What Job for a mum??

[HDT_aero]

Hi guys my partner and I have recently had our first child and since she was pregnant she was fired from her previous job. Now theres nothing we can do about that as she was on a trial period at the time and we simply cant proove it.

however now im left to support us all and pay for our house and everything on top of that. Now im only earning a pretty average wage and am finding myself not being able to do anything anymore. We have looked and looked without any luck as to finding my wife a job. She cant work during the day as we have no one to look after our daughter and it seems to not be worth her getting a day job since the amount she would be left with after child care equates to about the same as the piss weak amount of money centrelink provide her with.

so basically if anyone knows anything we could do or look for either at night or from home or some amazing job where you can take your child to work with you please let me know

Thanks
Adam

[jack.mc]

I cant really reccommend anything, but it seems really slack of the previous employer - maybe i'm not understanding. Good luck, I hope you can find something.

[EvoVIIIJDM]

Sell drugs? I know it sounds stupid but with the costs of child care these days, and the government giving you fark all of a rebate, your choices arent to bountiful in quantity. I feel for families in this situation, its just not right. This type of family is the backbone of Australia and its economy, its about time eyebrows McHoward lightened the load and loosened his fat cat belt. Im sorry i cant offer anything more constructive.

[HDT_aero]

I cant really reccommend anything, but it seems really slack of the previous employer - maybe i'm not understanding. Good luck, I hope you can find something.

ye it was slack she was working in the position for 5 years (was her dads company to start with) and the company got taken over and within the three month trial period (trial just because of the take over) they fire her.... the worst thing was it was the day we moved into our own home.

im only 20 years old and it fustrates me badly at times cause it seems im stuck with no options

[michaelw]

Hey mate thats a pretty rough situation, I hope these ideas are of some help.

1) Nursing assistant, bloody hard work not so great pay but a future career in nursing is well worth considering. They are always looking for nurses, they work all hours.

2) Clubs, I know rugby league is not that big down there but I guess the AFL clubs are the go. Again flexible work hours (better conditions than nursing assistant)

3) Day care, I am sure that daycare needs more staff, I guess there is such a thing as daycare assistants. You might be able to get an employee discount.

#1 and #3 are going to always need staff and nursing is an all hours gig. You can find nursing homes and day care centres pretty much anywhere in the world.

HTH

Mike

[jack.mc]

one of my mates is a personal carer - he is 19, and gets ~$20 per hour. You need to be pretty dedicated though, he mainly looks after old people, and sometimes has nasty situations. Old people might like to see young kids (it makes some of them happy?) so she might be able to take the child with her.. just an idea

[HDT_aero]

thanks mike and jack those are some good ideas ill definatley be looking into

[michaelw]

Old people might like to see young kids (it makes some of them happy?) so she might be able to take the child with her.. just an idea

I think you will find that the kid will need to be left at home. I was thinking more about night duty. A nursing home is no place for a child. The work is hard yaka, as the reason that the oldies are there is that they can no longer look after themselves.

Best of luck if I think of anything else I'll fire it up. And please keep us informed of how things are going.

Mike

[Infus10n]

Nightfill at your local supermarket always need workers. Apply online at coles and woolworths.

[HDT_aero]

I think you will find that the kid will need to be left at home. I was thinking more about night duty. A nursing home is no place for a child. The work is hard yaka, as the reason that the oldies are there is that they can no longer look after themselves.

Best of luck if I think of anything else I'll fire it up. And please keep us informed of how things are going.

Mike

Thanks again and will do... im just about to post another thread have a read of it its another idea I have had (to sell or not to sell thread)

[Lish]

does she have any family/friends that will look after baby a few days a week??? I do merchandising that fits in with my school kids and my mum has my 11mth old 2 days a week for me to be able to do this...daycare just isnt worth it because by the time you pay that you are no better off than looking after your own baby at home. I too have struggled with being a mum and needing to earn money for years (even harder when divorced first partner and on my own for 12months) I know exactly how you are feeling but can only say it will get better, try not to let the financial strain ruin your realtionship with your partner and more so with your baby.

[misslisa]

HI THERE!! well I am a solo mum of two kids (9yrs and 3yrs) In New Zealand... I know from my mate that lives in Aussie that you get more from that centrelink thing there than what I do on my own here! I have managed to survive and still have extra cash to slowly but surely modify my holden. I get the basic benefit $$ from what we have here as Work and Income NZ. But I also do a few gardens around the place for extra money and sell on Trademe... (like your ebay) "anyone want stuff taken to the tip let me know" is what I say and I end up with tables, chairs, old tvs, clothes etc that I all auction off for extra money. I stick to a very very tight budget that I do not deviate from at all when it comes to rent and bills etc. But what ever extra i come across goes into the "holden fund " ... good luck, you will find something soon. Maybe a small add in the local paper for watchin others kids, house keeping etc. From what I hear childcare can be expensive and some people might like to drop theres off to you for less??? dont know.

Misslisa

[Jimboss]

my mother is a registered nurse, she started as an enrolled nurse (which you need no qualifications for, they will train you to what you need to know). She is always going on about the fact that they're aren't enough nurses around, plus, if your wife started as an enrolled nurse, she could later move on and do her degree with one of the universities that do the whole mail-order thing (that's what my mother did), doing the degree just means she will get a better pay.

[greenfoam]

You can just about allways get a job as waitress at the local pub/resturant even a dishwasher to help the Chef, you get $15 an hour, better than nothing.

