to think JSA is insultingly low amount

[brt100]

I mean 72 pounds a week is a joke, and you will loose 20% of that if you had an average paying job for half of the tax year.

Around here the daily rate wouldn't even cover the daily bus ticket to get to interviews.

I never use universal jobmatch anymore i go on it to log what i have done of other websites but that site is totally useless the word chocolate teapot come to mind when describing it i use my first job and gumtree or indeed for job searches. universal jobmatch seems flooded with avon ads and the like recently too or "0hrs" "commission based salary" they really need to sort it out and make a new better system although i do agree with the job log thing on it so they can see what you have done so you can't just lie about applying for jobs like i know some people to have done in the past. also yes i asked about sure start to see if i was eligible but i guess i am not also when me and OH do have DC we will be living together and not claiming any benefit apart from the CB which they give to you no matter what. as we are now me and OH live apart it is considered a luxury to live together amongst our friends atm because it is so expensive on one salary. if i get a job first then great i am not going to give up applying but if i get pregnant first then that is great to because we will have a much planned for and wanted DC.

They don't give you CB 'no matter what' at all, it's not automatic so you have to apply for it.

i know you have to apply my Dsis said they send you forms to fill out after registering the birth. almost everyone in the UK is eligible for CB though i dont know anyone with DC's that don't claim it working or not

'if people are willing/able to move there are jobs. So somewhat their happiness/contentedness is in their own hands.'

I hear this time and time again. Many people are not able to move. Next?

'What is your solution then?
How much should job seekers get?
Paid for by the people still working? Surely nothing would suit everyone e.g. OP wanted it based on earnings.'

They should get more than what they are getting now. For a single person it should be about £85-£100 a week at the minimum, not £56 or £73.

Wanting it based on earnings is yet another entitled middle class mindset who again believes they should be entitled to more than everyone else because they are 'better' (ie were lucky enough to have a good job and education).

almost everyone in the UK is eligible for CB though i dont know anyone with DC's that don't claim it working or not

Do you know almost everyone in the UK? There is an income threshold, beyond which you wont be entitled to CB.

' person working part time who could be just 10 PW better off than being unemployed,'

This is why some people just work cash in hand on the sly and don't declare it. I don't blame them, I would only question it if they were living a luxury lifestyle but never seen anyone do so, its always just so they can actually live above the poverty line.

I think it's quite high actually. I had more trouble with the hb since I'm under 30 and live alone I only got £60 for rent so most of my NSA whent nor that and my bank loan which is 100 a month. If I didn't have a bank loan to re pay and was old enough to qualify for proper hb then I'd have had quite a bit of money tbh.

*jsa

we are now me and OH live apart it is considered a luxury to live together amongst our friends atm because it is so expensive on one salary

Why would you be on one salary? Also, surely it is cheaper to combine rent, food cost, energy bills, council tax etc?

I'm not getting the "luxury" of living together.

' I read the other day about somebody who had £1000 a month disposable income'

They must be fraudulently claiming, or making extra on the side, or literally living off nothing (freegan?) when they have several children and saving every penny.

There is a cap of child benefit actually, for higher earners. Anyway, you are still claiming for your 'lifestyle choice', so should probably get off your high horse.

'why would you be on one salary? '

Could possibly be milking the benefits system because only one of them works. When only one partner works the other is not entitled to any benefits as the working partner is expected to support them, so many people pretend not to live together so that the unemployed partner can still claim full benefits. Usually its the man who is working and he pretends to still live at home with his mother. Some people actually end up quite well off from doing this.

My SIL does this but tbf her partners work is hit and miss and hes a selfish twat and never contributes anything to the household.

Hang on, have i read this properly, hedgewiggy is TTC with a man she doesnt live with whilst having no job?

I don't see why a high earner needs child benefit to be honest. And it should be means tested where the less the household has, the more the child receives.

Thanks 22honey. That moral highground seems to be eroding somewhat.

I know, its a bit rich of her to start lecturing other people on benefits, purely because they don't believe them to be enough.

JSA is a low amount. It's the other benefits that go with it that I think are unfair. For example take a single parent or couple with three children. How much benefit would they get if nobody works. How long is a piece of string. It should move towards a flat rate and then there wouldn't be so much arguing about it being too high or too low.

Well no one at all can get more than 26k a year anymore, regardless of if they have 15 children.

26k a year is still a lot more than most people earn in this country.

How much benefit would they get if nobody works

Which benefit are you talking about?

As for the "how long is a piece of string" comment. Makes you sound even more quite ignorant. Are you just riling yourself up at the thought of people producing child after. Child to rake in the millions?

I suggest no such thing. I am saying the benefit system should be fair to all. And not some people struggling and others living very comfortably indeed. Which benefit am I talking about. I am talking about the amount a person or family is entitled to. It seems to vary such a great deal. And let's not forget £26k is the amount after tax. A person would have to earn substantially more than this to take home £26K net.

It varies a great deal because people's circumstances vary a great deal and the benefits they are entitled to vary a great deal. It isnt one benefit that makes £26k

People struggle on benefits for various reasons and people are quite comfortable on benefits for various reasons.

What do you mean "fair to all"?

I think there should be a move towards a flat rate. People in jobs don't get a pay rise because their circumstances are different to the person at the next desk. Nobody seems to want to talk actual amounts. How much is a family expected to live on? Nobody knows.

£26K isn't the cap on a person. It's the cap on a household.

Which may contain several adults. Some of whom can be disabled since ESA/IB is included in the cap.