Families on UC

The benefit system is massively over perceived as a "lifestyle" when it's far from it. I'm a single parent who left an abusive relationship with the police, I couldn't stay and bring my kids up in that environment. Even though I was working I had to claim tax credits as a stop gap.

It took me 8yrs to move off of tax credits and it was hard, my parents stepped in with extra childcare so I could go away with work time and time again so I could move myself further up the food chain. We live in the south east which is expensive and at the time I was mainly living paycheck to paycheck. Every time I took a promotion at work the government took more tax credits back than my wage rise in actual pay.

I now earn enough money to be able to live without them and under no terms would I ever want to go back to them as I know that it would be a step back and I would struggle again.

However I do not begrudge other people needing to claim benefits, lots of people genuinely need a hand up in life. Working and being able to afford a mortgage is not comparable and it is always going to better than living with the uncertainty of the benefits system as well as the current financial climate.

I’m a nurse I work 22 hours and have done for a while also single parent, I also care for my son who gets dla high rate care and we get uc. I could give up to look after him but I am struggling by at the moment, we do get uc but I want to keep my registration as I can imagine I will need to go back full time when he is older depending on his care needs. I did work full time for years before he was born.

it’s been quite stressful having to rely on benefits to be able to pay bills and eat, not like we are living the high life, we were homeless for a substantial period of time when our landlord sold up and no one would take me due to my income. We were finally housed in march last year. We get by from month to month, no savings no backup or holidays or nice things.

Currently might need to drop a day at work as son is not coping in school and might need to go to specialist provision so until then he’s only in part time. Who would actually want this? I love my job, my colleagues, and want to be at work.
it’s not a choice it’s just life just now. Hopefully it won’t be forever. Especially given how the majority of people see people like me and it feels pretty horrible tbh

Bless me indeed.

Who are these services you mentioned subsidised by? The magic money tree?

Bless you, I don’t think you understand. You will be benefiting because in your life, unless you live fully off grid, you will be receiving subsidised goods and services that cost less because the state tops up the wages of the low paid.

Some examples

• delivery drivers
• supermarket staff
• nurses and other lower paid health professionals including some junior doctors
• teaching assistants
• road repairs
• Pharmacy assistants
• Any kind of food production lower paid staff
• bar and restaurant staff
• retail staff
• care workers
• child care workers
• cleaners
• charity workers
• taxi drivers
• performers
• cultural staff e.g theatre box office staff

Because this is there we stand now, an economy that depends on an abundance of low paid workers and that’s prohibitively expensive to run.

its a pyramid that feeds on more and more people joining in order to keep Big Business in dividends.

The current government is happy with it and the future is only interested in the low lying fruit, taxing the individual.

I woudn’t find renting and depending on the goodwill of the state to support my children a sweet spot, I’d find it incredibly precarious, stressful and dehumanisimg.

If it appeals to you I supoose you could try it.

I don’t want their coffee anyway.

I want them to pay their tax and if their business model is not sustainable then they ought to rethink it.

That’s the whole point.
If Starbucks paid a living wage to their employees so they didn’t need benefits top ups you wouldn’t be able to afford their coffee.

Well no,

I’m not benefiting because I am paying my tax towards the benefits the Starbucks’ workers receive.

*Yes, because they probably have income from somewhere else - likely their partner who also financially and practically supports their household.

I can't generate the same income as two people who earn enough together not to claim, as much as I would like to.*

No one can expect a single person to generate the same income as two wage earning adults. I’m a single parent, I needed to claim UC for a short time after my marriage ended but I was always clear I needed to be able to run my home on a lower income than I’d had when I had my ex’s income coming in. I changed job and increased my hours, and yes life would be much easier if I worked less and claimed UC to pay the balance.

So I am, with my tax, subsidising Starbucks instead of Starbucks paying their workers and I’m also subsidising everyone who buys their coffee?

Perfectly explained.

Thank you.

And where does this poster think the money should come from?

I think the point this poster was making is that if you’re against UC being used to top up wages, then the only answer would be to increase wages which would probably mean everyone paying more. They aren’t advocating for that. They are pointing out if you are someone who uses any of these services that you are indirectly benefiting from UC even if you get none directly yourself.

This is the most bizarre thinking ever.

