Give up work... you'll be better off on benefits: What council officer told single mother with a part-time job

Chelsea Press, 23, told she was £54 a week worse off by working part-time



Basildon District Council said she would have an additional £2,850 a year

Miss Press gets by on £650 wages, £81.24 child benefit and £454 working tax credits and child tax credits each month



She often waits for Lacey to finish food before she knows if she can eat



She refuses to quit and doesn't want to set a bad example for her daughter

'Disgust': Single mother Chelsea Press was told by a Basildon District Council adviser she was £54 a week worse off by working part-time

Single working mother Chelsea Press was struggling to juggle her part-time job with raising her young daughter and paying her bills.

Proud to be working, she just wanted to know if she was entitled to some more benefits to help make ends meet.

So the 23-year-old booked a consultation at her local council offices to assess her financial situation.

After totting up the income from her job and tax allowances compared with her outgoings, she was horrified when the official declared: ‘You’d be better off on benefits’.

As an unemployed person, she would not have to pay rent or council tax and would be £238 a month better off.

Miss Press was outraged by the advice and insists she has no intention of giving up her job working 27 hours a week looking after the elderly.



She will stick to her traditional values of hard work and wants to set a good example for two-year old daughter Lacey.

Miss Press also fears that other people with less of a work ethic could just take the softer option.

She said: ‘I was disgusted. The council adviser should never have said that to me.

‘Telling some people they are better off on benefits would probably make them give up work.

‘I love my job, but it is hard leaving Lacey when I am getting such little financial benefit from it. I don’t feel any better off in work, but I really enjoy it.

‘Lacey knows that I go to work and help the old people. I hope she is proud of me.

‘I want to set her a good example and show her that you don’t just sit at home expecting everything to be given to you on a plate.’

Shocking: The adviser also told Miss Press she would have an extra £2,850 a year if she left her job and would be able to spend more time with her daughter Lacey, two, pictured

Struggling: Despite regularly being unable to pay her bills, Miss Press refuses to leave her part-time job as a carer for the elderly as she says it would set a bad example for her daughter





THE MATHS BEHIND THE ADVICE

Monthly income on benefits:

£600 income support

£81.24 child benefit

£260 child tax credits

Total: £941.24 Monthly income in work: £650 wage

£81.24 child benefit

£454 working tax credits and child tax credits

Total: £1,185.24

Total minus additional outgoings: £703.24 Additional outgoings in work: £280 rent

£90 council tax

£112 nursery fees contribution

Miss Press, from Basildon, Essex, gets by each month on her £650 wages, £81.24 child benefit and £454 working tax credits and child tax credits.

Her total income adds up to £1,185.24 but after bills she is left with £703.24 to live on.

Half her income goes on rent, council tax and nursery fees before the remainder goes on utility bills and food.

The other outgoings are £280 on rent, £90 council tax and £112 contribution for nursery fees.

She says that without free babysitting help from her sister, she would be unable to hold down her job at the Munday House care home in Basildon.

However, on the dole, she would receive £600 income support, £81.24 in child benefit and £260 in child tax credits but would not pay rent or council tax.

The jobless option would leave her with £941.24 to live on – a difference of £238.

Miss Press says she has such a struggle on her income, she allows her daughter to eat first before seeing what is left for her.

Last night, Basildon District Council promised to investigate the incident.

Phil Turner, deputy leader of the Conservative-run authority, said: ‘Our officers give very good advice, so I am surprised to hear what she says.

‘I will go back to officers to make it absolutely clear to all teams we have to get the message across.’