to be worried about Universal Credit

[idiuntno57]

I am in the lucky position of not needing to claim this but I am so worried about its implementation.

Its coming in in the Autumn and is going to be an online only, monthly, postdated payment. It will be paid to one adult in the family unit.

All well and did if you are god at managing your money, internet literate and in a stable relationship. But in the real world....

How are the most vulnerable in society going to have a chance with this?

Already the council tax changes are coming in and as far as I understand people are confused and shell shocked by it. UC is much bigger and no one is prepared.

I'd settle for them work shadowing me for a few weeks TSC

And it's OK for them to be bored/smug etc etc, but these women are perpetuating misconceptions that have serious implications for the vulnerable in real life.

YY and are far too up their arse to actually learn about the subject they are spouting off about.
While doing charidee work for dogs trust or similar

Many women with rich hubbies are totally sheltered from the harsh realities out there and do not have the skills to cope when SHTF. I'm at an age where I've seen one too many acquaintances of this ilk, crumble totally when their hubby runs off with his secretary.

The hardest thing is watching how quickly they are ostracized by their previous yummy Mummy lunch chums let their sudden penury and single status be contagious, and how their children subsequently suffer as a result of their mother's lack of basic life skills.

Really bochead? You must move in different circles from me as most of the wealthy women I know are frighteningly together, organised, independent and savvy. It's their husbands that couldn't cope without them!

They do exist - I could name a couple.
Only a couple, mind, but they are out there.

So so true about bored/smug wives being the worst ones to moan about benefits. The only vile things I have ever heard in rl have been from women at the school gate who don't work and are supported by their husbands.

I overheard a couple of women moaning about a single mum on benefits. I felt like saying at the time, who are you to judge. OK she's not working but neither are you! Only difference is she is supported by the state, you are supported by your husbands, of which you don't even appear to like that much. Where would you be if he left you?

Yes. I remember one such mum. Her mega rich DH fucked off abroad after clearing their bank accounts. Her DD was in private school. She had to sell her horses and move into a private let. Since DD was boarding, she got no CTC and had to live on £71 per week.
Her world was completely destroyed overnight.
She subsequently had a breakdown ( no wonder) and went on ESA. I often wonder how she is now. Not great, I expect. Poor woman

I know women who think they are smart because they married for money.

I would rather be poor and love my husband/partner than be rich and miserable.

One of the ones I could name - she got bailed out by her mum and dad, who bought her a big house outright. Which is fair enough - she'd have inherited that money anyway, and she didn't have to rely on the state - but she'd have been up shit creek without it, and is still quite a damaged individual.

I'm lucky enough to have come into contact with the wealthy savvy type too, however I've noticed that this second "type" aren't typically short of compassion for those less fortunate than themselves (indeed they often work damn hard on the quiet to help!).

It's the trophy wives with the terrible attitudes to others that tend to get traded in. Karmic justice

Far more poor and miserable people about than rich and miserable!

At work we are already taking steps to create our own food bank. We can't do anything about the potential for homelessness though.

I loved the advice being given by a Tory counsellor on my local radio station in answer to a question from a worried benefit claimant who had no computer or internet - "Get down to your local library - they have computers you can use". Excellent - do all your personal financal transactions at a terminal used by hundreds of others, in the middle of a crowded room where anyone can look over your shoulder at the screen... Oh yes, and forgetting the minor detail that 2 out of 3 of our local libraries are being closed to save money, so you'll have to cough up the return bus fare to our major town, as that will be the only one left (and that's before we get onto people with disabilities who will need a taxi both ways)...!

But anyway - this has totally got derailed.

The reason I returned to this thread is because I thought of some more ideas for weathering the long dark month of the UC changeover.

So, broth....we've got that.

I also thought of:

If you know you'll be getting the changeover in a few months, get a Nectar card, an Advantage card and so on, and squirrel points away on it, starting NOW.

Do online surveys and so on - you've got your sinful broadband that you shouldn't have because you're a filthy scrounger - so use it to (slowly, it has to be said) tot up a few quid that you can either convert into vouchers or into PayPal balances. Start now and it'll be a few tens of pounds for you.

Some veg actually last for weeks in a cupboard, like butternut squashes and sweet potatoes, and places like Aldi often have them as their "veg for 39p" offers, so stock up on them before the UC month starts - it'll add some variety and a bit of freshness.

Pound shops sometimes do baskets of grow your own veg, usually onions/tomatoes and so on, so that could be an idea.

Anyone else?

We could maybe start a new thread for this, eh?

Haha that"poor" woman who lost everything . I hope theres some more stories like that.

I don't want more stories like that. How will someone's downfall make someone else's life better? Unless the poor can live on tears.

Just another question in case someone knows, mr google and someone further up this thread said in some circumstances it will be paid weekly or fortnightly still. Does anyone know what these circumstances are? I'm clinging to the hope LP are included like they are now.

Money, or lack of, isnt the only cause of misery.

Also, you can be insured to buggery, but your provider does not want to pay out, and will try its best not to. Sometimes, it wins....then where do you go?

Loving the suggestion a few pages back that graduates can expect to earn £26k!

When I finished college I could only find part-time work. So I went to university, thinking it would improve my career prospects. Graduated with a 2:1 in 2009. Haven't been able to find any work at all since. I'd be over the moon if I had the chance of earning £26k.

And, just to give the benefit-haters here a target: I got pregnant while on benefits, quite deliberately. Mainly because I wanted a child, and if I waited for a decently paying job I'd be waiting until it's too late. I sat down with the benefits calculator beforehand, and worked out what I'd be entitled to and whether I could afford it - responsible planning in the context I found myself in. And then at five months pregnant I heard about Universal Credit, and I've been shitting myself ever since, because the safety net is being pulled away, and I don't know how much I'll be expected to support myself and my daughter on, and I can't plan anything because all I know is that they're sodding Tories so it's a guarantee that UC will involve a cut to my income.

Or your husband can go out one night and die on the roads. Which is what happened to my oldest friend. She has managed to stay in work so far but her DD is showing worryingly MH issues, so may not be able to work much longer.
She is terrified.

Nothing, my love. This is why the smuggees need to catch on a bit.