If today’s crop of post budget threads are anything to go by…

[CurlewKate]

we should just go straight back to work houses. I’m sure we could boost the economy by having children working in factories or making mass market clothes.

Exactly we also get universal credit for two children one on HRC and HRM DLA with my dh working full time low wage our UC doesn't come anything close to figures quoted here
But we live in the North West in social housing .

I appreciate that

But the point is that the current system helps some people in these "extreme" locations whilst punitively taxing others and removing their access to free childcare. There has to be parity

(I don't live in London, I bought before house prices went stupid and I don't need childcare anymore. I have no skin in the game. I can just see how unjust it is)

OK, I think you’ve missed the point I was making but I’ll answer your question. I’m self-employed and I care for three people. DM has cerebral palsy, cancer, and dementia. One of my DC needs 24/7 supervision and is still in nappies age 16. The other one is a bit more functional but still needs lots of support with all activities eg/taking a shower, also age 16. And as I said, DP collapsed with a neurological disease for which there is no cure. So I suppose technically I’m caring for four others. Five if you also include my stepdad who is 80, has bladder cancer, and has had a heart attack so very frail indeed.

That means sometimes I don’t work at all. Some months I might earn just £50-100. I get very, very little sleep - I’m usually up to around 3-4am minimum due to caring needs.

The point I was replying to was it’s £1200 from the state - lots of us on UC aren’t getting thousands as many people seem to think.

If I don’t work at all I get £1200. If I earn £50 in one month, I get £1200 plus £50 earnings.

If I earn £600 or more per month, I sacrifice 60% of the equivalent in my UC. Due to a lack of time because of caring requirements, I rarely earn that much.

So my reference to the “sum total” was that I receive that and nothing else from UC - and some months it’s literally just that. Other months it might have been between £50 and £200 on top from my earnings.

Im not taking in thousands from the state as people seem to think, despite running myself into the ground providing care.

**Also, for transparency, this was the situation up to about six months ago. Living circumstances have changed now so finances are a bit easier. If I hadn’t made the changes though, I’d still be on £1200 a month plus whatever I could scrape from working in the very scarce time I have.

I'm sorry but your figures dont add up to me i have two sons one with complex disabilities who gets HRC and HRM DLA ,my dh works full time but is on a low wage
We still get more in UC than you
Surely you should get more?

And we dont get the housing element and we live in social housing in the northwest so our rent is fairly cheap
Are you sure you' are.receiving ,the disability element on your UC?

It's a really, really long and convoluted story but yes, I get the disability element on my UC credit now, but I didn't back then. The assessor for UC screwed up and didn't add it so I assumed I was getting the right rate as they knew about DC. That was why I said my circumstances changed six months ago as that was when I started getting the disability element. I didn't want to derail the thread by explaining the full situation as honestly, it's been an absolute mess 😫

The point I was making really though wasn't so much about my personal circumstances, but more a general point that with two children and no earnings, the max you will get from UC is £1200. And that when you earn more than £600, the £1200 reduces by 60% of your income.

For example, if my DC weren't disabled, I still wouldn't be able to get a job because I can't leave DP unattended. He's ended up on the floor and hospitalised for a week+ on several occasions. He's under the care of neurology, ENT, and physio but his condition doesn't have any effective treatments. He doesn't qualify for PIP apparently (which is an absolute joke). I'd still be limited to being able to find self-employed work around caring for my mum and caring for DP - but I wouldn't get the disabled child element, so would still be £1200.

(Not relevant to this thread either but I'm a freelance copywriter and due to AI, there's literally no work any more - I used to have clients queuing for my services. Even if I did have the time now, there's not any work).

There will be other people out there who either can't find work or are struggling to manage a health condition that doesn't qualify for PIP who will also get a very basic amount.

This isn't aimed at you @x2boys but I can take a screenshot of my UC allowance from 6 months ago and share it if anyone doesn't believe me.

