Friend earns as much as me on benefits

I've looked at OPs posts and I can't see where she said her friend is unemployed, just that she's on benefits which I am although I work.

However even without childcare costs, running these figures through entitled to (one adult, 2 children, £800 per month rent - could be Glasgow/Edinburgh which will be a bit higher - council tax) the UC credit calculator brings up a figure of £2154 monthly.

The rent element isn't for her , it's for her landlord or local authority , entire homeless families living on the streets wouldn't benefit anyone. What we do need are higher wages , affordable homes and affordable childcare . Punch up , not down.

£2,000 is not a lot. The problem is not the level of benefits but the poor salaries.

Also will she be given IVF at 48.

It's wrong Op, there's no doubt. Console yourself with the fact that your child is being brought up to know that work is not an option and he will grow up contributing to society.
I'm afraid I couldn't be friends with her, she has no dignity.

800 for childcare because you have a job. Think the op said her friend is unemployed

Do you have any evidence to back that claim up?

The fraud rate for PIP is negligible (approx cost of PIP fraud £90m each year) and hundreds of millions of pounds of it goes unclaimed each year (around £870 m).

So statistics would suggest there are far more people not claiming PIP when they would be eligible than vice versa.

But I am wasting my words, I know.

It’s not like for like. You have a job, a career, a pension, the opportunity to earn more, your kids are seeing you role model working.
She’s unemployed, has this money for now but it will drop when her children get past 16, will have limited earning prospects, has no pension.
I grew up in an area where many lived off benefits, my parents both worked and some families got as much as they earned … At first. My parents jobs got better, we moved, bought a house… the families on benefits stayed the same. Bored, not enough money, when their kids left home benefits dropped to the lowest.

Let her do her, it’s mad to be trying IVF at that age but let her waste her money.

To be fair how would they know? I am currently saving for IVF whilst on UC. Unless I say anything the clinic won't know my circumstances.

The trouble is wages haven’t gone up but benefits have. Yes a lot of people do take advantages of the system particularly the disability system for mental health although no one on here seems to want to hear that.

My husband gets PIP. We spend it on cocaine and BDSM clubs.

That is terrible. It is shocking that employers are able to pay people such low wages and treat them so badly. That is what people should be pissed off about instead of demanding people on benefits are warehoused as pp suggested.

No, it's not meant tested and they don't check what it's used for, if its saved up etc. My mother gets DLA care and mobility high rate, due to a neurological condition. She doesn't have any extra costs due to her disabilty, she may get a taxi once in a blue moon to go somewhere as she can't drive or get the bus alone. However she does pay a cleaner to come in once a week as she can't manage that.

Was David Cameron a sponger, do you think?

Same old tall tales on here. One poster's SiL has three children by two fathers, on another thread it was three children by three fathers. Funny that.

I get not far off 2 grand a month and I don't have any disabilities. Single mum, 1 child. Work part time. I get almost £600 for me and 1 child. £800 towards childcare. £450 rent allowance. Add on another 1 child and it would be over £2000.

DLA is not means tested, it's to cover the expenses associated with a child with a disability.
For us that includes having a bigger house, installing sensory swings, extra bedroom on holiday, childcare (including for DD so she can have a chilled holiday with her friends in the school club not at home with DS), private diagnosis, some private prescriptions, subscription to a parenting coach... Etc.

Is it means tested? I’m a little shocked by this. We’ve paid for all diagnoses and ongoing medication reviews out of our own pockets (not covered by employer medical insurance) but medical insurance has stumped up for a psychologist at least.

If you work for SG they are paying almost 30% into your pension on top of your salary, which she won’t have. It is a bit jarring though.

You will have a workplace pension and the possibility of career advancement. She will not.

really? sponging? Loads of people claim benefits, people who are in work in particular. I am a teacher and for years claimed tax credits as a single parent. Do you think people with disabilities are 'sponging'?

The OP may well be fiction but the point remains: working, from the lowest paid most menial job towards, needs to leave someone significantly better off than not working.

The key word there is significantly. The issue is the differential between working and not working.

Sure, you don't have a grand standard of living on benefits, you're probably having to scrimp and go without certain things. But so do millions of people in work. If you're in a NMW job, or even if you earn enough to not qualify for any top ups and have to pay your rent, council tax, all your bills, dentist, prescriptions at nearly a tenner each, if you're in those situations you can easily be barely any better off. And if the choice is having pretty much the same paltry amount of money at the end of the day, then why would someone get up early, have a commute, be answerable to someone else, have to meet deadlines and have far less control over their day, rather than not?

That's the issue in a nutshell

My DH has a friend who's a single mum and hasn't worked since her daughter was born 16 years ago. She's been on benefits the whole time. Granted, her ex very sadly passed away from cancer, but it seems worrying she had gotten away with not working properly for so long.

Her life will never be someone who's rolling in it. She won't have a comfortably off life safe from any financial emergencies etc. It's her daughter who will ultimately be affected long term too. It's pretty sad

Then why are you not claiming universal credits too? You are a single mother and you earn less than me so yes you would be entitled to something

You can name change. And in the past you could name change on a single thread, in order to agree with yourself, or full on troll and disagree with yourself in order to stir up a fight.

But nowadays you have to stick with the same name throughout a thread unless you have two different MN accounts.

Unbelievable

Go on benefits then, if it's so much easier 🤷🏻‍♀️