| Teenage parents and benefits
Advice and information on how to claim benefits if you are a single teenage parent It is important always to get up-to-date advice. Benefit levels are accurate from April 2007.
Living apart from your baby's father and claiming BenefitsIf you claim income based JobSeekers Allowance (JSA) or Income Support (IS) and you don't live with the father of your baby your JSA or IS application will include an application to the Child Support Agency (CSA) for a maintenance calculation. Your benefit may be reduced if you refuse to give details of your baby's father. The only way you can refuse to apply to the CSA without having your benefit reduced is if you can prove that doing so would put you and/or your child at fear of harm/undue distress. There is more information about what this means on the Single Parent and not Working Factsheet, but if you are not sure then seek advice. If you are claiming income-based Jobseeker's Allowance or Income Support, then once you are 29 weeks pregnant, you can also claim the Sure Start Maternity Grant (£500 to help with the costs of a new baby). Living with your partnerYou count as living with your partner for benefit purposes if you live with him as if you were married to him. You also count as living with your partner even if you are both staying with your parents, other relatives or friends. Can I claim any benefits if I am living with my boyfriend?During pregnancy: If both you and your partner qualify for JSA or IS, you will be able to get IS or JSA as a couple. This will be £70.70 per week if you are both under 18. If your boyfriend is 18 or over the claim should be made in his name and you will be entitled to £92.80 per week. When you are 29 weeks pregnant you can claim the Sure Start Maternity Grant. If you are not entitled to IS or JSA, for instance, because you left home voluntarily and would be able to return to live with your parents, but your boyfriend is entitled to JSA or IS, he will only be paid the single person's rate of benefit even though you are a couple. If your boyfriend is 25 or over he will get £59.15 per week. If he is between 18 and 24 he will get £46.85 per week. If he is under 18 he will get £46.85 if he has good cause for not living with his parents and £35.65 otherwise. If your boyfriend is working full time and is under 25, you won't be able to claim any benefits until the baby is born, although you may get Housing Benefit to help with the rent (and Council Tax Benefit if your boyfriend is liable to pay the council tax). If he is 25 or over and on a low income he may be able to claim Working Tax Credit as well. After the birth: You will be entitled to Child Benefit and Child tax Credit (CTC). If neither you nor your boyfriend are working full time you should be entitled to JSA, CTC and Child Benefit of roughly £145 if you are both under 18, or if your partner is 18 or over, £167. Only one of you must be available for work and actively seeking work. If you or your partner are working, you may be able to get WTC if you are on a low income. Most people can still get CTC when they are working too. If you are both working for more than 16 hours a week you can get help towards the cost of registered or approved childcare included in your Working Tax Credit (this is called the childcare element of Working Tax Credit). If you have not yet claimed the Sure Start Maternity Grant you may be able to claim it now. If you are not on income-based JSA or IS, then you need to have Child Tax Credit of more than the family element (more than £21 a week). Make sure you claim the grant within three months of the baby's birth even if you have not got your tax credit award yet. If you are turned down because you are not getting Child Tax Credit, you may need to claim again later when you get your tax credit award, but this will only work if you have made your first claim within the time limit. I am working. What am I entitled to?You are entitled to the maternity rights and benefits that all employees can claim, whether you live with your parents or not. For more information about rights to maternity leave and pay, contact Working Families for our factsheet 'Maternity leave and pay', or look on the website where you can download this leaflet. If you work for 16 hours a week or less you may still be entitled to receive IS. If you work for more than 16 hours a week you may be entitled to WTC once the baby is born (but not before, unless your partner works and is 25 or over). If you are not living with your parents you may be able to claim Housing Benefit. When your baby is born you will be entitled to Child Benefit, Child Tax Credit and, during your first six months maternity leave or whilst you get Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance, you may also be entitled to Working Tax Credit. You may be entitled to the Sure Start Maternity Grant if you get CTC of more than the family element (more than £21 a week), but make sure you claim within 3 months of the baby's birth. Aged 18-24The normal rules for claiming benefit apply, please see Working Families factsheets 'What to claim for a New Child' or 'Tax Credits and Benefits'. There are some differences in the rate of benefit that you can receive, so depending on your circumstances you may get less money than someone aged 25 or over, but once you have your baby there will be no difference. What's available Free NHS dental treatment and prescriptions Child Benefit Income Support (IS)
If you are one of a couple, the person who is unable to work should be the person in whose name the claim is made (e.g. the person who is too unwell to work).There are two different levels of payment of IS if you are aged 16 or 17: You will be entitled to the higher rate if you are disabled or if you are living apart from your parents and you can show that you cannot live with them because, for example:
