UC

The incentive to increase your working hours is to simply earn more money.
The taper rate should ensure you’re always better off working.

The point about it being a long time to wait, don’t see how that’s relevant to increasing your working hours.

I much prefer UC to CTC but there's a big caveat here that I don't claim childcare costs. Just from seeing some.big support groups for UC, I can see what a nightmare childcare is. I think if they sorted that out, UC would be the best system they've had.

You haven't missed out for February. The childcare isn't happening until February. The February UC is payment for January. The March payment is payment for February. The issue you have is that your provider expects you to pay when you book, and you have to book in advance.

But if your assessment period ends on 10 the feb, you will be paid Uc on 17th feb and that should cover any childcare costs between 11th jan to 10th feb ?

Hi op

I'm from NI so not sure how different it is here. My childcare costs are due on the 1st of every month. I was able to apply to a fund for upfront childcare costs which when paid on the 1st I'm allowed to declare as my own payment on UC and submit an invoice, Then at the end of that month I am reimbursed up to 85% which I use for the following month and so on.

Is there nothing like this in the UK

No, I much prefer it. Of course there's incentive to work more, the more you earn the more UC you get to keep pound for pound. Personally I am better off on it. And you're unlikely to end up being overpaid as it's done monthly unlike tax credits! I put off switching for ages, wish I'd done it sooner.

I'm a few quid worse off on UC. The transitional protection bumps it up for the first year. Luckily I have teens so don't have the childcare nightmare on it.
Never had a problem with tax credits, but I never changed my job or hours which probably helped.

Hell no. When I was on TC they were always fucking my payments up. Worst was when I did some overtime. Not only did TC decide I'd had a pay rise, so did HB. I actually had less money that month than usual. As they thought it was a pay rise I was in deficit for 3 months.

UC have never done that.

There's also definitely more incentive to work more on UC.

get paid a week after your assessment period ends. My assessment ends 23rd of month I get paid 30th of month, so a week later, so if your assessment ended 10/2 you should have been paid 17/2.

I think tax credits was a much better system. If it wasn't for transitional protection I'd be worse off now. The taper rate plus costs of actually working can mean it's not financially worth working extra hours or so borderline and to the detriment of your family time that its not a viable option. I also dislike the ideology of UC and the nasty attitudes that have been whipped up towards those who need it.

I was talking generally about other groups I am on. I claim UC so why would I be snotty? Anyway I will leave you to it.

@Sidebysws9 as a technicality, if you claim for childcare costs, you will get either 85% if the actual monthly amount or 85% of the maximum monthly amount in your initial Universal Credit award. Your earnings will bring the entire award down, but whatever is left still contains the 85% childcare allowance within it.

As another example, we rent. Our initial award includes our whole rent. Just because we get more deducted from our final award than we pay in rent, doesn't mean we didn't get a rent allowance. If we hadn't had our rent allowance, our final award would be even lower than it is.

It's hard to see, sometimes, but you can't just say that you don't get 85% of your childcare paid. You do get that as an allowance and it is simply your earnings that bring it down.

You're supposed to get the childcare costs back in the assessment period you pay them, not the period they're used for, so if you paid on 31st January (for example) and reported that in your assessment ended 10th feb they should have been paid in your feb payment. If they're not you need to chase through your journal.

I never claimed TC but have had a good experience with UC and am very grateful for it. I do agree the childcare cost upfront was tough but now you can ask for it in advance I believe? I have always received 85% of my childcare costs back, I know it's 'up to' but I've always received the full amount.

Would you rather be hit by a large overpayment later then? The posters have basically said what I said so yes I am aware of how it works.

Sorry cross post with Lougle.

They have to wait until the end of the monthly assessment period to know what childcare elmeent to pay you and what you have earned in the assessment period because your earnings reduce the whole award. that's just how it works. They can't just pay you all your childcare costs mid assessment period when they don't know how much they will need to take off you due to earnings ?

How else can they do it though? If you earn more in February than in January, then giving you the money in January means you'd be paid too much. They have to assess how much you are paid in the month that the childcare takes place.