To think that tax credits and the like actually seem quite generous?

[MaliceInWonderland78]

My wife has recently given birth to DC3. She is currently on maternity leave. She works 30 hours a week for 19k per annum. Having checked things out on "entitled to.co.uk" it seems, were I to croak it, or do a runner, she'd be entitled to universal credit of approximately 200 per week. I'm not sure if this is correct though (it seems quite high).

If that is the case, how on earth are people needing food banks? I don't mean it to be patronising, I was just shocked that the figure was this high. As a tax payer, I'm hoping this is wrong. My calulations are as follows:

Wages - 300
Universal Credit - 200
Child benefit - 44

In addition to this, the council tax bill would be reduced from 160 pcm to approximately 45.

Is this peoples' real-world experience?

Nomen A useful contribution. Thanks. THough I don't see how (short of paying EVERYONE a single flat rate) how you'd not introduce yet more complexity to weed out cases like ours (which is hypotheitcal anyway)

I volunteer for an organisation that sometimes refers to food banks. We tend to find there have been changes in circumstances and so delays in benefits or sanctions or emergencies like a child rushed into hospital in the nearest city (we're relatively rural but not massively so) and so costs of getting to the hospital and/or somewhere for parents to stay are what push people over the edge into needing a food voucher. We would probably decline to refer someone if it was simply "I'm getting all the benefits I can but it;'s not enough" and offer help with budgeting instead - because food banks are an emergency resource (and yes, as an individual it is hard to have to tell people they can't have a voucher).

That's jobseekers and sorry but jobs are available but people don't want to do them.

I know supply teachers who claim in the holidays which is ridiculous!

Care homes & hospitals are desperate for staff and fast food restaurants, factories always need people. But no one wants to do those jobs!

There's no need for anyone to be claiming jobseekers for longer than a few weeks; it won't be popular but I don't know anyone outside here who doesn't share that view.

www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-statistics/may-2013/sty-employment.html

According to the ONS there are 2.52m people unemployed and available for work but only 503,000 job vacancies. If you can equate that into 'a job being available for every job seeker but them not wanting it' then I would like to know how.
Of those 503,000 vacancies not all positions will be suitable for people without appropriate skills, training or qualifications. Some of them will be zero hour contracts. Some of them will be shift work at times when single parents can't get childcare.
Not everyone is on job seekers allowance because they can't be arsed to work.

I am a single parent of four children. Two of them are over 18.
I recently returned to education in an attempt to drag myself out of poverty and build a better life for my children.
I now live on £205 a week. I still have over £200 a month to contribute to my rent. My housing costs are high due to all my children living at home and I am entitled to a larger house. Unfortunately when it comes to housing benefit, my two elder children are disregarded due to their age (even though they are in full time education) so I only get hb for two children.
I'm finding it a huge struggle and have thought about giving up Uni on more than one occasion and going back to a life of part time work and tax credit top up.

I am shocked that anyone can describe benefits as 'generous'

Surely it depends on area as well. I check job vacancies in our area daily (for dh who has a job but would like a new one) and at the moment there are about 10 jobs on there within 20 miles of us, 9 of which are self employed telesales for a local window company (which I've worked for before myself and it was awful - I earned £50 in 3 months and that was average among my Co workers) and the other 1 job is a 7 hour a week job in a small cafe which includes having to be available on an as and when basis to cover other shifts! No care work. None of these amazing other job vacancies. Well not unless you can afford £160 a month in train fares to the nearest city... For mostly zero hour contracts. Oh and to add to it our latest train home leaves at 10pm so that's most shift work out then... unless you drive
Which is another expense many on low wages struggle to do.

It's not as simple as people like horse think.

Ghirly have you asked the student hardship fund for financial help. They might be able to give you a grant to help you out and ensure that you don't have to quit the course for financial reasons.

where do you think your W will get all this free FT childcare from?

I pay £14k per year childcare for 2 DC. How many families do you think get free FT childcare?

Missunreasonable I am going into Uni on Friday to see about that.

My youngest child is only 3 but I am not even entitled to any help with childcare which means my child has to stay overnight with my parents 3 nights a week.
My parents live 40 miles away therefore I do not get to see her those days.

The average UK salary is £26500 so if you and you wife earn an average of above that figure you are not the poorer end of the spectrum, you are the wealthier end of the spectrum. That totally depends where you live. I'm a single parent earning nearly 26K in London and I am by all accounts not well off at all or even comfortable.

With these magical jobs that no one wants - there are usually very good reasons.

Residential homes staff especially work on shifts for minimum wage in out of the way locations - the sums simply don't work for those jobs.

They are still jobs.

They aren't good jobs, and I for one think it's criminal how low the pay is, but they are still more than jobseekers.

