AIBU to be surprised someone on £34,000 receives Universal Credit?

I see the woman has children so problem solved. 34k doesn’t go far nowadays at all. Full time min wage is about 26k nowadays.

34k for a trainee role with a generous pension scheme and everything else the public sector get over the private sector - how much more do you think the tax payer should pay for her?

Quite. Like, for example, starting a misinformed benefits bashing post. Very unpleasant.

Stop whining and apply for it then, youd be stupid not to!

They did a calculation to work out how much
a person needs to live on and the woman didn't have enough so they support her with universal credit 🤷‍♀️
I'm proud to live in a country where the government supports people like this

This shows that UC is actually a good system because it targets help towards people who need it due to circumstance, eg with children or disabilities.

There are flaws in the system but the alternative is that either people won't be able to afford to take jobs in certain areas of the country or employers will end up paying people different amounts according to differing needs, eg how much will a single parent of two pre-schoolers living in a high cost area need to be paid to cover all their essential costs? It's going to be 2/3 times NMW so employers won't employ that person. They'll take on someone without children instead who can live in a smaller property and doesn't have childcare costs, extra food etc so can afford to work for a lower salary.

Says you! Not listening properly but getting incensed and starting a rage bait thread!!

Yes rents are out of control and I don’t know if/how they can get them back under control?

It’s a big reason of why I had to leave London. I was paying 1200 rent for an okay one bed flat in zone 5a at the start of 2024. Moved to a town near Manchester (where I knew absolutely no-one) the same year and was paying £700 for a much nicer 2 bed although it’s gone up slightly over the years to £780. It’s still made a massive difference to my finances.

For all those who bash WFH this move to a cheaper place wouldn’t have been possible without it. And as grateful as I am for being able to move, it shouldn’t have been necessary.

I'm a private landlord who can only work part time due to various health issues. That rent is my lifeline as I'm not eligible to claim any benefits.... there is a mortgage on my rental home so please don't think that all private landlords are raking it in. Not me.

@Baliciouswhat was the point of starting the thread and leaving out important details?
Yes you may be able to claim. Have you checked?
She earns the same as me. If I was a single parent and renting (or paying a mortgage) I would struggle.

I earn just over that with 2 kids and receive about £200 pcm UC

Would you like a pitchfork ?

Going to get flamed here. But when someone on £34k gets topped up to the equivalent of a nearly £50k pre-tax salary, aren’t we admitting that £50k is the minimum amount needed to live on if you have kids? So what does that say to a teacher, nurse, midwife who works for 20 years and never earns more than £50k? Isn’t it crazy that someone who earns £34k actually earns the same as some on £50k? It feels like the world of salaries has gone mad.

@IdaGlossopIt’s absolutely inevitable that there are poorly qualified people doing low paid work. Always has been the case. At no time were shop workers well paid. As for a trainee social worker? It’s a trainee wage and much better salary available through the career structure. Plus the envious pension provided by local government which is a big lift in earnings. The council might even be paying for the training. Another boost if she doesn’t need a loan. Local government wages come out of taxation and of course there must be controls on expenditure.

You missed a key detail, how convenient.

Despite not knowing all the details you still felt the urge to start a thread on Mumsnet about it?

We all see what you’re trying to do here OP.

You're posting to ask whether it's reasonable to be surprised at something that you know you didn't fully hear/understand.

Why not just ask for details of the full picture, instead of describing your reaction to the partial picture? Establish the facts first rather than your reaction?

Quite, and I don’t mean pp…

Oops! Mystery solved then.

End of thread really 😂

£34K is approx 2300 take home. Rent round here would be approx 1700 for a v small 2 bed house so that leaves 500 left for everything else which isn't really enough.

Something needs to change with the staggering cost of renting.

Except you were being unpleasant and yoh know it - trying to whip up fury against benefits claimants.

I work in this sector - I calculate benefits and advise on them for a living. Trust me when I say it’s no picnic.

The vile mouth foaming isn’t needed.

I don't think PP is the one being unpleasant.

I don't think £34K is a lot these days. I would have agreed with you 10 years ago. Even 5. YABU.

The right, predictably, frames the conversation about reducing the welfare bill as 'life-style choice', an updated version of 'benefit scroungers'. What we should be talking about is how much of the welfare bill is subsidising employers paying low wages and private landlords raking in high rents. 11% of the total welfare bill goes to landlords and 44% of Universal Credit claimants are in work.

As someone else has suggested, there is nothing stopping you finding out if you too can claim benefits if you too earn £34000 and rent / have children...

Here are 2 websites you can put your info into

https://benefits-calculator.turn2us.org.uk/

https://www.entitledto.co.uk/

This is toe curling

HEADS UP I listened to this and the woman has children. The OP just got over excited at the thought of her Mumsnet thread trying to whip up a debate