Blogging isn’t a real job – No credits for you!

Mummy in a Tutu and child

A few days after finding out I was pregnant, I was made redundant from my teaching role and was switched to an admin role in another department. After having my daughter, I began blogging and decided I would go for it, not return to the job that wasn’t even really mine and become a self-employed freelance blogger/writer.

Now, nearly five months later I am doing well and my blog is growing stronger day by day – but it isn’t without its stumbling blocks! When I first became self-employed I applied for Working and Child Tax Credits, which were something I felt I was entitled to having paid taxes for years as I went up the employment ladder. However, despite providing pages and pages of evidence to prove my working hours, I was denied the Working Tax Credits because I couldn’t prove that I worked enough hours and it wasn’t until I accepted this judgement that my Child Tax Credits were then released to me.

I found it shocking – they thought I was looking for a handout, payments to help me start my own business. They didn’t listen to the fact that actually I was already making an income and my business was already running – I just wanted the credits I was entitled to in order to make sure I provided everything my daughter needed. Fortunately, I have survived without them and have managed to create a steady flow of work and am lucky enough to have my own mother as a support, but that’s not the point! Why am I, a blogger, so different from a journalist? The only difference I can see is that I work on my own site whereas they work for others!

I wrote about my experience recently on my blog and the reaction was overwhelming – it was wonderful to feel that I wasn’t alone and that the amazing blogging community that I have come to know and love was right behind me – imagine my shock when a telephone call came from BBC News… they wanted to feature my story! I had never really even considered it a story… I was doing what I always did with my blog and spilling words all over a page that eventually came to be a coherent piece that people may want to read!

Mummy In A Tutu and child

Despite my shock, I was more than happy to bring this issue to light – tax credits are not very friendly to the self-employed or anyone who isn’t on a contracted hourly rate. If you worked out most bloggers hourly rate it would come out at pence for the number of hours versus the actual payment! What I was not necessarily prepared for though were the “trollish” comments that appeared on the BBC News Twitter page – “hand-outs” “benefits” “get a real job” …. How could these people not see that I was working hard and deserved these credits? How in this day and age do people still not fully grasp the concept of what a blogger actually is?!

My “fight” as the BBC have dubbed it goes on – I still do not have my Working Tax Credits and even now am unsure I could prove to them the hours that I work… short of letting them follow me for a week, there is nothing more I can give them. My hope is that I will continue to grow my business to a point where I won’t even need them and slowly but surely I am getting there.

To all the people out there that have sent me emails, comments and messages of support and often thanks, I thank you in return – those words have boosted and renewed my energy. To all the people out there who chose to call me names or made assumptions about me you’re wrong… Blogging is a real job. It’s MY real job. It is the real job that is supporting me and my child. Hopefully, one day HMRC will see it that way too so that no one else has to face this battle too!

What do you think of Katie’s story? Do you consider blogging a ‘real’ job or have you encountered the same struggles to have your work recognised as a freelance blogger? Let us know in the comments.

Home page image: zeljkodan, Shutterstock

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BritMums is the UK’s original collective of lifestyle bloggers and digital influencers, fueling the country’s most influential social content. We lead the online conversation with members who are parent social influencers creating content on topics ranging from food, parenting, travel, politics, style and more.

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