That totally depends where you live. I'm a single parent earning nearly 26K in London and I am by all accounts not well off at all or even comfortable.
But your income is not at the poorer end of the spectrum. It doesn't matter how poor you feel, your wages are average.

Well it's different for everyone. So your wife would be lucky enough not to have to pay for childcare but most don't have that luxury, most have to fork out £££ for that. You have a minimal mortgage, a lot of people have a huge amount of rent and either aren't entitled to housing benefit because they work or aren't entitled to very much. Child benefit is fuck all in the grand scheme of things. £50 a week for three DC wouldn't cover food shop for most. Tax credits aren't the same amount for everyone either.

There's a lot of other costs that vary family to family that have to be taken into account. Isn't is 250k to raise a child to 18 nowadays? 750k for 3 DC. Clothes, shoes, food costs, birthday and christmas presents, birthday parties, presents for friends birthday presents, school uniforms, school trips, cost of running the car if have one and if not public transport/taxis blah blah blah. It all costs £££ so if you work out the average outgoings of a family benefits really aren't generous at all. If a living wage was paid nobody would need benefits anyway. No one can survive purely on minimum wage, it's just not feasible.

I get when people go on about all these lucky fuckers sitting around, getting their rent paid. I was on JSA before having children years ago. Yeah, my rent and council tax were paid but that was it. Gas, electric, food, tv licence, water, top up for my phone, clothes, household products etc all had to be paid with the measly £50 a week I got. I was living off a packet of instant noodles a day at my worst. Had to make £10 gas and £10 electric last on the meter all month so in winter that was definitely no heating and a bath was a luxury, I'd quickly hop in the shower and back out. But yeah, the rent on my shithole flat got paid so guess I was really fucking lucky... I imagine most who use food banks are in a similar dire situation to how I was then tbh.

You have a support network willing to do work for you amounting to thousands of pounds a year and you wonder why other people's lives are different. Some people have NO support network... none. Then there is high rent and having to move a lot with private renting.

BeCool My wife would get it from parents (mine and hers). The point I'm making is that my wife (who earns what is broadly an average salary) would, it seems, be entitled to 544 per week. That's before I've given her anything.

I know the threads been side-tracked a little bit, but I'm slightly aghast that with the various top-ups, she'd need to earn 38k per annum to net the same amount. If you factor in what I'd have to give her - which I understand is disregarded (and I'm not complaining) her net income would be 694 per week which is equivalent to approximately 50,000 per annum - which is approximately twice her FTE gross pay.

Perhaps our circumstances are such that this is an anomoly and not typical, but even so....

My friend's husband passed away suddenly. If it hadn't been for his life insurance she would have been penniless as she had to stop working as she was so shocked and her children needed her and didn't get paid while off. But she did say that if it wasn't for his pension she wouldn't survive. She's been trying to find a job for a while with no luck.

It looks simple on that website but in reality, its a lot different.

Look, I'm not bashing people on benefits. I appreciate that everyone's circumstances are different; however, if the figures from 'entitled to' are even broadly correct, then there must be many many many people (I don't think our circumstances are that unusual) who are getting support that they don't need.

So? How can the calculators take account of whether, as in your case, you are lucky enough to have involved, fit, happy to help, local, free childcare? Or, like myself and a lot of others; unfit; 5000 miles away; unwilling and unable?

It is like a condom, better to have one and not need it than need one and not have it. It would be fabulous if people who didn't need money, didn't claim it. Just tell your wife not to claim any money if you aren't around.

well I am SP of 2 earning a broadly average salary (perhaps slightly above average) and I get about £300 pcm in tax credits towards childcare costs only. I pay on average £1166 pcm for childcare. When costs go down or my salary goes up that figure changes.

We live in a one bed flat and can't afford to move.

How are you giving your W anything if you are deceased (in your scenario)? Or perhaps avoiding paying maintenance like many do?

I think your figures are wrong. For a start the singe person discount for council tax is 25% not 75% so I don't see how your figures there work.

And how many families get free childcare? None I know of.

Don't you think SP's should be able to put something aside for a rainy day if they can (many can't)? Go on holiday?

And I don't see the point of this thread other than being goady?

Most peoples experiences are different to what is said on a wholly inaccurate form. Do you honestly think your wife would get £15k-odd of benefits on top of £19k wages, really?

Be careful what you wish for Malice - your W might be looking at these figures too

pink No I don't, but that's what the calculator was telling me. That's why I asked for real world experiences.

BeCool I think the whole thing warrants investigation. I'm not being "goady". The council tax element was an estimate (which included assistance (provided locally it seemed) and the 25% discount.

It's looking quite likely that I've done something wrong - but I'd welcome anyone else to enter the details on the system and see what they come up with.

entitled to is full of shit ime

when I put our circs in it vastly OVER estimated :/

should I say, it vastly over estimated what we could get in tcs etc