Housewife entitlements

Hiya All,
My wife has been made redundant recently and the plan is for her to Stay at home and mind our baby for the next few years rather than working to pay crech fees.. Can anyone tell me what she is entitled too as far as social wlefare.
She has been working and paying PRSI for the past 10 years.

From reading up I can see that she may not qualify for Jobseekers Benefit (JB) since she will not be actively looking for work but may qualify for Jobseekers allowance (JA)..

I also know that she may be entitled to Home carers tax credit which is not very significant.

I find it hard to believe that She has been working for the last 10 years,paid all her stamps and yet may not receive any help if she decides to be a housewife rather than working to pay creche fees ?

Mondo

She won't qualify for either of the jobseekers payments if she is not actively seeking employment.

You can transfer her tax credits to you, and claim a home carer's tax credit. She more than likely isn't entitled to anything else as she will become your dependant.

Hiya and thx for the reply.
Thats what I think too yet other people have told her that since she has paid PRSI for the last 10 years she must be entitled to some form of help ?

As GreenQueen mentions, if she's looking for work, she'd be entitled to JB as a result of PAYE PRSI contributions. If she's not looking for work (as would be the case here), then she's not entitled to JB or JA.

If she decides not to sign on to claim JB because she is not actively looking for work she should still go to her local social welfare office. She will need to make an application to sign on to get credits towards her pension in the future.

Ann1 said:

If she decides not to sign on to claim JB because she is not actively looking for work she should still go to her local social welfare office. She will need to make an application to sign on to get credits towards her pension in the future.

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That's very important that you keep your stamps up. I think they changed the rules on stay at home parents a few years ago so that you are entitled to a credit for a certain amount of years staying at home childminding.