I'm a single mum of 7. AMA!

[WorldCupSadness]

Scared 😅

I have savings on UC a bit more than that. It isn't totally unbelievable. If you are careful you can save a bit.

Are you also a single parent of 7 with the eldest (apparently) heading off to uni in September?

so you're saving tax payers money when many of us can't afford savings ourselves. deep joy

To be fair with the amount she is getting as long as she is frugal I reckon she could easily save. (If the thread is true).

It is encouraged by the government. Plus I don't believe unless you are absolutely struggling that you can't save something. We also both work.

Christ almighty. Why are people getting UC if they have savings? I honestly despair. The whole point of UC is to support people who cannot afford to support themselves, not so they can bank the money in savings. We have no sodding savings because every penny is needed for living.

Well, think about this, plucking a year out of the air, say 1994, the basic tax rate was 25%. It's currently 20%. You're not so badly off. Just get rid of the hate for the old folk. You'll be one soon enough.

So you aren’t a single mother with 7 dependents and one heading off to uni?

“Easily”

on that amount
with 7 children
one heading off to uni

Doubt it. Unless your children literally do nothing and you don’t help your uni student child with a penny

There is a savings limit on UC. However as a homeowner if something goes wrong like the ceiling coming down or the fridge not working I would rather have savings than being encouraged to get a loan or klarna it. Don't know why people don't get that even those on benefits benefit from an emergency fund which is why the government have their own scheme for those on UC.

Pretty sure I could save £25 a month with those circumstances. Maybe not thousands as apparently OP has.

Yes but 7 kids is a choice. Loads of people are choosing not to have even one child or a second/ 3rd etc as they can’t afford it on their salary.

I have to use a credit card because the government's opinion is that I can afford to do these things myself.

The dads are paying for the kids

The dads are partially paying towards the kids. The op is still getting a significant top up from the government

What is wrong with people on this thread? So much for women supporting women! Sounds like there’s a whole heap of reasons OP has ended up in this position. But at least she’s there, taking responsibility. She didn’t rape or abuse anyone. And we do actually need people to have large families in some way to counteract all the people who say they couldn’t possibly cope with more than one. When what they really mean is they need several holidays a year and two brand new cars on the drive.

She decided to have a 7th child with another man knowing full well that it will make it so much harder to do a training contract something which is notoriously difficult anyway. I am empathetic up to a point but at some point it runs out. What is the point in putting in a lot of effort to study and better yourself to then sabotage it by putting more obstacles in the way. The op has said she has no plan on how to use the law qualification and doesnt see it as a priority to make one as the is happy with her current job.

I think after a certain point in your life you need to take responsibility. You can’t keep churning out kids and not growing up. It’s at the detriment to those particular kids. I’m from a very WC background myself. Three kids by 26 with a shit tonne of barriers and whatnot. Thankfully I took stock. Nurtured the ones I had, which was one too many on reflection. I’m 37 same age as OP, did the OU degree (which was useful but also pie in the sky in terms of salary increase).

You can’t just keep breeding and pulling in vast amounts of tax payers money without backlash. You have to at least attempt to grow up and move past your own barriers and troubles in life.

Perhaps go on benefits then and see what it's really like to live on benefits?

Why would we wave the banners at a woman who has upturned her children's lives so much that at least one of the kids has seen at least 4 men come and go, invited violent men into their lives, married at least two of them, has had to flee domestic violence, had kids she can't afford with them all in short succession 🤷

She has made awful decisions for over a decade and dragged her kids through all of it...

OP is doing fine.

She has plenty 🤷

So we / i should support a woman choosing to have 7 children who cant afford it?

Why?

Because shes a woman?
I would not support a man choosing to have 7 children when he can't afford it?

Try the round up feature on your bank accounts. Might take awhile but it will build up.

No, I grew up quite wealthy/middle class.

I work in a supportive role in a prison, helping facilitate visits and activities between prisoners and their children, which is proven to help rehabilitation and reduce future offending :)

They are probably paying the amount cms have told them they need to pay

Yes the amount divided by 7 is a pittance (think it was just over 1k). The tax payer pick up the slack.