JSA and getting married

GerryCarry

If someone is on €220 a week JSA and they get married to someone earning €300 a week (and this someone has €10,000 savings and no house), will the other persons JSA be reduced? And by how much roughly?

TooTired123

If there are no kids and you claim for the new spouse and the spouse is working at least 3 days per week then the new rate of JSA will be €222

GerryCarry

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120144660#Comment_120144660

The JSA goes up €2?

I would have thought that seeing how the person claiming JSA is now living with someone who is producing an income (and also now household bills such as heating, netflix etc are halved) that the DSP would cut down the JSA as that person now clearly does not need as much JSA as before to survive. They have another person in the house supporting them.

So how come the JSA actually goes up?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120149050#Comment_120149050

Is electric and shopping bills halved with two people?

GerryCarry

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120149067#Comment_120149067

Electric would be halved somewhat. If you are heating a room, two people get to benefit from the heated room instead of just one and so that bill would be halved in a way. The same with the light bulb lighting the room.

Food is a different story i guess as both people need their separate food and so nothing is saved there. I just assumed the spouse who is working would now be considered to be somewhat supporting the person on JSA.

TooTired123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120149087#Comment_120149087

The person claiming JSA is now cohabiting with another person so can make a claim to SW for further financial assistance in respect of that person.

If that person wasn’t working at all then the JSA claim would increase from €220 to €220+€146=€366.

Because the cohabitant IS working then the wages are means tested and although the claimant gets to keep the €220, they only get an increase of €2 for the working cohabitant.

All of this information is available in fairly simple explanation on citizensinformation.ie

GerryCarry

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120149207#Comment_120149207

What happens if a person on JSA marries a millionaire? Does the persons JSA still increase from €220 to €222 a week?

TooTired123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120149970#Comment_120149970

No. Why would you think that? Did you go to citizensinformation.ie where the means test is explained? If a JSA claimant starts cohabiting with a significant other then they are re means tested as a couple and the payment will either be increased or decreased or withdrawn based on weekly income and savings and investments.

Its all explained in layman’s terms on the two state websites concerned.

GerryCarry

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120150232#Comment_120150232

Its not clear on citizensinformation.ie at all. The language is confusing. That's why i'm asking here.

You stated "The person claiming JSA is now cohabiting with another person so can make a claim to SW for further financial assistance in respect of that person." Why would a person on JSA be entitled to claim for more money for another person who is working? Why would a person on JSA be looking for more money when the other person working is clearly able to look after themselves as they are out working? The person working is not a burden on the person who is claiming JSA so I cant see why they would be demanding more money from the DSP.

Green Mile

Following this as I've been wondering this for a while now myself.

It most certainly is not clear on the citizen information website.

The question I have is how much does the PAYE earner make for the welfare payment to be affected?

e.g. what if the spouses earnings is €300 per week and you get knocked off JSA but if she earned €299 per week, you might still qualify for full welfare payments.

I'd love to know the cut off gross value of the spouse?

It seems some people are worse off getting married but if the information is known, the PAYE worker could work 1 less hour per week and the household income would be higher.

Cherry Blossom

Green Mile it depends on everyone’s individual circumstances, the weekly pay, whether or not there are children in the equation and how many and their ages, what savings you have etc. There is no blanket cut off point that applies to everyone. It’s not a difficult calculation to do and all the info you need to do that calculation is freely available. I’m not on jobseekers, I’m on DA and working and every time my circumstances change for example I get a few euro pay rise the department gets my calculation wrong and I have to ask for a review and or an appeal. It’s always an underpayment too they never make a mistake in my favor. Citizens advice get it wrong sometimes too so it’s worth knowing how your payment is calculated and being able to work it out for yourself.

SourSessions

If you use the Benefit of Work calculator, it'll give you an idea based on 'current income' of what you would receive (just make up job figures for expected income)

https://services.mywelfare.ie/en/topics/out-of-work-payments/benefit-of-work-estimator/

TooTired123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120150708#Comment_120150708

I’m sorry you can’t understand. Let’s see. Say:

Im not working, I can’t find a job. I’m getting €220 per week on Jobseekers. My girlfriend is working 39 hours a week minimum wage (€440.70 gross per week).

We decide to make a go of it. She’s going to come and live with me in my Local Authority 2 bedroomed house.

First of all I have to tell SW I’ve moved house and I’ve entered into a cohabiting situation.

So SW are going to review my claim for JSA because there’s been a huge change in my circumstances.

Im no longer living a single life so I have to tell them who I’m living with. I have to give them all her details. Her PPSN, her date of birth, a copy of her last 3 payslips, copies of her bank statements. Why? Well as you point out she could very well be a millionaire.

If she were wealthy or with a very very good salary then SW would say “you are now in a co habiting co dependent intimate relationship with someone who can financially afford to support you both very comfortably, so you don’t need any further financial support from the state” and the JSA would cease.

So how will they treat her €440 wages less PRSI? Well they’ll say that if she wasn’t working at all and she was claiming JSA in her own right with no other income and she came to live in my house that they would reduce each of our payments to €183 each. So a payment from SW of €366 for a couple cohabiting with no children and neither of them working at all. That’s the “family rate” of Jobseekers Allowance for a couple with no dependent children.

If there were dependent children there would be amounts of €42 for kids under 12 and €50 for kids over 12 to add on to that.

But she is working. So here’s how they treat the €440 weekly wage.

Over on one side of the page write €366.

Now on the other side write €420 ( approx gross wage less PRSI).

First they will allow €20 per day up to a max of 3 days.

So the girlfriend is working 5 day and so you can go ahead and deduct €60 from €420. €360 is what’s left.

Now get 60% of the €360. That’s €216.

So for the girlfriend earning €420, SW are only interested in the €216.

Now go back over to the €366 JSA I would be getting if she weren’t working at all. Deduct the €216 from that. €150 is the new amount of JSA that I will get weekly if my girlfriend earning €440 gross per week comes to live with me.

Can you understand it now?

Dempo1

I've a Migraine now 😁 just saying

TooTired123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120152406#Comment_120152406

I’m a head wreck dempo!😂

Dempo1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120152608#Comment_120152608

I'm not surprised 😂😂

TooTired123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120152719#Comment_120152719

This is the kind of stuff they should be teaching in TY Dempo. Basic social welfare basic tax basic employment rights basic tenants rights and obligations etc. It would save a lot of confusion for people later on.