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.

[lottieandmia]

I haven't read the whole thread but whether the tories get in or not next time, I really don't think the UC system will be dismantled - it will have cost a lot of money to implement it and it'll be here to stay.

What concerns me is that when tax credits were implemented it was a real mess and loads of people overpaid or had payments messed up because the size of the project was huge. At that time it was impossible to get through to the helpline.

[wonderingsoul]

what i have been told is that when it starts. not every one will be put on to it. it will be a slow progress and by the end of 2015 every one will be put on it.

some one mentioned a calicator about how much you would get, is it possable to get that linked?

personally, i woudl love a monthly pay. becasue belive it or not it is a lot harder to budgit weekly. you have to have to make sure you keep so much back one week so much another. if it was monthly i could just pay all my bills straight away or at the very least have a huge chunk which i could keep in my bill accounts and just split the rest 4 ways. for me it would be easier.

i do think some will find it hard to budgit and there will be thouse who spend it all at once, but who can you really blame for this? there needs to be help out there to h elp thouse who have trouble budgiting. and it needs to be done in a way that doesnt make them feel stupied.

i dont understadn why there would be a wait. surely you would get the payment on 1st. or the first week when your once weekly ended.. theres no way they can make you wait a month for money.. it just wont work.

[nkf]

I understand how monthly payments will be horrendous for those people who are totally useless with money or who have addictions. They will blow it in the first week and then they and their family will suffer. I get that.

But, if you are good at budgeting for a week, is it that much harder to budget for a month? I can see that you have to adapt but there is lots of help and advice available.

[happyinherts]

I've had a year to realise that my working tax credit, child tax credit and child benefit will all cease on a certain date due to my youngest child not being classified as a child any more - fair enough.


I haven't sat back thinking oh i'll not manage my budget now. I have actively gone and found work from home armed with laptop and typing skills. Now earn far more than I dreamed possible working for 3 estate agents and a magazine. These jobs weren't advertised. I pushed my way in.

Before anyone says its ok for me, it wasn't. Necessity forced me to do it. 25 years of working on a low wage and being dependent on top up benefits becomes a poverty trap you can't escape from. Coupled with the above, dog walking, taking a child to school, shopping for the elderly, buying from charity shops and selling on, surely with a bit of initiative there's ways of bringing in a bit of cash to tide you over.

[Upsy1981]

But the OP doesn't say anyone is thick or a criminal. You can struggle at budgeting money whilst being very intelligent (my DH for example!) You can be unfamiliar or uncomfortable with the internet whilst still being intelligent (my DM for example!) And sad as it is there are lot of unstable relationships both for people on benefits and not, its just that when you are on benefits living so close to the breadline if your partner leaves and he/she is the one receiving the payment you don't have any means to provide for your kids until its been looked into and resolved. No one is saying these things are exclusive to people on benefits, just that they are extra challenges being put in the way which affect the most vulnerable in society the most.

[HappyMummyOfOne]

There is plenty of time for people to prepare. It will push more into work which is the aim anyway as people should self support where possible. Its not too much to ask that people work and earn as much as possible to support themselves and their families. Having children doesnt suddenly render a person incapable of working.

Very patronising to say people wont cope as they claim now so so different and as for riots people should be reminded that we are very lucky to have a welfare system at all. If children are going hungry then that is down to the parents and SS should be involved. Benefits are very generous to those with children.

Most jobs pay monthly, paying benefits monthly will mean not such a big difference once the person finds work.

One benefit payment should save money in admin, mean less fraud (hopefully) and make any benefit caps easier to do.

I doubt it will be reversed if a different party get in at the next election. A recent poll on yougov showed 47% still believe benefits are too high so its clear that many will vote for the party they believe will ensure those on benefits never net more than those working etc which is what is currently happening.

[SneezingwakestheJesus]

Wondering soul, someone already explained that for me when I asked. There will be a gap of four weeks because benefits are paid in arrears. If they paid weekly one week and gave the monthly payment the next week, they would be giving you a chunk of money that you haven't "earned" yet. If you started working the day after your monthly benefit payment, your entitlement would change for that month so they would have paid you money that you aren't entitled to. They'd have to chase it up to get it back so instead of risking that happening, they just leave us all to rot for a month.

