There is the chance that I can do some part time work - though it would be minimum wage and not for many hours. As I've said I'll have young children to look after, one will be 2 and a bit and the other one only a few months old. As my wife will be working in an office for many hours of the day she'll rely on me to bring our youngest in so they can be breast fed.

Of course this doesn't rule out weekend/evening work - though as we would be moving from England to Scotland there will be a time of adjustment even before I could look for part time work.

Thanks again everyone for your replies, this is the most help that we have received.:-)

thanks for the replies so far. :-)

I wouldn't be going back to work until our children are of school age. The amount that I could earn would barely cover child care (presently) and we want one of us to bring up the children in their early years.

I was hoping that I would be able to claim income support along with child tax credit (which would be a given). I'm not sure if I would be entitled to housing benefit or council tax benefit.

I am of the understanding that my wife would not be entitled to benefits as she would be in full time education. This would be fine as long as the money she receives for funding wouldn't reduce any benefits that I receive.

I think part of the problem of getting answers at the moment from benefit agencies (or indeed universities) is having to take into consideration maternity leave for my wife, who if doesn't start the PhD in September would still be on maternity leave with her currently employer and the fact that I stay at home and raise the children (and of the male variety of human) - yet will have to look for work when my wife is on maternity leave. This complicates the matters more because none of this fits easily on governmental forms which tend to be "yes or no" forms, with little room for grey, complicated, non-atypical circumstance.

I hope that makes sense? A little bit of a rant I know, but it feels good to get it off my chest!

Hi,

this is going to be a long shot as I believe we're in a bit of a unique situation but someone out there might be in a similar position and be able to offer some advice.

My wife is hoping to start a PhD in Scotland in September, leaving her 25K job of two years. She is over 25, if this makes a difference.

We currently have one child and another will come along before this time.

I'm a full time parent as financially it made sense for my wife to go to work and for me to look after the children whilst they are young.

She should be getting around 13 and a half thousand (increasing) from the first year in funding. However, this is obviously not a lot to support a family on and as our children are very small I will still be at home looking after them.

I was wondering if anyone knew what we might be entitled to apart from Child Tax Credits and whether the funding (from the university) will be taken into account when they look at income.

Government bodies I've approached (including CAB) haven't been very forthcoming with information - as they seem to want us to already be in this position before they can tell us whether or not we will be entitled to anything. Which strikes me as bizarre!

Anyway, if this makes sense, and if there's anyone in a similar situation and can give advice I would be very appreciative.

Thanks.