Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to think I would be better off on benefits

320 replies

parno · 15/07/2012 21:04

I know I am going to get flamed and I promise I am not a Daily Mail reader, just really cross and a trifle pissed off......however.......

I have just read letter from DD's school advising that this coming school year they will be setting a budget for school trips - £30 pr yr. Parents whose kids are on free school meals do not have to contribute a bean, plus get packed lunches provided when off on trips. It got me thinking. I work full time and earn just over £20k. Get a little bit of maintenance for 2 DC plus a bit of CTC to put towards childcare. However I went on line and filled in the Direct Gov benefits caluculator (not much on tv until Wallander comes on).

It told me very proudly that I would be entitled to over £415 approx per week or £1800 approx pcmonth. That doesn't take into account Council Tax Benefit, free schol meals, money towards uniforms either. I take home about £1300 pcm but have to pay rent and CT out of that. I would effectively be about

I just don't understand why I have spent the last 13 yrs working F/T in order to amke ends meet, missing out spending time with my DC and generally meeting my arse on the way back round every single day.

Have I got this wrong? Is my maths really roobash? Am I turning into Katie Hopkins? Please shout at me and stop me being so right wing.

OP posts:
Original poster
parno · 15/07/2012 23:47

Free school meals, uniform grants are available to those on CTC but you have to have a working income of less than about £15,400. If you get even just 1 penny of HB you are passported through to these benefits. I applied for HB. They disregarded the childcare costs for my DD but not my DS as he was 13 and I was advised that he was too old and they felt that he was too old to need child care through the summer holidays. Maybe this is just my LA.

OP posts:
watermargin · 15/07/2012 23:50

i know, my attitude is shocking, that people on benefits should not be bringing in the same as people who work.

awful, that.

i should have rotten veg thrown at me

no, hung at dawn

no, i should be made to go on benefits and swap lives with somebody who is on benefits and they can do my job and see how lovely and easy my life is. right, carer? of course, my job requires a university degree so they'd have to spend three years training and another year specialising. then work for ten years to get to my level. then work 8-4 monday to friday. I am sure they'd love it so much they'd be begging to carry on and never to claim another penny inbenefits.

seriously.

some would.

most wouldn't.

carernotasaint · 15/07/2012 23:53

Watermargin you seem to have the wrong attitude for the line of work you are in ........or maybe the right one as the Gov. and the gutter press would see it.

KatherineKavanagh · 15/07/2012 23:54

water for all your experience, degrees,wages Etc, you don't sound a happy person!

carernotasaint · 15/07/2012 23:55

So parno they said he was too old for child care. I bet the system and people in it would suddenly have no problem seeing him as a child and blaming you, if something went wrong while you were at work though!

watermargin · 15/07/2012 23:56

This is the problem. Someone always has to get hysterical.

It is wrong that someone on benefits takes home the same amount as anyone who is working full time.

It is partcularly wrong that garduate jobs 'pay' less than some benefits award people.

That doesn't mean I am in the wrong line of work and frankly how very dare you; discuss calmly and rationally without being so personal and so rude. Although I have to say you have the most apt username I've seen so far.

grow up! No one is personally having a go. It is the system we are criticising.

KatherineKavanagh · 15/07/2012 23:59

He system that gives the op £98 a week maintenance for 2 dc and £5 a week maintenance to me for 4 dc...

Because my ex pretends to be too sick. Well, he has been rumbled and forced onto JSA now. But I still only get £1.25 a week per child

Socknickingpixie · 16/07/2012 00:01

exactly parno no disregards as employed people get those unemployed people dont have as much income hence why they dont have enough to get the disregards.

means tested benefits often cancel each other out in one way or another this will effect passported benefits apart from ones like dla. things like carers allowence cannot be paid at the same time as most other means tested benefits (apart from hb/ctb) if you recive a benefit that is higher than that then you only have a underlaying entitlement and get no additional actual cash the idea is that if you are not working then you will not have more money coming in than the minimum that the gov says you need to live on this is a set ammount per week per adult (changes with age) and per each child the only thing in excess of this that you get to keep is child maintainance.every penny you have above and beyond the minimum ammount gets deducted from your benefits even if someone regularly pays a bill for you or gives you cash (as long as its regular but that could mean at least once a year) that gets taken into concideration.

