Aims of the workshop To increase understanding of how student funding works for students with children To improve knowledge of how funding affects benefits To raise awareness of budgeting tools and apps To raise awareness of different types of debt To discuss issues facing student parents

Workshop plan Introduction and aims Icebreaker – Higher or Lower game Thought sharing – financial issues for student parents Jasmine - what funding can she get? Jasmine - what benefits can she get? Student income and benefits - card match game Using budgeting apps - Studentparents.org Debts – priority or not? Single Parent Calendar

What student funding can she get? Jasmine What student funding can she get?

Jasmine – The facts Jasmine is a single parent, she has two children aged 4 and 7. She uses a nursery for her four-year-old for three days a week She uses an after-school club for her seven-year-old for 2 hours on five days a week. The nursery charges during the vacations, but the after-school club does not. The nursery charges £60 per day. The after school club charges £5 per hour.

How much Maintenance Loan can she get? Because Jasmine is a single parent she can get the rate of Maintenance Loan for students who are entitled to benefits In 2017/18 it will be £9,609 Some of the Maintenance Loan counts as income for benefits, but not for tax credits

How much Childcare Grant can Jasmine get? Nursery - £60 per day x 3 days x 52 weeks = £180 x 52 weeks = £9360 After school club – 10 hours a week @ £5 p/hr x 30 weeks = £1500 TOTAL = £10,860 or £208.85 per week average Student Finance England will pay 85% of up to £273.60 a week for two children in 2017/18 So Jasmine will get £177.52 per week or £9,231.17 per year.

How much Parents’ Learning Allowance? She has no other income, so she will get the full Parents Learning Allowance of £1,617 per year in 2017/18 Parents Learning Allowance does not count as income for benefits or tax credits

How much Adult Dependants Grant? Jasmine does not have a partner or other adult dependant, so she will not get any dependants grant. If she had a dependant who has income less than £3796 then she could get up to £2,834 per year Adults Dependants grants counts as income for benefits and tax credits

What Benefits Can Jasmine Claim? Jasmine pays £120 rent each week She could claim Housing Benefit all year round She can claim Child Tax Credit all year round She can claim Income Support in the summer because she has a child under 5 years old If her children were both over 5 years old she could claim Jobseekers Allowance over the summer. Or, She can claim Universal Credit all year round See Gingerbread JSA and single parents factsheet - https://gingerbread.org.uk/FactSheetsDetail.aspx?FactSheetid=32&ref=

Income taken into account for benefits Undergraduates The Maintenance Loan is taken into account for benefits after the special support element is taken off, an amount for books, travel and equipment is disregarded, the remainder is divided by the number of weeks in the academic year and then another £10 is knocked off. Postgraduates The Masters Loan of £10,280 is taken into account, after 70% or £7,196 is knocked off for fees, a further £693 is disregarded, and the amount is divided over the number of weeks on the course, and a further £10 is disregarded.

Factsheets Student Finance England factsheets http://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/resources/201718-resources.aspx Leeds Beckett https://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/studenthub/full-time-funding/

Budgeting Calculator designed for student parents is at: https://www.studentparents.org/

Debts – Priority or Non-priority? How to prioritise your debts: https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/how-to- prioritise-your-debts

…STOP PRESS… Details of the new Childcare Payment have been released this week. If you are earning over £120 per week you could get 30 hours free childcare for 3 and 4 year olds. See https://childcare-support.tax.service.gov.uk/