To think the benefit cap is going to plunge families into poverty

[Firsttheworst]

Next month the benefit cap comes in. It sets out the maximum that can be claimed in a week across all benefits. This doesn't include disability or wtc. Its aimed purely at women (mostly) claiming income support. You can only claim income support if you have a child under 5 and don't work.

The benefit cap is in the government owns words designed to get IS claimants out to work. The cap is currently £500 and will be reduced to £384 a week.

This includes, housing benefit, CT benefit, tax credits, income support. So all in total cannot be more than £384 a week. Over a 30 day month that comes to £1645.

From that £1645 I need to pay

rent £900 a month (no I can't move, its impossible to rent on benefits as it is, not giving this house up and its below market rent as it is)

CT - £60 a month

Electricity £80

Oil £80

Diesel £ 120 (rural don't drive anywhere other than school runs and supermarket/town once or twice a week)

Car insurance £49

Car tax £19.99

Phone/internet £40 (thats a basic mobile and broadband)

House insurance £13

TV licence £11

That leaves 272 a month to pay for food, clothes, car breakdown, school trips, birthdays, miscellaneous and god knows what else. For one adult and 3 children.

AIBU to think that the government have just decided that if they starve us out for long enough we'll be forced to go out and find a job? Like I said rural area so jobs are rarer than hens teeth and believe me i'm looking. It is pure discrimination against single mothers with small children (i doubt many men claim income support)

SuramarMom sorry I didn't mean to be snippy, but the gentleman concerned has never taken a penny in benefits in his life, is bloody inspirational and if you met him you'd cringe at any excuse any of us ever make for not working because believe me if he can we all can.

Cma/csa is enforced if the father or unusually the mother is on Paye.
There is no escaping that, provided, as mentioned, that the resident parent makes the call.
The vast majority of people are on Paye taxation.
Loopholes are the self employed and the rich.
There are means to tackle this.
They choose not to.

And having moved from one end of the country to the other I claimed HB in one county then moved literally down the road but over the border to another council and claimed HB there. Nobody batted an eyelid

But how did you find a LL willing to rent to you as a HB claimant?

I work full time with unpaid over time and I only get £700 a month, my husband works every hour under then sun and brings home £1000. We have two children and have a mortgage to pay also. I can see things will be tight for you and others but to be honest it's not much less then us working stupid hours a week.

All work shy scroungers are benefit claimants??

Hmm, I am sure there are a work shy trust fund kids with accounts to ensure they escape paying tax

AIBU to think that the government have just decided that if they starve us out for long enough we'll be forced to go out and find a job?

My point is, the government aren't starving the OP. Many other people manage on that amount of money. Many other people have to deal with a sudden drop in income. When I first became ill, I was too well for sickness benefits but too ill to continue as I was in my job. So I reduced my hours (and therefore my income). We adjusted the way we were living to accommodate the drop in income.

And if you want a better standard of living, you go and do something about it. Not complain that the government are starving you (which to me does imply that she wants the government to give her more money!)

Its called the nudge effect U2, people change because they are nudged toward it. The cut in CB for certain groups was one, removing CTCs from others another.Publishing the benefits cap as a whole sum and then comparing it to what people got a year another.

The Overton window has shifted much further to the right since 2010.

Pisssssedofff ah sorry about that, thought you meant they got that in benefits.

I was going to call up the job centre and ask where the rest of our money was 😂

OP if you've worked almost your whole life, and you've got 2 children at school, one of whom is 11, how did you manage to work before? Being on the PTA/Governor and volunteerinf with homestart are lovely things to do, but are the sort of hobbies most working mothers can't do because they're at work.

All of you who say you'd just work or carry on with your jobs. Take any help you get from your family out of the equation. Take any help or childcare you get from your DH out of the equation. Just you on your own.

Can you still do your job?

Manumission
I didn't mention housing benefit for a start with this house, it's nobody's business how I pay the rent just that I do. However the first house I rented, I was living on the other side of the world and sent my mate around to view it and she then paid the deposit I transferred into her account. It wasn't too difficult. I'd love to move house now and with the estate agent fees etc are making it difficult. I also need to live near a train station for work but obviously if you aren't working you don't have that problem.

