benefits - can anyone advise?

[namechangerrr]

hi i am a regulare but have name changed for this. i was wondering if anyone would e able to help me here. i have seen on the news about benfits being cut/capped but cant seem to find any exact figures.

was wondering if anyone could be able to help me and see if my benefit will be capped or cut, so that i can be prepared for this.

i recieve weekly:
£135 child tax credit
£48 cb
£65 incone support
£145 hb
£12 ctb

i no this seems like a huge amount when written like this but in reality it isnt. once i have paid gas, elec, water rates (£28 per week!), tv licence etc there is not much left for food/nappies.

i would be very grateful if anyone could help. i am not intending to be on benefit forever and i do want to better myself for myself and my children.

saffy i am not waiting untill 2013 before i can get a job!!!!! ffs!!!! read the thread properly!

Expat, the last conservative government tried this, it was called the CSA. Didn't work as it made the NRP's that already paid pay more etc, the money went to the state to cover the IS of the resident parent. The ones who didn't want to pay still got away with it. It was a shambles, men commiting suicide etc.

I have only just realised that a RP not working can keep all maintenance nowadays. That could be a cushy number for some. I know they did bring it in for people who went to work 16 hrs or more eventually so many did just to keep their maintenance to themselves/for the children.

No not bad intentions towards the OP! Bad intentions towards claiming. Not that I can do anything about it but, you know. Makes you think, why bother.

I'm not jealous of people on benefits,I'm quite bitter and jealous of bankers big fuck off bonuses though.....

But why aren't we morally obliged to tsc and Ilove to supply the same amount of money? The rules don't agree with you, even before this review.

I said I'm entitled to a nice home if that was directed at me. Also if it was directed at me, I hope to GOD to end up homeless, living in one room, with your children and not a pot to piss in.

omg I feel sorry for the op, some of the posts on this thread are horrid.

I cant believe people begrudge those who have been homeless a stable, decent standard of living. Those are the true scum of the earth. Don't start a thread on here if your life falls apart because I'll laugh my head off

I'm working poor...I still don't begrudge a single mother her benefits though

I have to wonder why this has been posted on "am I being unreasonable" threads unless OP wanted to provoke this kind of reaction.

I work over 16hrs but under 24. Single with 4dc under 10. I get CTC, WT, HB, CTB, CB and I probably get around £600pw for London living. It's hardly an incentive for me to get back to work full time is it? I admit I get to spend plenty of time with DC's and a funded lifestyle. In fact it is near on impossible to find childcare and continue to feed the kids on a full time income esp. since the income I would need would see CB removed also. I actually left a 35K job as I could not afford childcare. I am sorry if it pi**es people off but my priority is my kids not the taxpayer.

Are these caps going to have their desired effect on me? you bet ya!!! I have no choice but to find alterrnative means even if it means moving from London. It will force many people back to work but I just hope the jobs are there.

Sheesh. Perhaps this is the grand plan. Have us all at each others' throats so that society destroys itself from within.

Not nice at all.

I bet call me Dave would love this thread ....

I thought these benefits were worked out to cover the basic cost of living and I think they do.

Surely the basic costs would include life and home insurance. clothes, especially school uniform.

Those working and genuinely earning below this level as a household would probably be entitled to tax credits or partial housing benefit.

So the problem is not the level at which benefits are set but the level of the minimum wage.

Is it possible to raise the minimum wage or will that cause jobs to be lost as employers are struggling in a recession?

I don't think there is any need to attack people when they are at their lowest, just because they are able to claim what they are entitled to.

If they are fraudulently claiming then that would be different.

There are many people whose circumstances change due to death or redundancy who never planned to be on benefits.

I too am working poor, but don't begrudge the OP a penny. I didn't have £80 left over so our circs were different, but every child should have stability whether their parents work or not.
Comments like "Are people serious about nice furniture???" when they have been in poverty and homeless for 5 years are disgusting. Beyond disgraceful.

"I am sorry if it pi**es people off but my priority is my kids not the taxpayer."

Don't be ridiculous.

Gmajor, I think it is. Divide and rule.