To think dh is winding me up when he says some people on benefits are getting £500 a week?

[angelos02]

I'm pretty sure he's talking bullocks? Otherwise why the fuck would anyone do a minimum wage job?

Aye, you can! My mum receives over that amount (just, including rent)
She has athritis so bad that she can't wipe her own arse and my disabled brother (who will always be reliant on her) can't even say "hello" and is in nappies 24/7. He's 12 years old: they both need carers and struggle on when needed.
I once received a phone call from her as she had fallen down the stairs and couldn't get herself up.
It took me 25 mins to get to her. In that 25 mins my brother had turned the taps on in the kitchen and it had overflowed all over the counters and floor, he had opened the microwave, pulled the glass plate out and smashed it on the floor (likely unintentionally. He has global developmental delay as well as other issues. Mind of a 2yr old) as well as letting the dog out onto the road.
Oh to be coining it in from benefits eh?
I wouldn't want my mothers life

I know through a friend someone who used to get more than that. Friend thought we would be sympathetic to the fact that with the cap of I think it was about £500 per week she and her children would no longer be able to afford to live in a rather nice area of London. Had to point out we all had to live in not so nice areas because that was all we could afford

Yes, as soon as I became a single parent I got a free 4 bed house, 50" tv's for each room, and my sky subscription paid, and £500 spending money a week. Because this barely covers my nights out, and our designer sportswear, the dwp also pay for a yearly holiday to Disney world. I was hugely disappointed dd wasn't born with a disability, because then I would have got a free car and £1k a week spending money a week, plus the amazing carers allowance.

Ffs. She sad £500 a week not a month. RTFT!!

That's a lot. Equates to £24k a year after tax. So nearer £35/40k in earnings. Totally agree there are those that need that much. But fr some it's a total piss take.

Mummaaaaaah

Got a bit of a cheeky telling people to RTFT when you've obviously missed this post from the OP:

I think dh has it wrong. £500 a month at a stretch...not a week.

mum fancy explaining exactly how someone 'piss takes' 24k of benefits they don't need?

Yes the maximum claim was capped by David Cameron at £500 per week (26,000 per year). Previously you could get more. The £500 includes housing benefit, council tax benefit, tax credits and job seekers or income support.

Generally most people on benefits don't get any where near that much a week. Somebody who lives in London with a few DC would though.

Full time pay on minimum wage is £992 per month. Unless my calculations are wrong?

Oh and those in receipt of DLA or PIP are exempt from the £500 per week cap.

We get £600 a month in dla/carers and dh earns too much for us to get child benefit. We are so lucky that ds is disabled and will never live independently.

And that £992 would be topped up with Tax Credits, Child Benefit, Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit and so on.

It's not just the feckless workshy types who get benefits, you know.

What a horrible fucking thread this is, 'aren't poor people horrid, isn't it horrid that they get money, let's just shoot the lot of them and have done with it....'

We had a Post Office, before DC introduced the cap we'd get regulars in to take out £600 (maximum withdrawal) on consequetive(sp?)) days. We'd get loads taking out £500 a week.

OP, what's your point?

Somebody raising children on minimum wage income would also be entitled to benefits that would raise that figure considerably.

If your monthly rent is over a grand (which in this town it certainly would be for a family home, even a crap 2 bed place), your utilities and phone bills and travel bills etc are hundreds and that's BEFORE even a scrap of food or a single item of clothing, how far - realistically - do you think £500 a week would go for a family with multiple children and (at least) one with a disability?

When I went from working to esa my income from the state (so that's not counting my wages at all) reduced by £50 a week. Wtc make it financially worthwhile to work for most people.

Ignoring the people questioning your intentions OP? You're being very careful not to state any actual opinions.

" Full time pay on minimum wage is £992 per month."

plus tax credits and probably some council tax and housing benefit

You can can't compare someones maximum benefit entitlement with someone lowest earned wages minus the benefits they'd get on top.

I know two people within my social circle who get 40k in benefits. Both are single parent families who are in private lets in London, with 6 children each. Neither has ever worked for more than a few weeks. They have both grown their families without ever having a live in partner.

I'm grudgingly impressed by a woman who has managed to secure a 40K net income despite never having completed their education or worked. It's quite a feat.

Oh and where I live a single mom on benefits with two DC will recieve approx £300per week (£190 in cash, the rest in housing and council tax benefit). The 190 cash will still need to pay some council tax and rent, alongside all other bills.

This is less than a NMW working single mom with two DC would receive in earned income and benefits.

Surely you have participated in enough benefits threads to know the score already, angelos?

My friend has four children and has developed MS. Do you think he and his DC should be starving OP?

Or my friends daughter who has mild learning disabilities and left school with absolutely no qualifications and has 2 year old twins. There is no way she could get a job that would cover nursery fees. No benefits for them either? Or just bung them £500 a month and see how they house, clothe, feed themselves on that?

Some people on this thread have no idea.

angelos is only here to pour some fuel on the fire. Likes to read a bit of benefits bashing by the looks of things but doesn't fancy coming up with any constructive points.

I'm just failing to grasp how anybody could themselves fail to grasp the concept that £500 a week a) is only given in a minority of cases and b) does not leave its beneficiaries living the life of Reilly.

I just had a look online for the cheapest 3 bed I could find in the entire city - right on. the outskirts, tiny little box rooms. £1100 a month, so that's over half the magical £500 a week gone already.

Household bills will be at least another couple of hundred on top. Factor in council tax, transport, food (especially in the case of a family - and a family it would be, since no lone adult would receive anything like £500 a week) and that's easily another couple of hundred on top. And what about home insurance? And a safety net for emergency expenditure like getting the plumber out? New clothes for children who have a tendency to outgrow garments as soon as one is pulled over their head for the first time?

How much change from 500 a week do you think that would leave, OP?

There's no amount of money in the whole world that can ever make up for having a child who is disabled

^This.

We get around £70 a week tax credits. DH works and so do I. Do I give a shit about what people think of that? Nope. Do I give a shit about what other people get? Nope again.

Dh works full time minimum wage i was a trained nurse however when ds 2 was diagnosed with autism and learning disabilities i became his carer the nhs trust i worked for were less than sympathetic to my circumstances so for the sake of my sanity and ds needs i gave up work , we now get about 1600 /month in various benfits including ds DLA and carers allowance plus dh wage , which is about 300 pounds less then i earnt full time however we are now living in social housing so our rent is significantly cheaper so we are not really any worse off i would work full time in a heart beat if ds didnt have disabilities i know which i would choose given a chance .

OP, you do understand that "being on benefits" and "being in full-time work on minimum wage" are not mutually exclusive? Housing costs, especially private rental, are so extortionate that in some areas, a FT minimum wage earner would not be able to afford to live without tax credits or some kind of financial support. It's a minimum wage, not a living wage.

Or are you one of those who think that all benefit claimants are out-of-work "scroungers" living off your personal tax pounds?

I'd engage more but the goat needs feeding.