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?

Gosh such ignorance.

If only women could see the huge billboard over a man's head that says "I won't pay for any children I have with you"......

My ex dh and I were together for 5 years before we had dd. He had a house, a business and 55k in savings. He never paid a penny when we first split up. He disappeared to Thailand for a year. He does now pay as I said but I know loads of people who's exes don't. It's very, very common. And not something anyone can predict.

It isn't only about those who don't pay

Some people are awarded payments of £1.50 per week in child support from their partner as it is all they can afford
They need to be able to live somewhere else pay their bills etc and when that one family pot suddenly has to run two households it is surprising how little money is left over
it isn't always an unwillingness. sometimes it is fact

No one can say for certain how their partner will behave when they leave. I have seen people with excellent fathers/husbands being treated completely differently within a yr or two.

I know loads of people who's exes don't. It's very, very common

I know of lots of people who do and above the 'recommended' amount so I could say that it is very very common that they do.

Earth yes of course. I just don't think it's particularly unusual either way actually. It would be interesting to know the proportion of non resident parents who have their children less than 50/50 and do not pay any maintenance.

From Gingerbread -

"Only two-fifths (38 per cent) of single parents receive maintenance from their child’s other parent"

www.gingerbread.org.uk/content/365/Statistics

According to the telegraph (sorry, but I couldn't find a figure elsewhere) in 2008 there was £3.8bn child maintenance arrears. I don't know how many families that figure relates to but it is an awful lot of money and suggests that quite a lot of people do not pay their full rate of child maintenance.

I would like to know how women can easily tell which men are likely to not pay adequate child support if they separate. I understand that if a man already has children to a couple of women and doesn't support those children that a woman should give him a wide berth and not have any children with him as he won't pay maintenance, but many women have children with men who have been faithful, hardworking, loving etc and there isn't any hint of them failing to provide until they have split up.
Perhaps OP has a radar device that he wants to market which can detect in advance if a man is likely to not pay maintenance when a 15 year relationship breaks down.

www.telegraph.co.uk/women/mother-tongue/8975852/Up-to-300m-of-child-maintenance-debts-to-be-written-off.html

As you say though we don't know why that is. 50:50 shared care/ NRP out of work or on such a low wage.

In fact the couple of people I know of where no maintenance is paid when it should be is where unusually the NRP is the mother.

I just don't thing stereotypes, or generalisations are very good either way.

I'm surprised at that statistic - though don't dispute it.

Of course you never know if a NRP is going to do the right thing. I think I remember reading some time ago that somehwere in the world (I'm thinking Spain or Italy) they gave a higher level of support to previously married (rather than unmarried) parents. I'm not proposing that there'd be an appetite to do it here, but I wonder if the affected people's behaviour.

My dp works 24 hours self employed, makes about £80 after expenses. 3 children. Im a sahm but looking for something as dd3 had just started full time school.
So we get
£80 wages (weekly)
£220 ctc (weekly)
£75 wtc (weekly)
£190 child benefit (monthly)
£17.21 council tax benefit (so only pay around £30 a month)
£70 housing benefit (approx) (so pay around £100 a month)
I was surprised at how generous all these benefits are/were and am very grateful for them as they allowed me to be a sahm (I always wanted to be one) and now I can start giving back once I get a job.

I'm on a similar wage to your wife, though slightly longer hours. Until the beginning of this month, my childcare bills for one child in nursery were well over £544 per month. So yeah, you are not really making a clever point here, just being a bit oblivious.

I think you're missing the point.

Which point is it that we are missing?

I'm starting to think that you are a researcher for the Tories and are trying to gain consensus on whether people feel that benefits are too generous and whether individuals should be more accountable for their decisions and circumstances (even if they are beyond their control). No normal person would start a thread discussing what benefits his wife would get if he dropped dead and then go on to discuss single parents and partner choices.
Have you been given the task of ascertaining which benefits could be cut without losing too many voters?

Yes, that's exactly it. Rumbled.

This whole thing began because friends of ours (similar to us) seemed to be managing very well having decided to separate (I'd no desire to see them in poverty - but they had new cars, ran two homes - one rented the other owned, and continued to holiday and have weekends away)

We entered our details in and have come to the conclusion that (despite initially getting an incorrect figure) earings, plus state support, plus maintenance was pretty generous. I know not everybody has the support network we do, nor would every absent parent be required to pay as much as I might, but on the whole, it seemd as if my wife would be entitled to benefits that she didn't really need. This was also the case (we believe) for our friends. I don't think the circumstances (support network, high(ish) earning spouse, etc.) are that unusual that it wouldn't be worth tailoring the system so that those that really needed the support, actually got it.

If you were a Tory conducting some sort of research (and I probably am broadly Tory) you wouldn't really come here to do it!

Well if you are so jealous of your 'friends' then leave your wife and make sure she claims these far too generous benefits that you seem to be so envious of. Nobody is forcing you to stay together and be exempt from claiming benefits.

With friends like you.......

No, we're not all jealous. Trust me when I say that we're better off together financially. It just annoys me that some people aren't getting sufficient help, and others are perhaps getting more than they need.

Who exactly isn't getting enough help?

Who exactly is getting too much?

How would you change this whilst building in a safety net that works quickly to protect when there are changes

Currently tax credits can take months to come into payment. What new system can you suggest?

I'm sure there are plenty trhat aren't getting enough help (see up thread). Those getting 'too much' help are very unlikely to advertise the fact; though I don't believe our hypothetical situation is that unusual.

I don't think that there's a single answer, but I propsed an alternative upthread. That, in conjunction with much tougher sanctions on NRPs, would potentially be a solution. It'd be hard, but worthwhile I think.

This thread is a nonsense

I did some wrong calculations and based upon them, wrong statistics and a belief that my friends are doing well on benefits I believe we should change the system

Dear lord.

Haha, Ronald you've just summarised almost every thread on benefits on MN.

I think we get £120 a week, DH earns about £16k, 2 kids. Childcare bill is £400 a month, I'm on mat leave at the minute.

However, i HATE tax credits. I've kept them fully informed of all wage changes, and they've managed to overpay us by £3000! WTF?! How?! Basically, we are now up shit creek.

So it's not all great. Wish I'd never applied for them.

Fairy I'm sorry to hear about your situation

It's so unfair that because THEY fucked up, you and your family have to suffer. I know so many families that have been thrown into poverty because of TC overpayments. Absolutely boils my piss

And LOL at Ronalds summary of the op btw