and befor we start bashing the people who get disability benefits other than the few means tested ones that you dont get if you earn over a certain ammount most people who claim them do also work.

also whilst we are on the subject do you realise that less than 1 billion of the entire figure paid out each year in all benefits is attributed to fraud but about 70 billion is lost via tax evasion, i cant find the actual figures at the mo cos im knackered but off the top of my head less than 5% of unemployed benefit claiments have more than 3 kids.so where the fuck do we get this whole image of feckless people shooting out kids constantly so the can claim shit loads of money and laugh at us tax payers and drive around in range rovers or something. we get it from political propagander and so many of us are to stupid to see it for what it is

Original poster
parno · 16/07/2012 00:01

I love my job and I genuinely enjoy being a single mum and have done on 2 seperate occasions (once when DS was 6 mths for 4 yrs and then when DD was 2 now nearly 9) still do .

Seriously though I really must go to bed.

Watch out for my next thread.............Should Bariatric surgery be available on the NHS...............can't wait for the responses on that one.

OP posts:
carernotasaint · 16/07/2012 00:02

Exactly Socknicking. I agree.

Accuracyrequired · 16/07/2012 00:05

I think I'm with watermargin on this, why do people get so angry when the obvious unfairness is pointed out of "not working" person A getting money from working person B and ending up with more than person B. I don't think there's a world in which that's fair. People bring up carers or DLA, costs of special equipment and so on but that's not in question on this thread or for example I don't thing watermargin is including that sort of thing. I think people bring those up to distract from that central unfairness.

Socknickingpixie · 16/07/2012 00:06

and for the record hb has to take into acc all childcare costs up to age 15 or longer if the child has a disability.if tax credit rules state you qualify for his portion of childcare to be paid out then hb have to account for it.
its the law its not a local choice

watermargin · 16/07/2012 00:06

I think Imight quit my job and go on benefits after all, it seems to be the only way to never, ever be wrong about anything!

Accuracyrequired · 16/07/2012 00:08

"The people Who can work but choose not to?
This has got absolutely fucking nothing to do with people who are ill."

well yes but people who are ill have got nothing to do with this thread or what watermargin is talking about

Accuracyrequired · 16/07/2012 00:09

but would you be able to cope with the acronyms water margin

Original poster
parno · 16/07/2012 00:10

Last one honest - I was not talking about other peoples circumstances - I was talking about mine. I was not judging other people and haven't done in any off my posts. I am so sorry that the CSA and previous partners have all been reasonable and I have had no bother with them.

carernotasaint I have interpreted your comment about my son's care as a positive one amd one which I agree with, but I'm sure that would open a whole can of another sort of controversy.

OP posts:
KatherineKavanagh · 16/07/2012 00:10

water more inaccuracies. If you quit your job them you won't be able to claim JSA for many weeks....

Accuracyrequired · 16/07/2012 00:12

I was not able to claim jsa because I paid 20 yrs of ni in the wrong years,
whereas people who've paid none at all... well you get the picture

watermargin · 16/07/2012 00:12

I wouldn't claim JSA. I'd be entitled to IS, as a single parent, HB, CTC and CTB. Plus CB. And I'd know everything, and be right about everything, and autumatically be elevated to the position of saint and martyr. What's not to like?

watermargin · 16/07/2012 00:13

And now, I am going to bed! lol.

KatherineKavanagh · 16/07/2012 00:13

parno you actually missed out a few 'benefits' you would also get.

School trip reduction
Milk tokens/fruit& veg ( only for under 4's)
Cold weather payment
Free dental care
Free eyesight test and a voucher for glasses/lenses

carernotasaint · 16/07/2012 00:13

Im glad Parno. I meant it positively. I find that the system tends to chop and change the rules to suit themselves.

Accuracyrequired · 16/07/2012 00:13

this is fun too

if you've saved for a rainy day and have over (16K?) then you can't claim, then when it's all run out and you try to claim, well you can't because you've been living off your savings so haven't paid any ni

Accuracyrequired · 16/07/2012 00:14

ohh watermargin your acronyms are banging

KatherineKavanagh · 16/07/2012 00:14

water only if your youngest is not yet in school....IS isn't a lone parent benefit. Another inaccuracy