Here is my total income as a lone parent on benefits.

[HereBeHubbubs]

Inspired by a thread which is glorifying us lone parents as 'rolling in it', I'm prepared to declare my benefits income. It's not gauche to do so, because it's your money after all (looks at taxpayers), and you should probably know that I am also grateful for this support, prepad to pay back into the pool when working again, and am not extravagant nor consider this a 'lifestyle choice'.

I don't have Sky, a plasma tele, holidays, credit or catalogue accounts, smoke, drink and rarely socialise due to childcare issues. I buy all our clothes from charity shops. I do however have a concession rate council leisure centre swim membership of £18 a month and a £10 rolling contract mobile phone, with a phone somebody gave me.

I am terrible at budgeting and have been living on a £500 overdraft for at least the last couple of years - I never have enough income to return the account into the black, so I'm generally always at least £400 overdrawn.

My utilities are on prepayment meters currently eating up old debt weekly and a not competitive tariff.

I'm currently looking for work and can't understand how people sit at home without good reason, because since my youngest started school, I have been going stir crazy and begun to feel quite down and despondent about not working.

Fortunes will change in the near future as doubtless I will find work, but meanwhile, when you break down the cost of my outgoings, hopefully you can see that lone parents really are not 'rolling in it'.
Especially the ones who receive little or no maintencance from their absent children's father.
Unimagined outgoings include things like termly Brownies subs, school snacks at £8 a month, school shoes every new term, birthday and Christmas presents, rent shortfall £75 a month, winter utilities alone are £40 a week each gas and electric.

Lone parent age 45, two children 5 and 7, private rented three bed (officially two as one leads off the bathroom) terrace Anglia region.'Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit don't enter my bank account, they're paid direct to recipients.

Weekly Income
5.00 CSA
72.40 JobSeekers Allowance
34.05 Child Benefit
114.08 Child Tax Credit

£225.53 week
£902.12 every month

Usually, benefits won't touch you with a barge pole if you have more than £6,000 to your name whether that be cash or in property.

You left out your housing benefit and council tax benefit amounts. Those are also benefits so should be on there.

FFS, OP hasn't said she is living on a pittance.

She was clearly inspired by this thread;

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/2191962-to-think-i-will-have-too-much-money-on-benefits?

That is the point/comparison she is making.

That particular woman had 5 children though, which makes a huge difference to the total amount you can get including HB. It explains why some people perpetually on benefits choose to have quite a few children anyway, and it also explains why people with quite a few children find it preferable to work the magical 16 hours a week in a low paid job, (which equates to only two days a week really) so they can access all the various top-ups, whereas going full time in the same job would not be terribly financially worthwhile for the extra effort involved.

Again not the OP but why does MN not accept that there are people out there who will gladly do nothing and claim benefits as they do receive to them a large sum of money. Think about it if you've never worked and not had the opportunity to build up credit bills or get used to being able to shop at waitrose/next (all those other clichés) then £900 after rent and council tax is a hell of lot of money.

I rent privately but I don't feel envious or critical of those with a mortgage, in the area I live in mortgage would be higher than my rent for the same type of house. Plus insurances etc on top. However if they are to be made redundant or the company they work for go into liquidation and no redundancy pay then they will be worse off than someone in rented accommodation as they won't get any help towards the mortgage repayment and will need to pay it from other benefits unless they were fortunate enough to have a mortgage repayment insurance that actually pays out!

And re the previous thread, the point that kept being missed was that the benefit cap is already in place and someone not working will receive £500 in benefits (including child benefit) as a maximum. regardless of number of children. The benefits cap is not Universal credit.

sorry that didn't make sense.

I meant:

It explains why some people who are perpetually on benefits choose to have quite a few children, anyway.

We always ask 'Why on earth have you had four children when you've been got no money and have been completely reliant on benefits for so long?

Which is a daft question, because the answer staring us all in the face is that if you are going to live long term on benefits then it makes financial sense to have more children, not fewer.

The problem really is that the reward for working hard and not working at all is almost equal. If people were paid more being in work then a lot of employers wouldn't be able to afford to keep on all their employees. Equally if people on benefits were paid less then many may not be able to afford to live.

The thing that really grates for most people is that people on benefits are viewed as doing nothing for the money. Maybe this is the aspect which needs to change. Obviously this is different for those on disability etc, but really, why does the government just hand out money and not seek any 'work' in return?

I don't have any real experience of being on benefits luckily, so I am prepared to get told if I am talking nonsense.

oops thought of something else as well. I live in the South East and the average salary is still seen as a high figure. I do work, but am looking for a different job and it seems the vast majority of work out there is no more than £18k full time, this was for office manager type work. I'd say in the thames valley the average salary was probably closer to £15k, with a few very high earners bringing the average up. e.g my cousin is a retail manager for Wairose and earns £17k (plus profit share so £19k) but her boyfriend works in IT consultancy and earns £95k.

ihavenoidea - there is a 'help to work' scheme whereby long term unemployed are meant to commit to doing work for the community. Not sure how successful that is.

