Are other full-time working families finding there is nothing left?

At least your kids are not disabled though?

Unfortunately I think I'm not the one being manipulated here. Who does it benefit to have everyone infighting, complaining about those on benefits instead of looking up? Who hold power and influence in this country?

But oh yes it's those darn lazy poor people!

Do you really just swallow anything Labour or the Greens say of who the baddy is? We don’t have an ever growing group of billionaires in the U.K., we have an ever shrinking number of billionaires and are down from 173 to 145 in the last two years. Strangely enough, taxes have gone up, unemployment has gone up and out of work benefits have gone up.

A jar of pure profit? Like wages? Dividends are not a jar of pure profit, it’s capital at risk, it’s pension funds and for small businesses it’s how they support their family. It reduces the profit to the investor and thus reduces investment. All taxes shrink the taxable activity.
You need to stop being so easily manipulated, the benefit and tax situation is out of hand and simply can’t hold up much longer. It’s mass poverty after that.

Whilst I do think some of the spends on here are ridiculous, I'm 35 and remember going to theme parks, zoos etc in the school holidays and my friends talked about doing the same. Every day out I have taken my kids on this year existed in the 90s and I visited with my parents much more regularly than I do with my own DC.

My DH had a small pension and could not claim. As i said, we were a bit put out that paying tax for 40 years counted for nothing.
The whole benefits system needs a top-to-bottom reform to iron out anomolies like that.

One of our teens has football training £50 a month, that’s for 4 hours a week, 4 weeks a month, so £3 an hour, That’s not so bad.

We pay extra for his grassroots team.

These are all non-compulsory costs I mean he can and does take a ball to the park as well, that’s free. Not sure why trained coaches shouldn’t be paid quite well.

I have more than that in the bank, but I am entitled to 6 months contributions based JSA.

The £6000 - £16000 savings limits are for means tested benefits.

If I needed PIP, it’s again not means tested so could have as much savings as I want.

People forget that PIP isn’t means tested.

Tbh, i think it's this sort of thing that is the root of the problem with a lot of young families today.
When my kids were young (they are 19. 22 and 33 now), i budgeted literally nothing extra for school holidays. We had NT membership and used that, then used parks and play areas, always taking a picnic. The only extra cost was a bit more petrol and very occasionally parking.
If you want to spend £300-400 on school holiday activities that's up to you, but you can't then complain you have no money left.
So many things that used to be treats havev entered everyday life in the last couple of decades. There was someone on here recently who was spending £600 - £600! - a month on baby activities.
There is a lot spoken about parents whi 'have' to work to afford high housing costs. But i think housing is just one part of the equation.

I'm sorry but this is not true. There is a big growing group of people, it's billionaires! We have an ever increasing number of billionaires while everyday people are experiencing a cost of living crisis, it's clear what the issue is.

I agree some taxation has a direct impact on employment, like increasing NI contributions of employers. But taxing businesses and ultra wealthy on their money to manage inequality is the only way forward. Dividends are just a sjar of pure profit, taxing them more doesn't reduce the profit. We need to address the imbalance.

I suppose from the piont of view of the working parents, who struggle financially but are also rarely around to see their children and permanently knackered, they feel they are at a similar income level, but working flat out to meet it.

Sorry, the figures are so wrong again. Only one third of people who are working age on UC is not a majority working.

And you have said upthread that people working on low incomes would need to earn £24k to make it worth it. Well that is a full time minimum wage salary.

And yet people are lambasting those previously working people that can.
Nobody acquired £6000 whilst on benefits it would be historical savings
As are the iPhones and the cars and any form of luxury clothing that people are wearing at the benefits office.

I really can’t believe I have to explain this but lower incentive to invest translates to less capital for business, fewer expansions, reduced international competitiveness, projects are cancelled as no longer profitable and there are fewer jobs. Businesses relocate, moving jobs abroad. Reducing small businesses take home pay reduces the number of small businesses or businesses started and the amount of money available to support other small businesses.

Anything you tax, shrinks and slows or eliminates growth. There is no big bad people out there who are forcing the Government to do this, not 8 year old prep school kids, not landlords, not farmers, not people earning over £100k a year or employers. All there is is an ever shrinking group of people supporting the lifestyles of an ever increasing group of people, these are ideological choices and it always always ends up the same.

Some people on benefits are genuinely unwell. I have two incurable cancers and have been forced to claim benefit’s. My “ free time “ is spent going backwards and forwards to the hospital having chemo, bloods, scans, and scan results. I spend my “ free time” trying to manage my pain, so I can function and do my day to day jobs.

Oh and many people on benefits do actually work, so might not have as much “ free time” as you think!

Many work so don't have the luxury of free time. If you are looking after disabled kids what is a sit down etc? I am knackered.

My kids do get told no! But 2 years ago a football kit was £65.

and that’s my point we shouldn’t be living to work but working to live. You should be able to have nice things, you should be able to say yes to a day out without worrying about it. 2 weeks of school holidays could cost an extra £300-£400 if you are a family of 4 and want to do 2/3 days out with your kids that you don’t get to spend time with normally cos your trying to work all the hours god sends to make enough money to give them a nice life!!

I work 50-60 hours a week I make decent money but we are being ripped off. It should not cost £200 a week for a basic food shop, it should not cost £50 for a 2 hour trip the cinema.

YANBU OP
I'm perfectly comfortable and not feeling this strain but I see people on the treadmill running as fast and as hard as they can, and getting nowhere.
I predict loads of posters will come along saying shit like 'try living on benefits' blar, blar, blar. At least people on benefits have the luxury of free time and freetime IS a luxury.

No, do you have an answer?

Are you joking?

Increasing taxes on shareholders dividends would impact the employment rate how exactly?

Well, you don't get judged by people such as you if you are working. I know which I'd prefer. It really isn't nice having people think of you as nothing but dirt on their shoe, especially when circumstances can change in an instant.

It's possible to do 2 things at once 🙄

Why bother working then, why bother starting a business? That’s exactly the point.

Not getting into a fight.No point.

Nope, we really must stop the relentless financial crippling of working people through taxation.