You don’t want Starbucks to pay their baristas because there’s going to push the price of coffee, but you happy for the taxpayer to pick up the bill for the top up of the wages?

Oh and there is no available before or after school childcare for my eldest in my area plus no family nearby. Consider that sort of possibility before judging next time.

Yes, because they probably have income from somewhere else - likely their partner who also financially and practically supports their household.

I can't generate the same income as two people who earn enough together not to claim, as much as I would like to.

There seems to be some discrepancy here .Yesterday we heard from a lady whose income in UC equalled that of someone on 65k a year! Obviously no one wants disabled children to go hungry .However this seems an extraordinary amount,If all families were on this amount we would all be broke as a country.My friend has a disabled Son and works in Morrisons doing 2 night shifts! Surely there must be a way of contacting deadbeat dads as well.

Brilliant post. 100% this.

@TuesdayWhistler we’re paying for it anyway through increased tax and NI, I’m in Scotland where the tax burden is significantly higher on a relatively lower wage.

The economy is artificially depressed because the government subsidies employers who pay low wages - resulting in higher profits for companies who can then manage their tax affairs to pay the minimal.

I don't know what the answer is because I understand that they can't just indefinitely pay benefits without reducing them in relation to earnings, but it does feel shite doing literally the same job as the person next to me, but only ever being 45% better off for the trouble.

Only if you don’t include the benefits you receive. The person working next to you who isn’t claiming UC is doing the same job for less overall income.

👏👏👏👏

UC want you to work as many hours as possible so you don't get penalised for working more.

You are thinking of tax credits where you could only work 16 hrs. This is being phased out now.

The solution to benefits is to cause great pain to many people from the wealthiest to the middle at.

Let's put it this way.

Nursery nurses who can't claim UC and can't live on minimum wage wil now need to be paid £30 an hour. Which means the parents using that child care will have to pay double.

Shop workers need at least £25 an hour - every product sold triples in price.

Care workers - Minimum wage topped up by UC. No more UC, they need a raise. Now your elderly mum's care home bill has jumped up by 233%

Nurses - if they can't claim UC they'll need a raise. Put 15% on tax to pay it.

Starbucks workers need a raise too. They were being paid £12 an hour and getting UC on top to help and that meant Starbucks could charge £3.50 a coffee. UC is gone, baristas now make £22ph and coffee is £18.50 a cup.

Petrol stations pay til staff and delivery drivers a little over minimum wage and they claim UC to cover the rest - NO Benefits - Petrol now costs 3 times as much to cover the wage increases.

The streets you live on that get rubbish collected? Well, those bin men and women can't claim UC anymore for their families so their wage needs to go up, which is paid from Council tax.. so now council tax is triple.

I think I'd love to see a world where every single benefit recipient in the UK reads some of the abhorrent opinions on MN and says,
"Fuck it"
And downs tools.

Nursery workers - on strike
Nurses - On Strike
Care home workers - Strike
Bin men and women - strike
Coffee shop workers - strike
Petrol stations - strike

And many more people I haven't mentioned.
Tube workers
Caretakers
Canteen staff
Hospital porters
Ambulance drivers
Toilet attendants
Greens keepers at local parks
And more and more and more.

If everyone that receives benefits suddenly just stopped...

Every benefit basher that doesn't know what they're talking about would be fucked.

Hell.. most of the benefit bashing imbeciles can't even grasp that without the nursery staff claiming UC there would be fewer nurseries to look after their kids whilst they go to work..

I'm going to add this.

In the UK there's a few million people that rely on benefits. Never forget that the entirety of society relies on the people on those benefits.

Another day, another thread about the wonderful existence of families on UC. Naturally, started by an OP who isn’t looking to trade her challenging middle earning position for benefits 🤦🏾‍♀️.

Have a word with our representatives who pay benefits to facilitate a low wage, high rent economy.

The majority of persons on benefits are not floating around with wads of cash, having found their ’sweet spot’. They are more likely to be found working minimum wage jobs, grinding or too damn stressed to even be on MN.

The people I spoke with at work yesterday were generally worried about landlords increasing rents by extortionate amounts, over and above LHA rates, so UC won’t even cover it- regardless of how plummy the figure looks on paper.