Fed up of my cousins comments about benefits and UC

Isn't this part of the issue though, the whole thing is clearly unsustainable.

And while in the case of the OPs cousin, she is likely only just paying for her contribution to real services she uses herself - roads, health care, etc - it is inevitably going to create significant social distrust when some are getting money to not work while others are paying and struggling to get by.

I think people who tend to naturally favour socialism really underestimate this. Socialism requires high trust, and that has been really undermined not just by people taking the piss, but by people seeing others benefit while they struggle at a pretty similar income level.

@Lastgig in my experience this is exactly the kind of arsehole that is often the kind that makes rude comments about anyone claiming benefits of any kind , despite the fact that it’s because of arses like them that many women have to claim and they are usually of the ‘get a real job mate’ to anyone doing anything involving their brain and thinks the sun shines out Farages arse! I wish karma on them - life simply isn’t as black and white as they think it is - and they would be the first ones claiming if life as they know it imploded.

Exactly. CMS found my ex partner working a number of times yet as soon as they set up a deduction of earnings he would magically lose his job. The CMS system is flawed they give employers two months to set up these deductions and those absent parents have to be informed that it's happening therefore giving them time to ditch their jobs to avoid supporting their children. Years ago child maintenance was deducted from benefits and single parents were allowed to "keep" about £10 per week of maintenance whilst anything over that was deducted £ for £ off their benefits payments. It was also compulsory as not providing your child's other parents details for maintenance purposes would reduce their benefits by 40%. Obviously it was made too easy by the child maintenance for these absent parents to dodge paying and taking responsibility

OP, are you sure your cousin isn't blaming people like your ex, which is perfectly reasonable?

So are you saying anyone earning under £35k shouldn't be allowed to have children?

You can give yourself a fighting chance by minimising those risks though, Not having children with somebody who was self-employed in the first place
And secondly, if that’s the game they want to play I would be giving the kids to them. And if they’re lucky, I’ll have them every other weekend. More women need to do that.

Crazily low and has been for years was ridiculously low on tax credits too. No wonder people won't work full time when they aren't much better off than working part time and being topped up.

I think the minimum income requirements are extremely low, and I think that’s what people mainly have a problem with. A couple only has to earn just under £1.5 k a month between them (three quarters of a full time on minimum wage job between them) and if single it’s just over £800 from memory. These low income requirements is what encourages people to work very part time.

It’s the system that’s the problem, they need amending. Obviously people are going to act in their own interests

There’s a cap if you don’t work

Yep.

We receive about that much because my son is disabled.

But if she worked full time and claimed for childcare and still got top up (because her full time wage wouldn't be enough to live on) she'd actually be claiming more than she is now....so how does that benefit anyone?

There is a benefit cap so people receiving the equivalent of £3.5k a month are either in receipt of disability benefits or are working and earning over the minimum income floor.

I know several men aho became self employed after being employed for a a considerable amount of time. Nothing is set in stone

I knew from the age of 20 upwards that I would never have a child with somebody who was self-employed for exactly that reason.
These types of men need to be ostracised from society and people do need to refuse to have kids with them if they give any thought to who they’re having children with at all which I doubt

I knew from the age of 20 upwards that I would never have a child with somebody who was self-employed or exactly that reason.
These types of men need to be ostracised from society and people do need to refuse to have kids with them if they give any food to who they’re having children with at all which I doubt

The op has said she cannot get her most recent partner to pay for their child. He works abroad. Very conveniently so.

My niece has uc. She works as a carer. Her partner left after getting another girl pregnant. He also abused her. She will go back to full time work shortly but when you've got self employed builders like my nieces ex lying to escape paying child maintenance she has no choice.
Lots of these fellows are nice ish until you're pregnant (plenty of stories on MN) Then the real McCoy comes out.

Right. So in the same way OP didn't plan on being a single mum who needs UC help?

I am sorry for your loss.

excuse me??? we did plan. what we didnt plan for was our daughter getting cancer! what we didnt plan for was our daughter dying! what we didnt plan for was us having to take over the care of her two children who were 9 and 11 when their mum died!!!!

Although I find it unusual for both to be full time in their seventies?

So true. Some years ago, I supported a band 7 nurse, with 3 children (yungest born pre the 2017 2-child cap on benefits), whose husband had left her. She was entitled to a fair bit of UC.

Had she been living in social housing, she wouldn't have been entitled to anything above child benefit.

To be fair I am aware I will be working until very late on in life and so therefore I can't complain. If the reason they are working is the same and they haven't made any provision then they can't complain either but they are and they have no reason to be angry at those on UC.

He works five days a week actually whilst I am working four this week as I usually do in the holidays.

@TwoFeralKidsjust because you’ve been quite scathing about the couple working in their seventies. Can I ask what provisions you’ve made for your retirement? Just because I think you’ve mentioned you work one day a week and claim UC, and your partner is part time

Other than people fortunate enough to live in social housing, the housing element of UC is rarely sufficient to cover the full rent. The local housing allowance, which is the maximum that can be claimed for a given size of property, is based on the lowest 30% of rents in each Broad Rental Market Area (BRMA).

The notion that setting a ceiling on the amount of rent that would be covered would keep rents low has spectacularly backfired imo. What was intended to be a ceiling has effectively become a floor in many areas, especially in London and the SE. I check probably 50 or so UC claims a year, and I can't recall ever seeing one where the UC housing element covered the rent in a private sector tenancy. It's especially tough on single people, who get less than £500 a month to live on and often have to use a significant proportion of that to top up their rent.

People have said on this thread they receive £800 a month. Only 37% of recipients are in any kind of work. Some can receive the equivalent of 3.5k a month

It's not just people on NMW who are entitled to top up benefits. Let's debunk that myth shall we. Many are qualified professionals, nurses, teachers, veterinary nurses, dental nurses, nursery workers. You know the people who keep our society ticking over. The people you all actually need to care for your health and your children and your animals. No-one would be able to do these jobs without top ups then where would we be?
Half the people on here frothing are using childcare providers who's staff have to claim UC in order to eat.