Rent Allowance for single mother who is a student

J

Jockey

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Hi everyone,

A friend of mine recently gave birth to a little girl. As she is a full time student and wishes to procede with her studies she has been told that she cannot avail of the rent allowance scheme. Is this correct? Surely this is wrong, that someone is punished for wanting to further their education and look after their new born child.

Jockey
 
I think she will need to claim single parent allowance which you can do when studying and then she should be able to claim rent allowance.
 
Hi,

Thanks for your swift reply. When you say single parent allowance, is that the same as the one parent payment as i am finding it difficult to find it on welfare.ie

Jockey
 
Full-time students are debarred from receiving Supplementary Welfare Allowance, which Rent Supplement is paid under. This is why rent supplement would be refused in this case, whether the person is on One Parent Family Payment or not.
 
If you are recieving rent allowance before you go back to your studies then you will continue to get it during your studies. She can recieve loan parents allowance which will be chnaged to back to eduaction when she starts back in college.

Generally if you approach the hardship fund in the college they will also help her out financially
 
Back to Education Allowance is only payable for persons on qualifying social welfare payments who are commencing in college - see the following from the qualifying conditions:

"To qualify for the Back to Education Allowance (second level or third level options), a person must secure a place on an approved course (as specified above) and satisfy the following conditions immediately prior to the commencement of the first year of the course"

Link to DSFA information on Back to Education

As the person referred to by the OP is already in college, they may not be able to transfer from One Parent Family Payment to Back to Education.

It's not entirely true to say that if a person is in receipt of rent supplement prior to college that it will continue during the studies - Rent Supplement is not payable to full-time students, although exceptions are made for persons on back to education schemes.
 
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Thanks for all your suggestions.

I think there is something seriously wrong with the welfare system in this country when you can't be a full time student and receive benefits at the same time. So basically she is better off doing nothing with her life and just getting benefits from the state!

Jockey
 
gipimann said:
Full-time students are debarred from receiving Supplementary Welfare Allowance, which Rent Supplement is paid under. This is why rent supplement would be refused in this case, whether the person is on One Parent Family Payment or not.
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Gipimann that is ridiculous. I am a single parent who is receiving Rent Supplement and OFP and am a full-time student at university. Full-time students are NOT 'debarred' from receiving Rent Allowance. Please ensure you know what you are talking about!!

Best advice is to go and talk to your community welfare officer and he/she will sort it out for you!
 
Jockey said:
Thanks for all your suggestions.

I think there is something seriously wrong with the welfare system in this country when you can't be a full time student and receive benefits at the same time. So basically she is better off doing nothing with her life and just getting benefits from the state!

Jockey
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Jockey can I just say that I am a full time student and have never had any problem receiving lone parent allowance and rent allowance. Ive just completed a year of college and I had NO problems receiving these allowances!! She will get them, just check it out! Ask local community welfare officer! Honestly Im receiving both types of allowance plus a grant!
 
Here are some of the qualifying conditions for SWA (which includes Rent Supplement) from the DSFA website.

Who is not eligible to receive assistance?
You will not normally qualify for Supplementary Welfare Allowance if you are
- not Habitually Resident in the State
- in full-time work that is, working for more than 30 hours per week
- in full-time education
- involved in a trade dispute. However, you may claim Supplementary Welfare Allowance for your dependants.

Exceptions can be made for persons in specific schemes (Back to Education Scheme which was mentioned in an earlier post).
 
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Redcow14 - Could you tell me how you got around the full time education/rent allowance issue? Im a single mother (of an 8 month old) about to start my last year at college and really need to get this sorted asap. Also, did you get any assistance other than childcare allowance? I was wondering if I was entitled to a grant now that I'm no longer living with my parents.
 
This is how i went about it.i'll TRY TO MAKE IT AS CLEAR AS I CAN.
on loan parent family payment.
on rent allowance
was suppose to do full time studies but cant afford full time day care. But.....When i went to S.W to get all the info.i was told s.w would give me 500e from september to go back to education.i think you have to be claiming loan parent for a certin amount of time tho.

if you are already on loan parent,why not apply for rent allowance....takes just a week or 2 to get all the papers sorted out once you find an apartment.then go back to your studies.

Best bet is to make an appointment with your s.w.o have yours and your childs pps with you and ask for info.

good luck.its not easy i know.
 
thanks, i think im going to let the dust settle on college, trying not to melt my head in week one, then im going to attack the system ;) il probably be back needing help in a week or so.
 
Hi All,

I am a single mother of two children aged 17 years and 8 years respectively, I am also in reciept of rent allowance and I am a full time student in my final year of college. Any single parent can back to education allowance while in full time education as long as they have been in reciept of one parent family payment for at least 12 months. Also, a single parent can at any stage claim rent allowance at any stage. My advice to anyone thinking of going back to college is to make sure that they are in receipt of both one parent family payment and rent allownace before starting their studies as it make the application more straight forward for the community welfare officer dealing with the application. Also, Higher education grants are available for dependant (not residing with their parents) mature students (over the age of 23 years) to the amount of €6,900 per academic year. €6,900 is the total amount which includes the top up maintenance grant. I am in receipt of this as I have 2 kids and no other income, students are also encouraged to avail of any bursaries that their college provides, such as a childcare bursary. On top of all of that there is also the Millenium Fund, which is easy to find out about, just google it and see if its available in your area. Hope this provides some help, cause I know how stressfull it can be trying to go back to college....GOOD LUCK!;)
 
Hi,

I am also a single parent recieving One-Parent Family payment. I returned to college last year and I am in my second year of an Hons degree. I am recieving Back to Education Allowance. I live at home with my parents, who are both very financially stable.

Am I entitled to rent allowance?

Would I be means tested under my parent ( could I be refused rent allowance due to my parents being financially stable) or does this not matter at all?

Do you loose your rent allowance on completion of a degree? Further study is more than likely needed, in the degree I am undertaking in order to work in that area?

Can you continue to recieve back to education allowance if you went on to do a masters or futher?
 
Rent Supplement is not payable if you're living at home. If you are living away from home, in rented accommodation, you are not means-tested on your parents' income, just your own.

If you are in receipt of Rent Supplement on completion of your degree, continued entitlement to it will depend on your financial circumstances at the time - for example, if you start work, Rent Supplement may cease.

In relation to Back To Education Allowance (BTEA), the following is from the Welfare website -

The Postgraduate option of the BTEA Scheme is only for people who wish to take:
- a postgraduate course of study that leads to a Higher Diploma (H. Dip.) qualification
or
- a Graduate Diploma in Education (Primary teaching).

Other postgraduate qualifications are not recognised for BTEA purposes.
 
So if I want to recieve rent allowance. Do I first need to move out of my family home and just rent a place normally and then apply for rent allowance?
 
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