[Domjolly]

I think ginally this genration will be unshackled for the burden of being benfit dependant


They will not feel entilted as many do on here bevause they wont have acssess to it if they are fit and helathy and able to work for the first many mothers who otherwise would have not looked for work until there children are teens will grown up from 5 years with working parents





Its not the goverments job to support YOUR choice there are some who have fallen on hard times but there are many despite it being made crstyal clear that welafre is a safty net they have had children whilest on benfits and insead of being greaful for money THEY haveNOT EARNED and is being taking form people who work long hard hours they complain and moan that the govermnet should take yet more form these families so they can pay for there family

Thank god for the benefits system but its a net not a soft bed the poweresthat be gently tried to get people back to work with gentle work programs ect that didnt work now its time for stick

Lastly i just like to say i know my spelling is not good i am allowed my view badly spelt or not


Familes who work have to tighten there belts of the money runs out before pay day you go over drawn or go with out


In working familes if you live in a tiny home and you CHOOse to have 5 chikdren you move to a bigger home and if you cant afford to you stay overcrowded

For some reasons familes who dont work expect working families to shleter them from the realities that working familes face all the time





The uc is not coming from the goverment it comes from working familes

[SneezingwakestheJesus]

Happymummyofone, how do people prepare for a month with no money and all the bills coming in when they have little money even now?

[Domjolly]

SneezingwakestheJesus i see your point but what do you think happens to people who work to change jobs say from weekly pay to monthly pay

[wonderingsoul]

no benifits shouldnt get more then thouse working. but also you cant lower benifits any lower. its hard enough as it is.

i dont get why people are not campaging about a better min wage.

up min wage.

come down harder on thouse who comit benifit fraud.. even prision, and be made to pay it all back including intrest.

build cheaper ha house for every one.

[Domjolly]

Wondersoul amen to that i feel so sorry for people who earn no more than those who get benefits they must feel very temeted to simply stop working



They are trying so hard but often coming home with little more than if they were on welafre

[happyinherts]

We've all had plenty of time to prepare for this as happymummyofone says.

What are you all going to do when your youngest child doesn't qualify you for child benefit, working tax credit and child tax credit all from a one-off date? Surely you wouldn't wait till that date and then panic about loss of income. You'd lay the foundations as early as possible with a view to overcoming the loss by your own means. There are plenty of ways of doing that, just use a bit of initiative.

[shesariver]

I really wouldnt be surprised if there are riots, a visible symptom of such huge social unrest. I remember riots here in Scotland when the charmers that were the Tories decided to introduce the Poll Tax a year earlier here compared to the rest of the UK.

This wont affect me thankfully but I do have a lot of very vulnerable clients who it will and I'm really worried. This is real people and real peoples lives these clueless out of touch politicians are meddling with. It is not arrogant or being middle class or assuming that people will struggle - because they will. Real peoples lives are not black or white.

[SneezingwakestheJesus]

Domjolly, people who switch from weekly to monthly wages may also struggle but that tends to be a choice, moving from one job to another. People receiving benefits have no choice about this month of no money and no way to prepare for it as their finances are so low anyway. Its forcing people into potential homelessness and poverty. You wouldn't switch jobs if it meant you could lose your home and not eat would you?

[shesariver]

And loving the posts about pushing more people into work...how out of touch is that, all that work and jobs out there available eh?

[SneezingwakestheJesus]

Happyinherts, how do we prepare then? I see nothing I can do. I can't work due to health reasons so getting a job right now isn't an option. Hopefully I will continue to improve because I would love to work. Even on MMW I'd be £500 a month better off with tax credits etc too. I have £968 coming in and I just about cover the bills and food. Tell me how I would use my initiative and prepare for this.

[Domjolly]

SneezingwakestheJesus really a choice to move jobs some might say not working is a choice for some

[aufaniae]

The Tories have strong links with the Pay Day legal loan sharks. From the Unite Website:

Unite calls on government to come clean about murky Wonga links

Unite, the country?s biggest union, is calling on government and the Tory party to come clean about links to payday loan companies, following the news that Wonga has recruited Jonathan Luff, a senior prime ministerial advisor on digital strategy.

