi All,

I hope you can help me.

My father was self employeed up until 12 years ago when he became ill, Had 2 heart attacks, loads of surgery. Packed it all in obviously and that was that.

Since then he was a carer for his parents until they passed away recently.

Now he is not getting a careers allowance and has 6/7 years until retirement.

He went to sign on however he was told you was not entitled to social welfare.

The reason for this was that my mum is defined as a high earner.

She earns roughly 43K a year.

To me 43K is not a lot of money for 2 people to live off comfortable

Is this right?

Is there anything we can do

We have been looking for work in the mean time but due to a skills gap and time out of work as well as past health issues its been some what difficult finding suitable roles

Your parents have €830 per week income so your father is not entitled to any SW payment.
JSA payments are for people who are looking for work and who need financial assistance until they can find a job. Your father doesn’t need financial assistance.

El Tarangu

If he has experience caring for your grandparents, could he look into working as a healthcare assistant? I know they are always looking for people - might have to do a course, but perhaps he could get a position based on his prior experience.

Dodge

Also, with ‘retirement’ on the way he might want to find some sort of PRSI paying job (even part time) to keep the contributions ticking over

He may not be eligible for the means tested non contributory pension so every contribution he makes should help his rate of pay there*

*i don’t know his circumstances obviously. He could be all set anyway. I’m merely suggesting here ‘just in case’

Bicyclette

The Temporary Clerical Officer Jobs 2020 Competition in the Public Service will be opening at some stage soon (they opened in November last year) and they pay about €449 per week but generally aren't too stressful and they do not discriminate on grounds of age or disabling conditions. There are lots of people in their 60s working as TCOs.

www.publicjobs.ie

Your Dad might get 8 or hopefully 26 weeks work from this.

skinny90

Bicyclette wrote: »

The Temporary Clerical Officer Jobs 2020 Competition in the Public Service will be opening at some stage soon (they opened in November last year) and they pay about €449 per week but generally aren't too stressful and they do not discriminate on grounds of age or disabling conditions. There are lots of people in their 60s working as TCOs.

www.publicjobs.ie

Your Dad might get 8 or hopefully 26 weeks work from this.

Thanks will certainly check this out

skinny90

splinter65 wrote: »

Your parents have €830 per week income so your father is not entitled to any SW payment.
JSA payments are for people who are looking for work and who need financial assistance until they can find a job. Your father doesn’t need financial assistance.

its considerably less after tax but thanks

skinny90

Dodge wrote: »

Also, with ‘retirement’ on the way he might want to find some sort of PRSI paying job (even part time) to keep the contributions ticking over

He may not be eligible for the means tested non contributory pension so every contribution he makes should help his rate of pay there*

*i don’t know his circumstances obviously. He could be all set anyway. I’m merely suggesting here ‘just in case’

Yeah we are all thinking the same. He is far from all set so whilst were looking for a short term solution we also need to ensure things are taken care of too

skinny90

skinny90 wrote: »

Hi All,

I hope you can help me.

My father was self employeed up until 12 years ago when he became ill, Had 2 heart attacks, loads of surgery. Packed it all in obviously and that was that.

Since then he was a carer for his parents until they passed away recently.

Now he is not getting a careers allowance and has 6/7 years until retirement.

He went to sign on however he was told you was not entitled to social welfare.

The reason for this was that my mum is defined as a high earner.

She earns roughly 43K a year.

To me 43K is not a lot of money for 2 people to live off comfortable

Is this right?

Is there anything we can do

We have been looking for work in the mean time but due to a skills gap and time out of work as well as past health issues its been some what difficult finding suitable roles

Make sure they are registered as married with Revenue so that your mother's income is all taxed at the lower rate of 20%, as her standard rate cut off point is increased to €44,300 if there is only 1 income.

splinter65

skinny90 wrote: »

its considerably less after tax but thanks

Contributory pension for a couple over 66 is currently 470.80 max. Lots of couples are living on just that.

skinny90

splinter65 wrote: »

Contributory pension for a couple over 66 is currently 470.80 max. Lots of couples are living on just that.

ok.

Zamboni

First of all - Sorry for your loss.

Difficult situation but the good news is there is time to fix it.
First thing is they have to adjust their monthly expenses immediately to below your mothers net wages.
Focus on getting work for your Dad. Difficult but do-able. Maybe start of small - delivery jobs just to get back into it and then something a bit more permanent.
Pension planning has to start now and every penny will count.
It is great you are there to support them.
Does you mother have long left to retirement and would there be any likelihood of her increasing her wage?

CrabRevolution

skinny90 wrote: »

its considerably less after tax but thanks

A single person earning €830 a week would end up with about €640 after PAYE, PRSI and USC. If your parents are married/in a civil partnership and availed of the combined credits and cut off point it's closer to €700 after tax. Not enough for a couple to live the high life alright, but definitely a lot higher than the income levels required to be entitled to Welfare.