I just really wanted to highlight that UC doesn't mean we're all rolling around in ££££s which lots of people genuinely seem to think. I didn't know how much benefits were until I had to claim - I had no idea what people received. And I worry that there will be plenty of people who will get misled by the outliers or the headlines in the media, and think that everyone on UC is being given barrows of free cash at the expense of the taxpayer.

Please tell me that you had it all back dated because it absolutely should've been? If not, it is something I'd look into requesting.

I agree with you in that people are going to see the headlines and assume the outliers are the norm. They are using the outliers on purpose to whip up a frenzy.

The vast majority of people, especially those outside of London and the surrounding areas, will not get that much in UC.

Why don't you get the housing element if you live in social housing?

We're in social housing too and in an area where it is cheaper so the housing element does cover all of the rent.

No, they refused. And refused again on appeal.

Although I told the UC assessor our circumstances in person, apparently it's my responsibility to know what I should be receiving, and to notice any errors they make.... The fact they didn't put it through correctly in person is apparently still my fault. I can prove that they were told because I was listed as having no work commitments because of my caring responsibilities - which wouldn't be the case if I wasn't listed as a carer. So that proves that they knew I was a carer.

They're not denying they were told but they say it's my liability not theirs. I didn't know there was a caring element I could claim as I'd given them full details of our circumstances and they worked out our entitlement based on that. They did a full assessment. Why would I think they'd missed something when it was all listed correctly?! I didn't know there was an extra bit they hadn't paid because it was all listed properly. Apparently it has to be added manually by them and they didn't do it, even though we'd told them - that's also my fault. You couldn't make this shit up if you tried.

I have to be honest, every interaction we've had with them has generally been appalling.

DP's neurological condition means he can't turn his head, bend, or spend any time at a screen (logistically it's a bloody nightmare as it means most activities are affected). Bright lights and movement in front of his eyes cause particular problems (similar triggers to epilepsy but not quite the same).

The UC assessor asked why we couldn't tie a blindfold round him because apparently blind people work so he could work as well.

As a sweeping generalisation, many of the UC staff are ignorant as fuck, can't answer half your questions, and are only interested in ticking a box. I cannot put into words how much I HATE having to claim.

Sorry for the long ranty answer.

Unfortunately, I'm not surprised.

They are absolutely awful to deal with. I lost my job due to caring for my son when he was in hospital and whilst waiting for DLA to come through, a work coach helpfully suggested a cleaning job for even 'just a few hours a week' to 'make things easier for all of us' which clearly meant make things easier for them because it certainly wouldn't have made things easier for me or my seriously unwell child who needed me to be with him.

The hospital had to write them a very stern letter so they would back off appointments, pressuring me to find a new job etc because my child was IN HOSPITAL. The hospital couldn't believe their treatment of me either.

That sounds absolutely awful and just really stressful. I hope your son's health is more stable now.

But ditto, I'm not surprised either.

Until you've had to deal with UC, it's impossible to believe just how useless they actually are. I'm sure I would have thought "ah there's more to this story" before I had to claim - I wouldn't have believed they are as bad as they are.
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He's doing well now thanks.

Me either. Absolutely awful to deal with.

I have to agree with other posters who are saying the money would be better spent elsewhere. Sadly there is no guarantee that any rise in child benefit will help all children in poverty. Sadly I have first hand experience of parents who spend their benefits on everything but their children. Investing that money in schools (so they can be staffed enough to support vulnerable children), or extending free school meals to all school age children. Funding the free breakfast clubs properly so schools can run them without impacting their budgets. Properly funding the childcare for under 5's so there are enough places and nurseries for children. Funding holiday childcare schemes, bringing back sure start. Are just a few ways you can spend that money but ensure it actually reaches the most vulnerable.

My dh works ,so his wage covers rent ,but tbh we are alot better off on UC than we were on tax credits

Well i hope your getting everything your entitled to now and life is a bit easier unfortunately when you are caring for more than one person you can only claim carers allowance for one person.