to be shocked, but not surprised at the latest twist in the Universal Credit wheeze

[echt]

So those who will be worse off under the new system, can just roll up their sleeves and get on with it:

www.theguardian.com/society/2015/dec/21/universal-credit-benefit-cuts-work-allowance

It is difficult in those circumstances to think what you can do Tali

It is Lulu. I'm relying on family and friends to help me but they all work so they are trying to work around helping me out. It'd be so much easier with a childminder or school clubs that run later.

I would move but all the rents are really expensive to what I pay now, then I'd have to find DD a new school if I did move. My ex lives to far away to help much.

So I make do with what options I have. She's 8 so I'm hoping when shes older I can do more hours as the need for care will go down.

so can i just reduce my hours at work then and let the tax payer pay my mortgage.....oh goody, am fed up with working non stop.....never realised it was an option.....maybe then i will get some quality time with my husband (get him to go part time too) and spend more time with the children....dont need childcare thank goodness as theyve all left home now (never saw much of them growing up as was working) but can make up for it now!

Not everyone gets tax credits.

Ambulance workers work EXTREMELY hard and do not get tax credits.

Welfare at work is wrong. It only benefits cheap employers who do not want to pay the full minimum wage but get a taxpayer subsidy! Why the hell should I pay the labour costs of scroodgey employers?

I know some people here get tax credits. This is not about you but the way the system is constructed. It keeps you in place, you are discouraged from getting promotions and working more hours. Some people on TC I know have more money than me! They waste it all because they never earned it. So unfair!

TC should be replaced with out of work benefits AND employers should PAY MORE.

Perhaps you should Potato. Atleast then you can be around incase your kids need childcare for your grandkids so they can work.

People talking about living costs are right.

In a low wage economy where everyone is paid as little as possible, the economy is not going to grow or become healthy.

The elephant in the room that everybody ignores regarding living costs? House prices. They need to come down to 3 or 4x the average salary.

i genuinely didnt know that people who had mortgages could get tax credits....i did not realise that you could get any form of help/benefit when you where buying or owned your home....seems odd to me!

Tax credits can be taken into account on your application.

Plenty of people are going to be stuffed.
I know a lot of support workers and carers who work bloody hard and depend on tax credits.

how do you think people who have a mortgage cope....they dont get top ups for reducing their hours....they dont have the option!

Potato erm I have a mortgage and we get LOADS of tax credits so

lulu with respect, I am not about to reveal what is very personal information. Teachers are subject to performance related pay - no more automatic pay rises. No, my ex doesn't contribute - he is self employed.

I know a couple who are both paramedics and they receive tax credits. I have no idea how much or how little but she has said in several occasions about tax credits and how she could now do the food shop/Christmas shop etc. Nurses and midwives can qualify for tax credits as well. I was a midwife and had three children and received tax credits, child benefit and housing allowance! (As a single parent)

Of course paramedics can recieve tax credits if the household income is low enough ! If you have 4 kids , You can have a household income of up to £45k+ and still be eligible for tax credit top ups which is ludicrous.

I need a new strategy for my life I think. I don't have children as I can't afford them, work as a teacher and rent a one bed flat in slough. Maybe id be better to forget about trying to make my own way in life, have a few kids and get some top ups so I can move to a house with a garden in a better area. I've been trying to save, but I feel like a bit of a mug at times. People earning far less than me live in proper houses with gardens thanks to their topups...I must be stupid!

Harshbuttrue- oh do fuck off! Have you actually read the thread. Go back to reading your daily mail and carry on frothing.

Oh, yeah, houses with gardens in good areas are in huge supply in the S. East to low-income families.

Im childfree by choice and dont think like harsh does.

How do you know they earn less than you Harsh. Who the fuck are these people who come up to the right wingers on here and divulge all their financial information. Im not right wing but ive never had it happen to me.

When I received a hefty redundancy payment I was advised to pay off my mortgage. Getting rid of the cash ment I could claim more benefits, that's just mad.

Also mad is the fact that I took a small wage cut in my new job and haven't lost any money due to tax threshold I'm slightly better off.

I agree on the childcare impossible to find if you work normal office hours with an average commute.
We only get CB, because of combined income but got knows how we'd manage if we had a big mortgage/paid average rent. We would have to reduce hours and claim more to cut the childcare. How is that right

Where I live is an unemployment blackspot. Arse end of nowhere. Some get out and move to the city but that's not possible for everyone. High Street is dying, half a dozen major employers have closed this areas branch this year, no way are people going to be able to persuade employers to give them 4 extra hours and the employers cant afford it.

As an aside yyy to the posters pointing out that if you're reliant on benefits unreliable hours is a nightmare, you can't have them adjusted week to week it's more the case that the benefit is suspended for at least 8 weeks while its recalculated. That means no money. Crazy system. But then I do think dc et al are wanting to 'phase out' what MN feels are the genuinely needy. People like me, LP, disabled and mh dx.

Even when I was working full time and dd in childcare still needed tax credits as could not afford basic living costs, childcare and transport to work on my salary which was above nmw.

I agree the cost of living is what needs addressed especially housing and the shocking lack of social housing.