Changes to benefits and lone parents with kids over 12

[mizfiesta]

In October, as many of you have already heard I'm sure, the government have brought in changes concerning lone parents of children who are 12 years old or over. Basically such a person will no longer receive income support but be switched to job seekers allowance. This means of course that a person must show evidence of actively seeking employement. Before this a lone parent was not made to work till their children reached 16. Anway, I just wondered what other lone parents think of this change? My youngest child is 14 and quite frankly I am worried. Who is going to keep an eye out for her when I am in work and she is off on school holidays? Especially the long summer one? I think teenagers can be as much hard work than small children and the worry and stress you have with them can be just as tiring though obviously in different ways. I for one am not fortunate enough to have other people look after my kids for me and I don't think most 14 year olds would go to a registered childminder so I am rather perplexed about my situation. The views of other lone parents would be appreciated. Thanks.

[tigwig]

I guess it is because they consider a child of that age to be capable of looking after themselves though I am not sure I agree especially with a 12 yr old. There would be no reason why you couldn't get a part time job though or just work term time, I think a 12yr old or over is definitely old enough to let themselves in to their house after school and be ok for an hour or so but not to cook tea

[aims1202]

I understand what you are saying, it is hard work to run a home and look after a child alone as well as working. My son is only five but when he was nearly three i went to work part time, i was a lone parent and i found it too much, the house was in a state and i was too tired to enjoy the time with my son, i also missed him too much, so i gave up after only three months. Now he's at school i do have a part time job but it is only two days a week and school hours only so it works well.
Is it possible for you to only work a couple of days a week and just school hours? or even work from home? there are some websites that advertise jobs for mums;
www.mumandworking.co.uk
www.workingmums.co.uk
www.job4mothers.com
or will they allow you to do a course at your local college, which would not be long hours?
I would say that most 14 year olds would be ok to be on their own for a short time after school, they may even like it!

[mycats]

I didnt know this!! My son is going to be 12 in June thank God I am college and have a neighbour who looks after him for the couple of hours one day a week that I cant be home before him.
We live in a small village, its an hour to the nearest decent size town for work and there is no registered childcare- I wonder what they think I would do? Go to work, be home late while my 12 year old child is home alone?? and as you say- what about that stupid 6 week holiday in the summer?

[mizfiesta]

Yea mycats I know. I think there should be a petition or some kind of demo against these changes. I can understand the government wanting to help people to work, but forcing them - taking away the choice of being a full time mum - is not the way to go.

[annie0000]

Welcome to the world of working parents - whether you are on your own or in a couple, it is hard to deal with school hours and holidyas and still work. There is limited facility available for kids when they reach high school age and I think that it really depends on the child whether it is appropriate to leave them alone or not. There is only a year between my boys, and I know that the capacity for mischief from two teenage boys will be too high for them to be left after school on their own when they get to that age!

However, it does put people on a more equal footing as rubbish as it is.

[treborrobert]

12 year olds home alone...playing on there playstations with a mate and haven what they want when they want..nobody to tell them what to do ...my god why did i not have this when i was 12 year old lol lol ......

they will be fine ...theres free baths / after school clubs / parks /

or even say ...right mop there / dusters there / bins there ....see you later dear ...
lol lol

[Maby8]

I have heard of the preposals to end entitlement for single parents whose youngest child is 12 years old, by October of this year, but was astonished to find, at my work focus interview today, that further changes for October 2009, when entitlements end for those parents with a youngest child under 10, and again in 2010, for parents with a youngest child of 7 and above!!
Whilst I welcome support to return to work for single parent families, and am in the process of training for a sustainable return to employment myself, I view these changes as draconian. Enforced employment for parents of such young dependants appears as a retrograde step, in my view. I contend that these moves are detrimental to the well being of thousands of families up and down the country, already stuggling to do their best under difficult circumstances.
I love the way we have only been given part of the story regarding the Governments intentions. Single parent households have long been an easy target, taking the blame for society's ills, and a burden on the tax payer.
As the majority of Single parents are mothers, I wonder where the fathers who pay no financial contribution toward their off spring are in the whole picture...Off the hook again!! Surely as the ones who do not care for their children full-time..they are free to work full-time, and are calpable as parents also? But yet again, the parents who honour their responsibillities are further targeted by a government so obviously desperate to claw back it's expenditure. We have money for war, but not for children whose parents already work bringing up young families single handidly.
I am not comfortable having strangers care for my daughters, at great expense, when i can do an infinately better job of it myself, at significantly less cost!!
Children are only children for a relatively short space of time, and 7 years is certainly too young to be away from a parent who has effectively been forced

[mizfiesta]

Here here Maby8, I agree with absolutely everything you have said.

[Tinnabeans]

My child is 11 and they have switched my benefit to Job Seekers. I live in a remote place and I don't consider it safe for her to walk to and fro to school alone. Also despite her being fairly young I am 55 years old and finding work at my age is very difficult despite previous professional qualifications which are no longer considered relevent.

I have made it plain at my interview that I will be looking for work within school hours and at term time. This was not accepted well nor was the my wanting to choose the type of work I wanted to apply for. I was given the impression that I should take anything going .

This is very badly thought out legislation and could leave a lot of teenagers wandering the streets in the holidays. Any trouble they get into will immediately be the fault of the parent and again Lone Parents will be vilified.