IS is means-tested so whether you get it depends on the amount of money you have coming in and the amount of savings you have. You should claim IS from your local Jobcentre Plus. Income-Based Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA)You cannot usually claim JSA if you are under 18. However, there are some important exceptions, including:
Child Benefit Extension Period (CBEP)
Severe Hardship RuleTo claim JSA under the severe hardship rule you will need to register for work, education and training with the Connexions Service or Careers Service. You will have to go for an interview at the Jobcentre about why you are suffering hardship. This will include reasons why your parents will not or cannot support you financially. You should take along as much information and evidence as you can. It will help if you can bring an adult to the interview with you to support your claim, such as a friend, social worker or youth worker. Or you could visit your local Citizens Advice Bureau (address in the phone book) and ask if they could help. How much JSA will you get?There are two different levels of payment of JSA if you are aged 16 or 17: Housing Benefit/Council Tax Benefit (HB/CTB)HB and CTB are paid by your local authority to help with the cost of your rent and council tax. You are not liable to pay council tax until you are 18. The amount of your rent which HB can help with if you have a private landlord will be limited to rent for a room in shared accommodation before you have your baby, unless you are severely disabled or you live with someone else (eg a partner or another person who shares your household). Even after the baby is born, there may be limits on the maximum amount of rent which HB will cover. If you receive either IS or income-based JSA, you will be entitled to receive maximum HB/CTB (but remember that this may not cover the whole of your rent). If you do not receive either IS or JSA but you have a low income you may be able to receive HB/CTB anyway. HB/CTB is means-tested so whether you get it depends on the amount of money you have coming in and the amount of savings you have. You should claim HB/CTB directly from your local authority. Working Tax Credit (WTC)You may qualify for WTC, if you are 16 or over, if you or your partner (if you have one) are working 16 hours or more a week, have a low income and have at least one dependant child. WTC is means-tested. The amount you get will depend on how much you earn, how many hours you work, how many children you have, and whether or not you are paying for registered childcare. You will be able to get extra WTC (called the childcare element) to help with the costs of childcare if you pay for registered childcare and you are a single parent working at least 16 hours a week, or you are in a couple and you both work at least 16 hours a week, or one of you works at least 16 hours a week and the other is disabled. You should claim WTC from the tax credits helpline 0845 300 3900. Social Fund paymentsEveryone on income-based JSA, IS or CTC of more than the family element (more than £10.50 a week or more than £21 a week if you have a baby under one) can claim a Sure Start Maternity Grant of £500. You can also get it if you get Working Tax Credit with a disability element. You should claim it from the Jobcentre any time from 11 weeks before your baby is due until three months after it is born. If your parents are on a qualifying benefit, they can claim the Sure Start Maternity Grant for you if they claim benefit for you. There are also Social Fund loans and grants for those on income-based JSA or IS which can help you buy things which are difficult to budget for whilst you are on benefits, or things which will help you survive independently or reduce pressure on your family. Maternity Allowance and Statutory Maternity PayYou can get Maternity Allowance if you have worked in 26 weeks of the 66 weeks (approx. 1 year 3 months) before your baby is due and you earned at least £30 a week on average in 13 of those weeks. You can claim it on form MA1 from your local Jobcentre Plus. It is paid for 39 weeks at 90 per cent of your average earnings or £112.75, whichever is less. You can get Statutory Maternity Pay instead if you have worked for the same employer for at least 26 weeks by the 15th week before your baby is due, and you earned at least £87 a week on average. This means you will need to have worked for the same employer since before you got pregnant, and you must still be working for them in the 15th week before your baby is due (about week 25 of pregnancy). It does not matter if you leave your job after this. You can claim SMP for full or part-time work. You should write to your employer to make the claim. Other HelpYou may also be able to get help with fares to hospital; free sight tests; vouchers for glasses; free vitamins; free school meals (for those on IS or income-based JSA or working less than 16 hours and on a low income). You can get Healthy Start help (vouchers for milk, vegetables, fruit or infant formula) if you are pregnant and under 18, or until your child is 4 if you are on IS or income-based JSA. You may also be able to get Healthy Start help if you get child tax credit, you are on a low income, and neither you nor your partner work 16 or more hours a week. Getting further adviceIf you are a single parent you can get advice from One Parent Families and other organisations (see the Single Parent and not working factsheet). You can also get advice from Citizens Advice Bureaux, independent advice agencies and from the Working Families helpline, whether you are on your own or live with a partner. Working Families |