That's really quite a lot in my opinion! I work very hard and have less that that left at the end of the month, plus get no tax allowances etc.

Limegold People act as if she is enduring a punishment regime because, to many Mumsnetters, an 'acceptable standard of living' is really quite luxurious, so anything less than that, is considered to be 'poor'.

The OP clearly has sufficient income to feed and clothe her children to a decent standard, to pay basic bills and to pay for a few treats. Its a satisfactory standard of living.

But how many times do we hear on here We have a household income in six figures and were not rich, or DH earns too much for us to be entitled to CB but were struggling to get by .

On Mumsnet, to have a decent standard of living people should be able to live wherever they choose, near to a good school, and all other amenities, with each child having their own bedroom. So those who can't afford the right house in the right area near the good school with a bedroom for each child do not have a decent standard of living so deserve pity.

Shopping comes from Ocado, with no restrictions on what is purchased. Coffees and meals out weekly or more often is expected. Regular beauty treatments are 'essential maintenance' Household items come from John Lewis. Cars must be no more than 5 years old. Holidays are at Centre Parcs, in naice cottages in Cornwall or villas in the posh end of Mallorca. If you can't afford this, it means that you are poor/struggling/not well off etc.

People on benefits already suffer the indignity of being on benefits, they shouldn't also have to suffer anything that is 'not nice'.

Which is fine in Mumsnet Utopia, but out in the real world, all this has to be paid for, and in the current economic climate, there just isn't enough to go round.

And when those who respond by saying 'the rich should pay' then they should be prepared to put their hands in their own pockets, because if they have anything like the 'Mumsnet decent standard of living' then they themselves are 'the rich'.

It's very interesting OP - thanks for sharing this info.

Alpaca - you can get JSA until you find a job.

I still don't understand why posters who are claiming that they have less to live on through working - and are also LPs (or not even) in rented accommodation (or not even) don't apply for the in-work benefits that are available?

Well that's about what DH and I earn together. We actually do have a lot of luxuries, 2 cars, 2 holidays a year, mobile phones each the DCs have tennis and ballet lessons. We do have a mortgage we pay £747 a month and have 8 years left so whilst I don't know how that compares to renting in 8 years time we will be much better off each month.
I think our benefit system is generous, I really do, but I also think that most people on benefits want to be off them.

You and your dh earn under £1000 between you and have an £800 mortgage two cars and holidays? How!

Several people have mentioned my 'point' is that it's 'not enough'.

Is is the problem with Chinese whispers! Some people skim through an opening post..

No. That isn't my point. All Im doing is declaring the average income that lone parents do actually receive, to try and dispel the myth that we are rolling on money.

My opening post states I am not complaining, am grateful and not extravagant with the money, and that it is more than sufficient to live on until I find work.

This isn't a benefit bashing thread or a dole dosser thread. I just wanted full disclosure because I'm so tired of seeing myself as having made a 'lifestyle' choice for the equivalent of an average salary. I really haven't. DV made me a lone parent, and it IS a struggle. I genuinely hope people can see that we are not on several hundred pounds a week.

I don't think the system is particularly generous at all for single people with no dependents, life is pretty tough for them, in fact.

But the minute you start having a few children (especially if you are single parent) the various benefits can ramp up to a point where unless you are qualified to do a reasonably well paid job, working just doesn't make financial sense.

I still don't get what you wanted to achieve though. Full disclosure? What on earth for? It's just an internet forum. You say you're not rolling in it, but so what, neither are most of the people in work in the country! And you do have a couple of hundred pounds a week if we're going to quibble over the semantics of 'several'. DV and lone parenting are serious issues and add a layer of complexity to anyone's life, that I don't doubt, but I just don't understand what good you thought the thread would do?

well done!
I work, 4 kids , disposable income at end of month is roughly 650, thats to light, heat, and maintain my house, feed and clothe 5 people and all the lil bits.

id love 900 a month

It has made me feel slightly annoyed about the level of benefits people get. But definitely not more annoyed than I am at the huge corporations dodging tax or the fact that if childcare was cheap/free/state provided then out of work parents would find it easier to get back into the system.

OP you have that much money after rent, childcare (zero in your case) and council tax. That is an awful lot of money and certainly more than my DD who is working fulltime to earn less than you get, and is living at home as she can't afford to move out.

I would be very surprised if you find a job that makes it worth your while going back to work.

TimeFor It didn't occur to me to present some 'good' to a thread. It's just a topic to encourage some views, that's all. Nothing sinister. I'm frustrated with the system too, and believe that although mupy income is sufficient, I'm just sad that I am subject in real (and online) life to prejudice for claiming benefits, and mostly, that the absent father isn't contributing. I don't require cash from him, but shoe vouchers, uniform vouchers, all that kind of thing would prove he has their welfare at heart. Instead, as he says, 'the taxpayers can pay for the kids shoes'

I haven't seen a full disclosure of benefits before on MN, which is why I posted. My post is genuine and I do apologise if I have upset anyone.