To think saving on Universal Credit is extremely difficult?

As well as not being savings accounts, benefits should be taxed. As workers income is taxed. It's only fair.

That’s the max you can put in a month. And you only qualify if you’re working.

Well I am yes. With two children, a mortgage and on my own.

£50 a month? Some people have a problem having £5 left at the end of the month!

Universal credit has a ‘help to save” scheme. Open an account, you put £50 in each month and they put £50 in. If you don’t take any out they also give bonuses.

Well it's not. And my controversial view is than if people want to see rates of disability benefit claims come down (and apparently that's quite a trendy obsession right now!) the government needs to very significantly raise UC rates. Living on below subsistence rates for any length of time has a ruinous effect on mental and physical health but we don't appear to do joined up thinking in our divided country.

My DS’s gf has recently lost her job. She gets £760 a month UC, which covers her rent and council tax and NOTHING else. How is that ‘plenty enough to live on’?

Universal credits is plenty high enough to allow people to save. But there's no incentive to because as soon as saved 6k they start penalising you, and by 16k you're completely ineligible for UC. They want everyone to live hand to mouth.

A third are. Not a vast majority.

As I stated upthread this is a myth that benefits bashers use to beat claimants. They perpetuate this lie that people work less hours so that they get more UC.

But they totally negate to mention that the lost UC will be a much smaller amount than the extra wages they have earned, so they will ALWAYS be financially better off working more hours. UC was literally designed so that this would be the case.

You have two disabled children though, as you say. That makes life that bit harder, does it not, and will account for the extra money you get. Most people receiving UC will not be in the same position as you.

How much? Raw figure of how much you give from your wages each month to people who aren't working? You can even include pensioners in that, I don't mind.

I think again the biggest issue is why in-work income support should even be needed. I'm not talking about part time work, or any exceptions.

When I started work back in the early 80's, a basic job could be enough to support a family of 4. Roll on to today, it's barely enough to support one person without help from somewhere. Start thinking about your own household bills, ignoring for the moment housing cost as it's so different between mortgaged and rented. Typical food for the week, utilities, essential travel, essential clothing as you can't go to work naked or in completely knackered clothing or shoes. Other household essentials like phone, internet, cleaning products, council tax, insurances.

Then add in those housing costs. If you have children, a 3 bed house isn't a massive luxury. There are very few places in the UK, especially where there's half decent infrastructure, where you can rent for under £1000 - £2000 per month. On £30k pa assuming standard 5% contributions to pension, you're taking home £2k per month. If both parents work to increase income, then feed in child care costs

THIS is why people need to claim in-work benefits.

And don't suggest getting a better paid job! Just think of the screams if you try to call public services and there's a 5 hour wait on hold because nobody wants to do the low paid job. Care workers, who look after the elderly and disabled, are on minimum or close to it. Street cleaners, shop workers, baristas, hotel & bar workers, Amazon warehouse operatives, road menders, all of these are on lower wages and we can't do without them.

Well explain to me what you are spending 5k a month on then because I genuinely don't understand

Wow. Nice assumptions about how people on average wages spend their money…

But your not are you. The majority of tax and ni you pay doesn't even cover your own stuff especially if you have kids. Education and childbirth costs money it isn't free.

Im saying if people on a significantly lower income can do it then why can't you. The majority of people on uc have the exact same things to pay for that people not on uc have. The difference is people with less money usually are better at managing it as they have to. Like for e.g. my mortgage is low as I didn't stretch myself and we live in a cheap area. I don't have a car on finance I have a cheap 10 year old car I saved for. I don't spend £200 in a a hairdressers every 6 week. I get a a dry cut twice a year for £15. I I don't need the latest iphone or any iphone for that matter. My kids aren't in multiple clubs, we don't go for days out every weekend. I've never had a costa or a Starbucks. I own one handbag that I bought of a market stall. People need to learn to live within their means so when something breaks and needs replacing its not a complete disaster.

It’s very difficult for many of us who work to save these days too, mostly because we’re giving so much of our wages to those that don’t, so I can’t feel too sorry for them 🤷‍♀️.

You can’t understand why a single person working full time on average wage paying a private rental plus bills can’t afford to save? Or a working couple on average wages with a couple of kids in childcare and needing to run two cars to commute? I think that’s a you problem, not money management!

Obviously YANBU to point out that, more often than not, it's impossible to save anything when you're reliant on UC alone. It wasn't even enough to cover my basic outgoings. The value of saving (and whether it should be valued at a societal level) is actually an interesting discussion point. I think everyone should be able to save at least a small amount per week - the relief having even a small safety net brings is immeasurable. Waiting until people are at rock bottom and then beating them down some more isn't a society I am thrilled to live in.

I saved plenty, but we were renting so we got more UC

Except the vast majority dont.

For example, one of the first things to go when you pick up any work is council tax support. For a while, my council tax bill was 25% of what I was earning from my job.

I get none of them things like a lot of people on uc

You forgot that people on benefits also have lower outgoings. Council tax support, energy schemes, subsidised childcare, even lower cost days out for the kids etc.

I don't think benefits are as high as people think the average take home wage in the uk is just over 30k so 60k as a couple so thats 5k a month. benefits are absolutely no where near that not even close. So if a couple can't save anything with an income of 5k and people on benefits can save with an income of say 1k a month (thats more then i get in uc but tried to average it)which then thats a money management problem.