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Hi Dizzydebs,From the financial point of view, you would need to be saying if you have savings / investments you could access. You could say that if the children had significant needs that you hadn't been informed of before, you'd be looking for adoption support from the placing authority. As you're in rented, you would have to claim Housing Benefit if you gave up work to care, plus DLA for the child (ren)s special needs, and carers allowance. You'd also get a top-up of income support.Hope that's not too much detail?On the practical side - would you really be ok with living on benefits? Having two is very expensive when you're single - much more childcare etc to pay for. Will your job support that?Phoebe x

I think you need to do a lot of thinking here. If you didnt go back to work would you be asking your company for additional unpaid leave or would you be resigning ?Dont forget most organisations require you to return to work for a specific period of time or you will have to repay your adoption pay. I've never claimed benefits so dont claim to be an expert but, if you were taking extra, unpaid time, you are still employed, so I can't see that you would be eligible for many of the benefits you would get if you were unemployed, and you arent sick, so you won't get sick pay from work.Your children may or may not meet the criteria for DLA, but you can't rely on it. Simba is on middle rate DLA and receives about £300 a month, its nice to have and but its not going to pay the bills. Yes I'm sure you would be able to get some benefits, eg as a tenant you would probably qualify for housing benefit but remember that the govt is placing limits on this now You do need a plan, particulalry as you are looking at such young children. Have you also thought about the cost of childcare, at 2 and 4 thats going to cost you a lot of moneyUnless you have lots of savings, it will be difficult

sorry clicked too soon and didnt want to be completly negative!It is tough but is doable.It would be worth asking about an adoption allowance, I get one for Simba and its what enables me to work on a part time basis, but even with that, DLA and tax credits it doesnt cover my bills. If you earn below £24 and work at least 16 hours a week, you should also qualify for tax credits. I know there are some singlies here who adopted very young children, but to be honest the financial situation was one of the main reasons I wanted a school age child. Much reduced child care costs and I can at least work while they are at schoolI think what you really need to be careful about is potentially the need to pay back your adoption pay if you dont go backGood luck

My son was older and at school, so I had different issues, but similar in the sense of juggling work and a child. My son had fairly huge separation issues so this impacted upon my working life. Luckily my very supportive manager consented to me changing my work hours to fit around school. So i dropped my salary, but managed to return to work. If your children are younger then your options may be different? I had anticipated that my very big family would help out with childcare after school and during holidays, but this wasn't suitable for my son. He needs the predictability and routine of the a childminder who is focused on him and the other children in her care, not also juggling running the household, going to the supermarket etc. My family would have been willing to help out, however they wouldn't be able to provide what the childminder can. So my childcare costs are far higher than I anticipated.Nearly three years into placement I am still on a much reduced income, however DS is very happily settled with his childminder when I am at workOther singlies have very different experiences, however it is important to consider all possible scenarios. I don't know your income levels, but I think it is certainly worth speaking to your SW about adoption allowances, the LA still saves cash as its a lower rate than paying out FC fees and allowances. I don't receive benefits, but I think it would be very hard to raise my child on benefits, he has no diagnosed condition, but does cost quite a lot of money. I have had to pay one to one swimming lessons as he couldn't manage a class, he is currently in a class, but not progressing the way he should be due to the busy nature of the class, but the one to one classes cost four times the cost of group lessons, so he is still in the group lessons for now, but if I was on my full salary I would be paying for one to one classes. I know this sounds minor and not that important, but this is an example of how having additional cash can assist with his delayed development.I was advised not to rush to court for the adoption order, my experienced and wise SW suggested I wait till I was back at work, this was to make sure that working was viable, had it not been then I'm sure she would have advocated for financial support. Good luck, remember lots of us have different experiences.

I have had to give up work due to my child's needs, school problems etc etc. I will send you a pm with the is and outs!

Having 2 as a singlie is a huge challenge, especially two so young given the childcare costs etc, as you in effect have two lots of unexpected costs! And the younger they are the more of your time they need - once they're school age (as long as they have settled well) they're beginning to get to an age where they enjoy a bit more independence through play dates and activity clubs etcAlso, I didn't realise just how exhausting the 24/7 of parenting is, despite having 2 relatively straightforward school age girls that had been coming to me for respite for several years!I couldn't continue to work full time, so my income has taken a huge knock. We manage and I don't regret it at all - but do be careful of assuming that you'll be able to go back to work full time with two littlies.My tactics - savings, a bit of support (unexpected but very welcome!) from my parents, working out how to cut costs, taking advantage of every entitlement/gift on offer.

I adopted 2 preschool children and have been unable to return to work full time though by September they'll both be in school. I do manage part time but only from financial necessity and I'm not sure how long I'll sustain this for.If they have additional needs then they may get DLA and you might get an additional adoption allowance. Being in rented accomodation is an advantage as you would get housing benefit, council tax benefit etc.If you are able to work part time then you will be entitled to tax credits. The £24000 limit Serrakunda mentions is for parents of one child. If you have two children the limit is higher.This benefits calculator is handy to put a few different scenarios into:http://www.turn2us.org.uk/benefits_search.aspxIt's good you're thinking about it in advance. It's better to have considered all the options.

Hi, and big thanks for taking the time to reply!You all make some valid points, and I will investigate more fully when it isn't midnight! One thing I should have mentioned, when it comes to child care, I only work term time, another reason I feel I could cope, as children would only be in childcare for 6 - 7 Weeks at a time...I don't know if that makes a difference or not... Fir those of you who have not been able to return to work, did you know early on, or did you go back to work and then realise you child couldn't cope? As I said in my first post, I'm really hoping this won't be the case, but obviously need to have a plan b!

I was working F/T, then got made redundant a few days after the girls came to live with me! I then found 2 P/T jobs that totalled just over a F/T job but after 3 months of constant stress reached the point I just couldn't do it. So I kept the (slightly) more substantial job. It doesn't cover all my costs, but as i said my parents help and at the moment I'm dipping into savings. At some point in the next 12-18 months I need to find some way of earning more, possibly by doing some freelance work now and again. Plus once I've got some paperwork sorted out I should get some benefits which will bring us to just about break even next year when littly is at school instead of pre-school.Roll with the punches...!

Any specific info would really help me too, as I will potentially be in a similar position. I am a single prospective adopter, hoping to adopt a child aged 3 or under. I am currently looking for teaching assistant or learning mentor posts (even though I am a teacher) as they are less stressful/time consuming than teaching and also hoping to set up a private counselling practice (I currently work as a freelance school counsellor and hope that will carry on).Thanks everyone!

Dizzydebs, I went back to work part time, after a year. During that time I found it increasingly difficult to juggle work with therapy appointments, meetings with school, and managing to keep my household ticking over. My DD started being threatened with exclusion, then was excluded from school, her therapy was upped to twice a week, the meetings with school increased, and so on. I am officially on a years career break, during which I hoped to get things sorted but it has been a hellish year. I will not be able to go back as planned as she still needs intensive therapy, support at special school, and so on....I didn't anticipate things turning out like this but I am just doing what I think she needs now in the hope that it will pay off sometime down the line..