Single mums childminding?????

[Emz]

Hi.

I am just wondering how single mums cope with childminding? Do you cover the bills etc

I did my icp etc while in a relationship, sadly after having my 2nd child last may he left so atm i am still living in the private rented house, im registered, on housing/council tax benefit etc and others, just wondering if i could really get into the childminding now as a lone parent, i worry about paying the bills at the minute but if i was to come of benefits and rely solely on childminding im worry about even more.

Are there others out there who are doing it? Have you any advice?
Tbh any advice would be great as i am hating being on benefits and would love to get into the swing of all the policies, courses etc ive done......

PLEASE HELP!!

xxxxxxx

[singlewiththree]

I'm a single parent and have started childminding as its less stressful for me than taking 3 children to different childcare providers. I've been doing it since Dec2008

I'm financially surviving at the moment but that's because when Is started I had 2 children of my own under5. Now I have 1 under 5 and from Sept I can fill up my spaces properly. I also only work term time as I feel that as I have to do everything at home myself I need some time to get those bits done without minding. I find I'm in bed at 8.30 most evenings as I'm exhausted.

I'm surviving on only 1 full time, term time only with before/after school sibling and 1 child who comes till 1.30 term time only, with the help of tax credits. If you earn under the tax bracket which is just over 6000 a year then you get the maximum amount of tax credits. This is what I am doing at the moment, you can then also still get free perscriptions which helps as I wear glasses.

I actually think its the perfect job for a single parent as I can be there for my children when they need me.

[emmaflossie]

i think i have to agree as a single parent i htink childminding is probably the best job to do.

Yes it will be hard work but financially its our best option .... where housing benefit is concerned they only take into account one third of your income without having to worry about expenses where they are concerned.

I have looked into the financial side of it a lot if you type in housing benefit calculator on google and play around with the figures on there you can see what you will be entitled to and how earnign affects you.

When i split form my sons father i had never dealt with benefits and found it very daunting and didnt find the job centre much help!

I started doign avon and luckily got a very big round and mamaged to register for tax credits through doing this ..... its suprising how much help you get as a single parent .... and in some ways i think you are entitled to more of an income as a single parent than you are as a couple :( crazy!!

but anyway i think you will be suprised how little your housing benefit will be affected :)

[Emz]

Really interesting hearing those comments.
I kind of felt that it would be good to do it as i will be around for my children, pick up from school, ill days etc atm i myself have 1 under 1 and a 3yr old, but my son will be off to school in september and my daughter will be over 1 by then, so then that would give me 2 spaces under 5. so the new school term may be the way to go.
Ill have a look at that calculator and play around with figures etc

Thankyou, you've put my mind at ease now, i just got to bite the bullet :)

[Zoomie]

You don't need to come off benefits till you have signed your first contract and the child has actually started with you.

[carlen222]

hi, i came off income support as a lone parent to 2 children (now age 6 and 3) and became registered in august. if you are working under a certain hours/and earning under a certain amount you can still claim income support-but your not entitled to working tax credits/child care etc so i decided to come off it. it turns out even though im working 39.5 hours a week minding i still get my full rent paid for me and most of my council tax!!!!! i get lots of tax credits and if i need to put my own kids into childcare i get 70-80% paid for me!!!!! also because i was on income support for a long time i get an extra £40 a week for finding work and also got a grant for finding work - think was £250!!!! your lone parent advisor at the job centre will be able to fill you in on all these details!!! as your working as a childminder they only take into account 1/3 or 2/3 of your income or something so all benefits are calculated differently.

i am absolutely loving my job, being able to spend time with my kids and earnign lots of pennies :D good luck xx

[Mia'smummyx]

Im single and i claim working tax credits, and i get housing beneift, they do only take 1/3 into account which is excellent, although its hard as some months the money may change, they told me to collect up a few months recipts and bank statement ( this parent pays cash), i was worried about that but as the man said they is no legal requirment for parents to pay direct into your bank, he took a copy of my accounts ( which was hardly any) and a copy of the contratc, he said that should all be enough