Do Universal Credit rules require work when you have young children?

[Chezza1990]

Does anyone know if there are any rules with having to have a job when you receive universal credit and have children? To put it into context I have 3 children aged 4 and under, my partner is self employed and im currently employed, however im struggling to maintain a healthy work life balance.

Hey, a bit less of the ageism, please! I’m late 50s, my mother didn’t work and I was hoping the OP would get some constructive answers.

I think some of the answers the OP has had are just from people who like to make nasty digs whenever possible.

A lot of Universal Credit wouldn’t be needed if employers paid decent wages in this country. Or hired the number of staff they really need, not work the hell out of the few they bother to employ.

First time on mumsnet? People regularly say those things on this site

It is. In the past most mothers didn’t work or if they did they worked part time and people were taxed a lot less.
Most men cannot afford to be the sole bread winner without the family receive uc these days and part of that is because taxes are so high.

So no I do not feel guilty that we receive uc (with the amount being less than we pay in tax)

People can pat themselves on the back about how they put their kids in childcare from 6am-7pm or whatever and call anyone doing less a lazy scrounger all they want. I still don’t believe in doing anything wrong.

And yes I believe that poster was either lying or very confused

I’m assuming you stuck to just the one child when you discovered that you couldn’t afford to provide for them without receiving benefits or did you just crack on because you felt entitled like so many do?

I did not, as I did not think I was doing anything wrong.
My man works hard, very hard and I look after the kids, just like families did back in the day only they were not taxed as much as we are now. As I said we pay more in tax then we receive in uc and wouldn’t need it if we weren’t taxed so much.

I get it’s frustrating there are families where no one wants to work but moaning about absolutely everyone who receives any uc is purity spiralling

Some people don't "stick" to one child - neither of my mums pregnancies were planned. One of my friends got pregnant when she was on the pill. My mum worked for most of her adult life btw. Please stop bashing people on benefits.

My gran had two kids. My grandpa worked full time as an engineer on crap wages - even going out on strike they didn't improve. Lots of people struggled badly back in the day no matter how much tax they paid. My gran worked part time too. I'm not a benefits basher - I'm on UC myself but my mum didn't have it easy and neither did my gran. If my gran hadn't watched me and my brother until my mum got home from work - she wouldn't have been able to work at all.

My mum did not stay home. As a single parent she had little choice but to work

I’m not bashing ‘people on benefits’. There are many, many deserving people who should receive more help than they do. I just don’t believe families who can’t afford to wholly support one child without receiving handouts should then go on and have more children they simply cannot afford. That’s irresponsible and entitled. Also, in today’s world, if someone truly doesn’t plan a pregnancy, knowing they cannot support a child, there are plenty of ways to prevent that.

You are

Both sides of my grandparents together they had eleven kids, neither of my grandmas would have even considered working when their kids were as young as ops, part time when the youngest was about ten sure. Both my grandfathers had ordinary jobs, nothing amazing.

They weren’t taxed like we are now though, I really do consider the uc I get a tax rebate tbh

So, considering everything, education, benefits, healthcare and all that come with those things, your partner/husband is a net contributor for your family?

No, I don’t think you do ‘get’ that it’s frustrating that those of us who are net contributors, are subsidising people who ‘don’t think they’re doing anything wrong’ by having children they cannot support by themselves. You could have stayed with one child, but you didn’t and that’s where your entitlement comes in.

When will mine and my husbands ‘tax rebate’ come?

I’m bashing irresponsible, selfish and entitled adults who make choices.

My mum earned 30 quid a week in her first job - 1971. Maybe that's why people were not taxed as much

The OP is working and hasn't given her job up

One point to make- your household earns well, a whack above minimum wage at least.

All the folks on minimum wage jobs, of which there are many- do you think they should all not procreate, or at least stick to one child, as they will be eligible for a uc top up?

Is it just non workers or households where both partners work but are on very low wages and will get some benefits youre speaking about?

Can you clarify please, genuinely interested

I know people who work full time who get UC because their rent is so high.

Wouldn't someone in that situation be entitled to Pension Credit, which aside from being a top up also is a gateway benefit that entitles them to many other means tested benefits and discounts?

For example
Single-topped up weekly income to £238
Couple-toped up weekly income to £365.25

(Plus extras if either are disabled)

Plus any pensioners claiming before 2016 also get an extra savings credits per week of
Single-£17.96 extra pw
Couples-£20.10 pw

And the fact it entails them to :
-housing benefit
-Council tax reduction (potentially to £0)
-warm home discount and cold weather payments

I think there are some pensioners who may not actually have paid in as much as people assume yet still get all of the above....

I had my children young if you must know 15 when I was pregnant with my first. Other people in their teens and twenties are out committing crimes and doing drugs. I had children, so what? I don’t believe this makes me a bad person.

If you must know the amount of uc I receive is barely anything, not everyone gets thousands a month and the ones that do have multiple disabled children. not an easy life

No. Not unless they are going to get less than the state pension as far as I'm - it's topped up.

I'm probably going to get very little in a personal pension despite always paying in. I've been employed. Self employed and not earning a lot and unemployed and working part time - one thing I didn't do was laze around

Some people really do talk a lot of rubbish when trying to justify expecting the state to pay for their lifestyle choice not to work.

Firstly your husband does not pay so much tax that he covers the amount you get in UC. If he was paid so much that he was, you would not be entitled to any benefits at all. He clearly doesn't earn well because you can claim benefits. Therefore your benefits are in no way a "tax rebate" or whatever rubbish you're spouting.

Secondly you really do need to educate yourself before going on and on about how you're being taxed so highly these days. The basic rate of tax in the 70s and 80s varied around 25 to 35%, much higher than these days.

All the wives who didn't work that I've ever known( I'm in my 60s) were fully supported by their husbands, never by the state. If you wanted to live that lifestyle then you should have chosen a better paid man quite frankly, not expect other people to fund you.

You can try to justify it to yourself but you're not fooling anyone else. I wish we could go back to the days when I was young when it was shameful to be on benefits, people did anything to avoid it where possible, unlike today when people like you almost boast about it.

I know people who work full time who get UC because their rent is sky high and or they have disabled kids. It's not just because people get shit wages.

If we didn’t pay so much tax we wouldn’t need the uc.

Also my man has a far better job than both my grandfathers had and they managed to support a wife and on one side they had seven kids. My mans got a white collar job my grandfathers were both blue collar.

I've paid tax in my working life. I got no Uc. My brother pays tax. Same. The reason you get UC is either because your wages are low and or you have kids or disabled kids or high rent. Or a combination of all these things. It's got very little to do with tax on its own

My brother earns around 30k a year - no kids - no Uc. If it were just about tax then everyone who didn't earn massive wages would get Uc. You get it because you fit the criteria to get it

No.
If you earned enough then you would have enough money to live on after tax and would not be entitled to claim benefits.

Your problem is not to do with how much tax you pay. You pay tax under the same regime as everyone else. You and your husband just don't earn enough.