UK benefits system - what would you change?

[Galactico]

Just a bit of curiosity, really.

Many people agree that the benefits system isn’t fit for purpose now. Whether that be because they feel it’s too easy to get them and so there’s a lack of incentive to work for some people, or because people are subject to degrading assessments and the constant threat of being sanctioned/removed.

Any opinions?

More help for single households

The system is already kind of set up like this though, people don't get away with not working they have to job hunt for literally 40 hours a week etc unless they scan the system pretending to be unwell or disabled but then you'll still get anyway.

I think a universal basic income is the way forward, enough to survive and then if you want luxuries you work for them (obviously excluding people who physically cannot work)

All childcare costs should be tax deductible given you incur them to work... to pay more tax..!

Change the 6k to 16k savings cap. Deters people to save for a mortgage

Stop making it more lucrative to claim benefits than to work

Desperation, a real drive and belief in your idea, and literally having nothing to lose can also be a factor.

I don't believe every invention/ progression /million pound idea was from people with money behind them.

People on Universal credit seem to be raking it in with other benefits. Universal credit seems to be the golden egg for everything else.

It is grossly unfair, especially for those who work, but earn less than the Universal credit bunch. If I hear oh you can qualify for this that and the next for those on universal credit one more time I shall scream. It is an utter disgrace especially where child care is concerned, why do they get extra money towards child care if they are not even working???? While other people work full time just to pay child care costs and are left only marginally better off!

It is frankly taking the piss out of decent people. I have heard Universal credit people boast that they use the childcare payment just to lounge in bed or just get some "me" time. Utterly disgusting system that allows that to happen.

Lots of people claim UC just to stay in work. As their childcare costs drop, the stop qualifying for it. You can earn over £35k working FT and still need to claim UC to help with childcare costs. How else do you think single mothers of children under 3 manage to hold on to careers?

It is an utter disgrace especially where child care is concerned, why do they get extra money towards child care if they are not even working????

People only get the childcare elements of
UC if they’re working.

The 2 year old funding that applies only to
some people on UC (who do not work or
earn very little indeed) comes from the DfE not UC.

why do they get extra money towards child care if they are not even working????

You know that many people who claim UC work, right?

Compulsory public service tasks for anybody who has been out of work, claiming for more than a year and has no intention of attempting to find work. Obviously excluding those who are disabled or act as carers.

Litter picking, cleaning graffiti and other low skilled tasks that need doing in the community.

can I comment please, I don’t have children BUT I employ people!

free childcare for everyone ( schools should offer this as an extra so they should get government funding to offer this) hahaha!!

More apprenticeships regardless of age so people who can’t cope with academia still feel valued and encouraged to work and not given the option of benefits or zero hours contacts

A sliding scale of benefits so your given a lump sum of say I don’t know say 25k per year originally but want to work but your wage only equates to 15k then the government will top up another 10k and whenever you get a pay increase your benefit will drop so your still getting the same but your not immediately dropped by the system for earning too much! How can anyone expect to live if they had 25k going In to the bank then dropping to 15k by working, there’s no incentive! Obviously there’s needs to be a time limit to this so say 5-10 years but some kind of incentive to work and contribute to the system whilst feeling valued and not shafted

A set amount for the disabled! No messing around with forms or eligibility! If your medical records and doctors agree you’re not fit for work then you should be believed and not be made a criminal! Again if your fed up being stuck at home then more disabled jobs vacancies should be available especially now as WFH is the norm!!

Carers should be on a carers wage and not fight for it! Just because you’re related to someone doesn’t mean it’s voluntarily, again you should be paid the same as a NHS health cre assistant, no questions asks! Obviously like every business you should have an annual review to make sure everyone is running smoothly and whether or not you need more or less help help and support but you work bloody hard and given up your earning potential for being a cater

Not every invention is from a rich person. Proportionally more are. Money helps drive invention.

I'd replace the majority of the prison system with this. Not benefit claimants

Increase social / council housing rather than paying out ever increasing amounts of Housing Benefit that’s then passed on in rent to private landlords.
It’s private landlords who are the true recipients of the huge amounts of taxpayers money that’s going into Housing Benefit, not their (impoverished) tenants.

Well this didn’t take very long to go to a lovely place, did it.

But yeah, another vote for UBI.

I'd replace the majority of the prison system with this. Not benefit claimants

I would not go as far as saying the majority. Personally I would only be comfortable if it applied to those in cat D prisons.

A and B not a chance in hell should this be applied to them.

While I agree with a universal basic income in theory, all the studies done so far were presumably done for a set amount of time were they?
I just wonder whether that affected people’s behaviour - surely you’d be less keen to jack in work and just live off UBI if you knew it was ending in, say, 2 years?
Has anywhere actually done this as a permanent thing?

So many questions!
How would universal basic income work?
Is this for everyone whether they work or not?
Where is the incentive to work?
Wouldn't it just push prices higher?
Is this akin to socialism or communism?

Yup, universal basic income. Set it at an amount which is enough to live on, but only just, so that you have what you need but not what you want. Minimum wage would have to come down I guess.

You are aware there's thousands of people WORKING FULL TIME and can still be entitled to a UC top up?

Does childcare count as benefits? If so, it’s needs a dramatic rethink.

When I return to work in Sept, I’ll have two under the age of 3 in full time childcare at a cost of about £2500 per month. As a middle earner, my 2.5 year old won’t be eligible for any funding until the following Jan after his 3rd birthday. I’m on the top of the teaching payscale with a tlr payment of just over £7500 for being head of department. So thanks to student loan payments I will take home anywhere between minus £50 and plus £150 per month for working around 55 hours a week in a job that I have come to resent since becoming a parent. What is the point. Where is the incentive to work? Why should it cost my husband money on one of the longer months (so we run out of the 20% help from the government) to go to a job that is pretty much running me into an early grave. Ridiculous! And that’s on a decent salary!

This!!!

Given that UBI failed in Finland (in the sense that it was dropped because it was not popular across society - largely because it didn’t align with social norms related to fairness and wok), I doubt it would be more successful here.

Various posts on this thread illustrate the reception that just giving people money with no expectation that they even seek work would get in the UK.

It doesn’t matter how sound the economic principles are. It’s never going to pass the daily Mail test.

Less than 1 percent of unemployed people have been unemployed for over 12 months. It would cost more to administate the scheme than would be gained in free labour.

They are also 3 times more likely to be over 50 and be struggling to find work due to ageism in the workplace and the lack of schemes aimed at getting them back into work, along with potentially outdated skills in some cases.

There are better ways to help them than by sending 50-65 years old out to clean graffiti when they are frequently already struggling with their mental health due to struggling to get work. Retraining and government schemes to encourage the employment of people in this age group would be more beneficial to society and less dehumanising to claimants.