Also if you are earning a basic wage I'll just about bet she is entitled to a part payment from Centerlink, especially with the baby it might be only $30 a week and or a healthcare card but everything helps. Apart from that if it really gets to be a struggle you can allways chuck your job and sell/unregister your car. Drastic messure but you would be better off moneywise and you could then keep your house. Most important is keep the house and eat more rice and lentils , red lentil soup with two vege stock cubes and some pepper is choice! and costs almost nothing.

I'm expert at living cheap, I lived in a tent for two years once and lived in and saw most of Mexico for 6 months for 8 grand (for two people)

[HDT_aero]

unfortunatley we have no family or friends that are able to babysit

its funny you should say $15 an hour is better than nothing cause im currently on $14 full time myself... wich also make me wonder if im the one who should be looking for a job.

i most certainly will not sell my car but unregistering it is a possibility

my wife does get part payments for our child and it is somthing like $30 a week

thanks everyone its great to get other peoples ideas and opinions you have all given me alot to think about

[manvr]

Get her to hit some nightfill at big W. 7-11 or 8-12. She can leave when the kids go to bed.

[tsimira]

unfortunatley we have no family or friends that are able to babysit

its funny you should say $15 an hour is better than nothing cause im currently on $14 full time myself... wich also make me wonder if im the one who should be looking for a job.

i most certainly will not sell my car but unregistering it is a possibility

my wife does get part payments for our child and it is somthing like $30 a week

thanks everyone its great to get other peoples ideas and opinions you have all given me alot to think about

If you are earning $14 an hour then she should be getting far more than $30 a week I would have thought? If she isnt earning anything then she should atleast be recieving the full Family Tax Benefit part B, and with ur earnings get a fair chunk of the Family Tax Benefit part A. I dont know if she is able to get a partnered parenting payment but if she is there would be a few dollars there too ...or maybe thats what the $30pw is?

Anyway, as has been suggested, night fill @ local supermarket or waitressing or kitchen hand at a restaraunt or conference centre are all night time work.

Good luck anyway and hope she can find something.

[MOTIV8]

She could try being a homecarer through the local council. They offer childcare outside of the normal hours. There is always a demand from shiftwork parents etc. She will need to get some certificates such as first aid and you will all have to pass a police check as well do a few things around the house to make it legally child friendly etc but that is a job she could do from home while staying home and make money.

Another one is putting jewelry boxes together for some of those big jewelers. You pick up a few boxes of parts every now and again and at home put them together and stack them in a box to drop off.

All I can think off right now that can be done at home.

[Julie]

I think you should be looking for another job, I would have thought the minimum wage for an adult would be more than $14 an hour. Maybe look for shiftwork, my hubby does night shift (3 12hr shifts)and the penalty rates are great its like an extra 35%, and then your wife could easily find a part time day job.

Other options for her could be pizza delivery, service station attendant or nightfill at local supermarket. The childcare suggestion is a good one, theres real money to be made in that, I looked into doing that myself the only thing that stopped me were the really strict safety rules which meant we'd have to spend a lot bringing the house up to code.

Another thing to look at could be distributing catalogues like homecare and betterware, I have a neighbour doing this and it makes her about an extra $100 a week. Are you or her artistic at all? If so you could try selling arts/crafts on ebay, I did this for a while and its amazing how much people will pay for a half decent looking original painting. I have actually heard of people making good money on ebay by going out and about to all the op shops/ st vinnies etc and buying brand name clothing for next to nothing and selling for a huge profit on ebay.

[ClairBear]

Centrelink will also pay a rebate for child care in an approved facility along with your family tax A and B.

C.

[Lish]

yeah but the rebate still doesnt bring it down enough. The only way you benefit from that is earning good money or full time wage. It just isnt worth it on part time hours, most of your pay goes to daycare. Been there done that LOL

[ClairBear]

Good point Lish, should have pointed out its income related, I bashed that post out in a hurry.

Afternoon shift jobs in a factory are good, I did that for a bit years ago and it worked perfectly. You can still fit in a fairly decent sleep and be there for the kids during the day.

C.

[Tasmaniak]

aero, as another thought. House party thingamys!

One of past partners made a small but significant income from doing lingerie parties. Some of her friends also did similar things...Perfumes, Lingerie, Adult Toys and the like.

The best part of it is that she can set the hours she wants to work. It does a lot of work to get it started but once its going it should make a nice help. Best of all, most of the work is done of a night time after the baby has gone down for the night leaving you to relax after working all day.

The only major drawback is that you and partner won't get to spend much time together but should definetly help out whilst the income situation is low.

Most certainly look out for a better job for yourself though. Dude. You have a child to support now. You can't settle for a meagre income it's time to excel.

[TheForgotten]

I agree this is a good money maker, and it's not real back breaking work, but a lot of the companies that set up these sort of "businesses" require an initial outlay, which if you're in a low income job is near on impossible to scrape together

[bangers]

what about work at a servo. they do 6 hr shifts so she could 6pm til midnight and weekends. or even as infus10n said do nightfill. she'll earn 300-400 after tax doing either of these. she shouldn't worry about a career starting job until your child starts preschool atleast. and if she works days then childcare is minimum $50 a day. so then you'd be up for 250-350 a week and your kid would never see you. thats why kids today are such ar**holes cos teachers and childcare can't discipline your kids.