The union is demanding that the Tory party and government ministers publish full details of their links to and meetings with Wonga, as well as any other payday lenders. It is also calling on prime minister David Cameron to provide assurances that payday lenders will not be granted privileged access to ministers.

Luff?s appointment follows previous revelations regarding close ties between prominent payday lending industry figures and the Tory party. This includes ministers charging £1,250 for meetings with lenders at the party?s autumn conference and Adrian Beecroft - whose firm Dawn Capital provided startup capital for Wonga - being appointed as a government advisor.

Len McCluskey, Unite general secretary, said: ?This appointment raises further serious questions about the relationship between senior Tory party figures and the legal loan sharking industry. The deeply concerning impression is forming that there is a revolving door between No 10 and the legal loan sharking industry.

"It is time the government came clean on these cosy relationships and gives urgent assurances that Jonathan Luff will not be able to use his Westminster networks to lobby on behalf of Wonga.

"Legislation is urgently required to curb the rip off interest rates legal loan sharks impose to ruthlessly exploit people who are already struggling. Legal sharking is one of the few growth industries under this government; Wonga's enormous profits confirm it has benefited hugely from the austerity hit to ordinary people.

"Questions have to be asked as to whether the apparently cosy relationship between the Tory party and payday lenders is preventing the government taking action to protect the most economically vulnerable being put in place. The prime minister needs to provide cast iron guarantees he will not bow to the lobbying machine of legal loan sharks.

?We already knew that the Tories were ?in bed? with legal loan sharks. Government advisor Adrian Beecroft - who has recommended some of the most draconian cuts to workers rights? in a generation - is one of Wonga?s financial backers. During the Tory party conference, ministers were charging £1,250 for face-to-face meetings with payday lenders.

?This revolving door between government and the payday loan industry is spinning and must be stopped." "

[SneezingwakestheJesus]

Domjolly, it might be a choice for some but for others it is not a choice. What about those people? Just lump them in with the people who choose benefits? That's the easiest way for a lot of people it seems.

[Dawndonna]

FFS. HappyMummy etc. The people concerned do not have the financial werewithal to be able to prepare. Oh, and even if they could save on benefits, I dread to imagine what you lot would be saying about it. You'd all be claiming benefits were too high if people were able to save.

[happyinherts]

Well, again I will ask. What do people think they will do when their youngest child no longer qualifies them for in work or out of benefits?

And to whoever up thread who asked me what could they do to prepare, I had little idea where to start either. Found a few freelance jobs on peopleperhour and then got feet under a few tables and now have regular work from three clients.

[HappyMummyOfOne]

Wondering soul, if under 35, single and on JSA benefits will be minimal however those with children can net more in benefits than somebody working full time. If benefits were so low then the cap of £26k would not have been introduced. People on benefits have mobiles, internet and computers, holidays, wine regularly etc so hardly poverty.

Raising min wage would mean many small businesses go under and some jobs require no skills so pricing them high would simply mean that jobs that do need skills would raise to silly amounts. Lots of people take min wage jobs like students or adults who just want to boost the household income, for many it doesnt mean their only income.

Labour bought votes by borrowing money to pay people thousands for not working and we now need to ensure that the message that people need to work is out there and that working pays. Benefits should be there for those too disabled to work or those that need short term help between jobs. Its no longer going to be choice to not work or claim you cant as you have children etc.

[shesariver]

People on benefits have mobiles, internet and computers, holidays, wine regularly etc so hardly poverty

And this is everyone on benefits of course eh Well The Tory propaganda has clearly worked on you!

[wonderingsoul]

im a single mother on benifits so i know what its like.

when my youngest starts school in sep i will be running after ant jobs i can, at the moment going to work and paying childcare would leave me worse off, yeah it hurts my pride but im not going to let my children suffer becasue i want to protect my ego even if i will be worse off.

more needs to be done about childcare. some of my friend can work becasue they have family or friend who can help ut. i dont. they dont see their dad so i cant work nights or week ends. and dont forget the 1000's of jobs that are felixable