Universal credit & appointee

[Melly1]

Mrs A; My nephew was on benefits while bringing up 3 under 5s after ex buggered off. Once youngest was at school DWP said he had to start working and gave him a temp job with them. He loved it, did well, so they offered him permanent job, working12-8 Mon, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. He still had 3 kids (now 5, 7 and 8 )... ever tried getting childcare for weekends or up to 8 pm?
Is this supporting him into work? The stress of wondering how to turn it down without seeming to be a work refuser and having income put at risk was immense

What did he do? He'd never see his children working those hours.

Melly1

[Chris From The Gulag]

Quite common for thousands travelling into the Smoke every day.

Just during my time ... leave by 6.30 am , back by 9 pm ... reintroduce myself to the kids on Saturday morning ... make excuse not to participate in anything on the day .... paper work to catch up on ... leaving just the Sunday.

Many I worked with faced 3 hours and more train / tube journeys ,,, both in and out ,,, daily.

That was 28 years ago now ... no child care facilities then.

What must it be like in 2019 ... given house prices within the magic roundabout ( M25 ) ... for those earning less than , say , £ 40k per annum ... and anything from a fifth to a quarter straight off the top just to get to and from work ?

[MrsAverage]

Mrs A; My nephew was on benefits while bringing up 3 under 5s after ex buggered off. Once youngest was at school DWP said he had to start working and gave him a temp job with them. He loved it, did well, so they offered him permanent job, working12-8 Mon, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. He still had 3 kids (now 5, 7 and 8 )... ever tried getting childcare for weekends or up to 8 pm?
Is this supporting him into work? The stress of wondering how to turn it down without seeming to be a work refuser and having income put at risk was immense

What did he do? He'd never see his children working those hours.

Melly1

More importantly he couldn't take it as there was no one for the kids, let alone not seeing them if he did

Luckily, and only by luck, nothing to do with DWP, the self confidence boost of the temporary work meant he got another job elsewhere with normal hours

[MrsAverage]

Quite common for thousands travelling into the Smoke every day.

Just during my time ... leave by 6.30 am , back by 9 pm ... reintroduce myself to the kids on Saturday morning ... make excuse not to participate in anything on the day .... paper work to catch up on ... leaving just the Sunday.

Many I worked with faced 3 hours and more train / tube journeys ,,, both in and out ,,, daily.

That was 28 years ago now ... no child care facilities then.

What must it be like in 2019 ... given house prices within the magic roundabout ( M25 ) ... for those earning less than , say , £ 40k per annum ... and anything from a fifth to a quarter straight off the top just to get to and from work ?

So who looked after the kids? The unpaid housewife mum?

[Chris From The Gulag]

Yes ... for many , what was the alternative ?

No work locally would have provided the roof over one's head.

Once the children were old enough , many housewives sort part time work locally ... that's how things were then.

Nowadays , with child care , a slightly different ball game.

[Melly1]

Mrs A, I realised there was no one else to care for the children as he was a single Dad. Glad he gained confidence and got a job which meant he could juggle parenting and caring.

Melly1

[rosemary]

Take photocopies of the essential paperwork you need and pass it all to your MP. Let them handle it all on your behalf. They have contacts within DWP to sort stuff like this out. If you still have letters/emails to send in, send copy to MPs office too. Inform DWP that anything they send will be sent to MP too.
You should not have this to deal with.

x

[Melly1]

Thanks Rosemary.
If next Monday's meeting doesn't finish sorting it out, I'll definitely involve our MP.

Melly1