AIBU to be angry about the benefits system

I may be wrong OP but I think if you’re claiming Tax Free Childcare you cannot get Universal Credit at the same time.

Yep, you lost me at £4k pcm and how with this level of income people are still ‘topped up’.

You’re not alone. DH and I have never received a single penny of any type of benefit. We are expected to pay eye watering amounts of tax to fund others though.

I’ve no issue with cases of genuine need but it does seem that many middle earners claim one type of benefit or another.

Hmm. Claiming benefits means you have to account for expenses and be ready to justify them, and you cant save a lot, and you can have all your financial info demanded, to be looked at at any time. Not much fun.

Is £4k a month not enough for you?!?! Honestly your issue if you didn’t check. People are so money grabbing these days. Can understand those struggling on a low income but honestly OP, on £4k pick up a month?!?

Everyone seems to be on benefits these days. I am out of work and apparently not entitled to anything at all, not even free prescriptions for significant health matters. No council tax discount or anything, let alone actual payments.
Whole system is a shambles.

Yes its called google if op put in childcare costs in search bar she would have discovered she was entitled to help.

I have to say I’m shocked at the comments that say benefits should only be for those on their knees struggling and seem to think that there is no way people on £4k a month are struggling . Because they are. Everything has gone up and you do not know the situation of everyone .

We take home just under £4k per month . For start £1300 of that is gone in rent , straight away . Bills are high , cost of living is high . We have debt we can’t clear , we don’t have luxuries really and we just about make it through sometimes . My biggest luxury is probably our car - a car we share that is essential for work . £200 per month on finance because we couldn’t afford to buy it outright - and one of us then has to pay out for taxis as the other has the car . I have annual passes for theme parks that costs £40 per month too , but that’s it . Everything else is essential and I actually class the car as essential.

If you had told me 10 years ago that I would one day be taking home £4k per month I would have felt like I was going to be rich but realistically, it’s nothing like it .

That sounds roughly us too, I checked when first was born and found to be getting nothing. Never checked again, however I think benefits should be for people on their knees financially and maybe get more than they currently do (it felt like we are / were on our knees, we are not well off but we are also not crippled).
don't beat yourself up about it, hopefully you’re all healthy and just move on.

I think your calculator may be wrong . We have a universal credit account and it varies with what we earn . I don’t have regular wages due to my job - some months can be high , some low depending on what I work . My husband has a terrible accident that left him out of work and me out of work for a while whilst he was in hospital so I put in a claim . It really helped us. However now he is going back to work slowly it’s going down each month . Last month we got £600 - that was with us earning jointly around £3,500 . But for that we have 3 children on the claim , we have one child with an enhanced disability rate , a carers element and rent. I can’t see how with one child and no rent you would get that much and I’m pretty sure you don’t get anything for having a mortgage you just get an extra amount of your wages that’s part of your work allowance so are you sure the mortgage element you have seen isn’t your work allowance ( work allowance you can earn a little before it reduces your award - for context as a couple with housing costs we have a £379 work allowance .. we don’t get £379 paid to us it just means the first £379 of our joint income is not counted so does not reduce our award ) - unless your child is disabled and you have disabled elements / carers elements ?

or, like OP think they are comfortable so do not claim

Really good to know that’s the case. Big old heffalump trap otherwise

No it’s really not.

I am sick to death of people thinking that people on benefits are scrounging or living it up. It’s a fucking horrible life, there is nothing luxury about it.

This is correct. You can’t claim tax free childcare if you claim UC.

The thing is in the example I gave above, £1200 a month left to pay for food for a family of four, petrol, cars, insurance etc is not exactly going to lead to having many luxuries is it !

There’s absolutely no way you’re entitled to that much. We get £400 with a combined income of £2700.

What a stupid, ignorant comment.

And it’s “their” and “luxuries”.

No I don’t ppl should live to there means it not up to the government to fund for luxurys

No they don't necessarily get that. 85% of childcare costs is paid as the childcare element of Universal credit and this is added to any other element that people qualify for. Then earnings reduce the whole Uc total, so someone could be paying £1500 a month on childcare but won't necessarily get 85% of that back due to the deduction for earnings. Some people on low incomes could be getting most of it back but not the majority. Some people of course also get the free hours ( term time) or use other childcare schemes.

People get 85% of their childcare paid for them? I genuinely had no idea. I did wonder how people who I know who are not high earners were funding 20k pa per child at nursery. I must be the only one paying full fees.

Can you not see how if a family is paying out £1300 in childcare fees a month and a mortgage of £1200, possibly having to run 2 cars to get kids to and from nursery and work in different places, paying £300 a month in council tax etc, that even with 4k coming in , there may not be a lot left for luxuries. this is an example my friend with two kids under five gave me last night of her own finances. She doesn't even live in a hugely expensive area !

Just and FYI I don't think you get tax free childcare and universal credit childcare fees

I thought it was quite well known that lots of people who claim Tax Credits or Universal Credit are actually in work. It’s not all that unemployed or disabled people as you think.

Have neither of you got a childcare scheme at work where you can use salary sacrifice?

I just don’t understand the whole benefits thing if you’re bringing in a good wage £4000 why are you getting anything childcare or not

I’m confused.
are you mad that you didn’t claim,
or mad that other people are?