Simple Solution: benefits should not exceed the national minimum wage in fact it should be less! After all the government thinks it's adequate for people to live on. (That is £288 for 40 hours / week or just under 15k/ year, so benefits should be between £200-250/ week plus child tax credits calculated to £ 288/ week).

Benefits should be there for people who need help because they have fallen on hard times. They can't be viewed as a permanent source of income.

yummy the waiting list for after school and breakfast club is often huge. Mine are sitting at 14th and 15th on the breakfast club list. It will probably be a year or two until they get a space. There's a similar length list for after school club. And good childminders are a) like gold dust and b) booked up anyway. Around here there just isn't available childcare. I'm a lp and my mum travels two counties for two school pick ups a week.

Yeah sorry SuramarMom probably not going to happen 😂

Ah now Pisssssedofff I disagree with you there.

I'm sure your friend is incredibly inspirational.

However there are some people who just can't work. There really are.

Dh is one, though he did before he became disabled. Dd is likely to be another from birth.

Of course, for those who are working full-time and getting less in benefits than the OP, their tax rate should really be reduced. In the meantime of course they'll be fed up that some of those on benefits have a nicer life - who wouldn't be, really? This is what we should be lobbying government for. Taxes need to be reduced for the bottom 30% at least and MASSIVELY increased (and it enforced) for the top 5%. Of course, since a lot of those who are part of that 5% are also MPs (and landlords - might be something to do why rent caps aren't even on the political horizon except for JC), this would be like turkeys voting for Christmas.

My DH and I have never claimed benefits and there are MANY times we have been forced to move (and it has been unpleasant and difficult and disruptive to the DCs) to cheaper areas. If it is true that the benefits system does not allow this then this should change immediately. However, I have read a number of articles about people in hostels in London being offered accommodation in other parts of the country, so am a bit confused about what is true. Moving costs, yes but if you're saving £200 pmonth in rent then you make these back quickly (we just had to borrow for moving costs / stick things on credit cards)

On a practical note: we've had a lot of unexpected costs recently and have switched to a heavily lentil and bean based diet - healthy, provides a lot of protein but much, much, much cheaper than meat. I regularly do Lentil soup, lentil and vegetable curry and bean stew. Delicious, nutritious and cheap. Lots of sites out there on how to eat well and cheaply - Jack Monroe's site has loads of good recipes. (and you can search on recipes under 30p, 50p and £1).

Numpty, unless you are working under NMW I can't see how you work full time and bring home 700 a month?

But don't letting agents and LLs want proof that you can afford the rent? Something official or bank statements?

When are you talking about?

I'm talking about March 2015 - I refuse to use letting agencies, gumtree all the way, no way am I pay £550 for the pleasure of renting a house through an agent, people need to take more of s stand over that too

The appetite for change has come from the middle classes.
Tired of working for a profession, a degree, and being outpriced in spending power, work to life balance by people working part time menial jobs and earning the same with benefits.
Thats how it is.
The gap has closed.
The link between wages and work is broken.

I am not saying it's easy Manumission, but it's not the impossibility some imply as for child support, take the £5 if that's what's offered because once they are in the system and the Csa have their tax details they are in the net. The absent parent cannot be at uni forever or if they are a stay at home parent to the new partners kids, great they can do the same for their own whilst you go out to work can't they ? Lots of options

No first. I have no help at all from anyone.

Dh works 6 days a week so when I've needed to clean I would put ds in a back pack and clean with him on me or put him in a travel cot. If your kids are at school I can see no reason why you can't go out for a few hours in the day and clean.

U2

I have found the biggest increase in calling for further cuts were the ones who lost out tc at 42k, the first cuts and especially if their family lost cb too.
Of course lots more have lost out again since tc dropped further, maybe some of these agree with further cuts too.

ineed - so the people who are currently paying for the lions share of the system should have their taxes MASSIVELY increased? How is that fair? Why should the govt take peoples money and give it straight to other people? Maybe they should massively increase everyones tax and multiply the foreign aid payments by 1000? After all it's the same principle.

The middle classes like it, because they're foolish and misdirected.

Whilst the rewards for rentiers have increased dramatically with taxes lowered, everyone else has been lumped into the middle.

But the distracted middle keep voting aspirationally rather than in their own interests.