Benefits

[Scarlett]

My sister has been offered 3 hours teaching per week, for which she would earn �65. She is on practically all the benefits there are- Housing Benefit, Tax credit, Job seekers etc. She has 2 small kids and a husband who doesn't work. (He is 55 and they live in the Highlands where there is no work). If she does the job, her son will get a free scholarship to the stage school, which he DESPERATELY needs- he is talented, and other than that, would do nothing in his free time, as there is nothing to do up there.
The problem is, if she declares the money, she will lose her benefit/tax credit/housing benefit... it is simply not worth the angst. The stage school can't pay her cash in hand as it is dodgy.
Is there ANY way around this? I am worried that she will just not take the job and her son will suffer as a result. Don't the government see that their system is preventing people like my sister from doing work?

[Ethel]

Your local council (or your sister's) will have a confidential benefits advice line where she can explain the exact situation without giving her name or any personal details.

She may find that she will be no better off, but no worse off, by taking this job which allows her son to go to stage school.

She will get proper, impartial advice that she can rely on without jeopardising her current situation.

[THECORBYLOON]

As long as yir sister works fewer than 16 hours a week, the first �10 of earnings will be disregarded. That means only �55 will be taken off the JSA. As long as the JSA is more than �55 per week, they will be better off by �10 each week So you see, we're not stopping her working.

[Scarlett]

Yes, but it is a lot of work for �10. She would have to travel 2 hours each way to get there, and it involves a lot of preparation. She would take on the job because she needs the money. For �10 she would rather stay at home with her kids with her Saturday. There is no incentive for her to do this.

[Ethel]

But she does not KNOW she will lose all her benefits.

There are working tax credits, and most of the benefits you mention are means tested so she will probably still qualify.

Three hours to start is a foot on the employment ladder and could lead to many more hours.

And there are many working parents who would love to send their child to stage school but can't afford it - my neighbour being one.

[ugly_bob]

you say there is no incentive, but how about the scholarship for her son? is that not an incentive?

[Pippa68]

I agree with ethel & ugly_bob.

There is no greater incentive than the childs scholarship ~ plus the added bonus of actually working for a living. I don't mean to sound patronising, but a lot of people struggle with being able to afford the basic living essentials even though both parents work full time.

[Miss Zippy]

I agree with the three above. Try and get your sister to see the bigger picture: even if she works for very little financial gain now (or none at all if she volunteers her services) her son will gain enormously and she will be adding some great experience and skills to her CV which might help her to secure more hours/ full time employment in the future. I appreciate it is easy to get stuck in a rut, but by focussing on only the immediate gains/downsides, your sister will never improve her situation.