New £23k Benefit Cap.

[legotits]

AIBU to ask if anyone still supports this?

Which families is this targeted at?

Anyone who will be affected, is it even feasible to not be pushed into debt?

im affected by the cap. I have 3 children age 13, almost 2 and 4 months. I'm a single mum in rented accommodation in Berkshire. My rent is already the lowest in the area for a 3 bed house and the cap means I will be made homeless or forced into work leaving my 2 youngest in childcare. The stay at home choice is no longer possible for single mums or couples on a low income. There's something wrong with that IMO. Some of the opinions on here are vile.

There does need to be a cap, when we live in a society where you can work full time and still earn less than people on benefits it's appalling. At the same time, this benefits cap will cause families that are struggling to struggle even more, potentially at the expense of the kids.
Something does need to be done with the benefits system but I don't think this is the solution. I'm not even sure there is a suitable solution to the problem.

www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jan/26/benefit-cap-on-social-housing-will-leave-thousands-homeless-landlords-warn

Won't this "only paying for 2 children" thing really put women at a disadvantage? How many times do we see women on here, panicking about leaving a relationship because the man is the main earner or sole earner, and they're advised to put in for benefits? How much harder will it be for any with more than 2 children to leave?

The benefit cap plus the two children thing will hit single mothers above everyone else. But that's OK 'cos they shouldn't have had children they can't afford and how dare they have more than one child with a man who 5/10/15/20.... years down the line turns into an alien and leaves, emptying the joint accounts on his way out.

I am a single mum of 3. Today I am a full time teacher but I am only that because of the financial support I received for all 3 of my children. I couldn't have managed with only money for 2. It would never have added up.

In the meantime....Totally agree our very lax enforcement regime and the seeming social acceptability of (mostly) Dads dodging their financial responsibilities to their kids would be a better place to start - but for some reason, the ebenfit cap seems more popular (and it has plenty of support on here)

Because why should father's support their children? Far easier to blame the one left holding the baby. Literally.

the cap means I will be made homeless or forced into work leaving my 2 youngest in childcare.

"forced into childcare", you mean like everyone else who has young children and needs to work in order to pay bills?

This is what gets people's backs up.

Is anyone watching the Victorian Slum? I think some people think that's how poor people should be living today. No security of tenure if you can't pay the rent, no security of employment and it's your own fault if you can't secure yourself an insecure job - especially if you also happen to be disabled.

The benefit cap should be £7.20 x 35 hours a week = £252 per week X52 = £13104. The benefits of not working should never be higher than that of working, including disability benefits.
Wow! Just fucking wow! I can't afford my heating. I'm quite severely disabled and you think that £73 a week is enough? I'm not able to work, although I have.

More the people with large families who don't work for years on end because the previous system provided them with an above average income that gave them a very decent lifestyle in much of the country outside the south east.
Except that the evidence shows that there are very few families like this. So you just think that everyone should suffer for the sake of the few?

far easier to blame the one holding the baby

This in fucking spades.

"People aren't complaining about the benefits received by disabled people, or people who lose their jobs for a short period. "

Yes they are Barbara. You need to read Boogers post again.

I'm on ESA (support group).
Because of this I'm exempt from the cap but I come in under the cap amount so would have been unaffected anyway.
I have 2 kids, single parent, student, live outside London.

I was (and continue to be) thankful for the safety net of benefits when I lost my job & ability to work last year (at the same time as my marriage broke down).

What I receive a month/year in various benefits is enough for us to live without worrying about money.
The people who will be adversely affected by the cap are those with more children.

The woman with 8 children that appears a lot on various news items was on Victoria Derbyshire today - she was saying that she was going to give up her 16 hr per week job due to 'not having the time to be a mum to her kids anymore'.
She also mistakenly believed that the cap would affect her and decided she'd rather give up her job and not work again (but was informed that it doesn't as she's in receipt of WTC - if she gave up her job then she would be affected by the cap).

If the cap stops people from doing what she wants to do (give up work to 'be a mum', and rely solely on benefits), then I'm fully behind it.
As with millions of other women, I worked in excess of 40 hrs per week and was still perfectly able to 'be a mum'.

Benefits should not be a lifestyle choice for the healthy and able, they should be a safety net for those who find themselves in need, and for those with disabilities that need them.

Much easier to work full time when there's another adult around to share the parenting and household tasks, cheaper when there's two lots of annual leave for when a child isn't at school or sick. You can't compare lone parenting to joint, I've done both and they are completely different.

I've not recieved a penny from exh in 5years and 8months
Chasing up NRPs should be the government's first priority. Sometimes you have your family and OH pisses off, you can't even insure against that .

£20,000 is tax and NI free. Remember too passported benefits such as free prescriptions, school meals etc. Many working people don't receive that. Also, if someone in the household has benefits such as DLA, PIP, Carer's Allowance or Guardian's Allowance they are not subject to the CAP. The reduction to the CAP was announced months ago and claimants have received letters and phone calls so today should not be a shock. Hard choices will have to be made just as working people have to make hard choices.

jw you'll be forced into work. Well that says it all.

Numbers crunched..............it will price ppl out of SOCIAL housing.

speye.wordpress.com/2016/11/07/the-benefit-cap-makes-social-landlords-financially-toxic/

Please explain to me --how do fathers who are not living with their children get away with not paying maintenance for them? I really do not understand this as the only father I know in this situation pays lots of money to maintain his. Surely if it is known where the father is they have to pay, how do they get out of it?

"The stay at home choice is no longer possible for single mums or couples on a low income. There's something wrong with that IMO.."

WHAT! The stay at home choice for single mums and low paid! There should be no stay at home option on the tax payers expense. I don't see my family enough due to working in a stressful but well paid job, do to my wife. Why should I pay for you to have a life style that isn't an option for me? You are part of the problem!

Forced into childcare? What do you think people have to do to work and fend for themselves. It is that kind of attitude that doesn't help people feel sorry that a cap is being introduced.

Oh I completely agree that the Child Maintenance Service needs a complete overhaul, more teeth, much MUCH tougher penalties (punitive fines, confiscated driving licence/passport and then jail) , much higher amounts (including for NRPs on low incomes) and needs to take into account the cost of childcare.

£20,000 is tax and NI free.
No it isn't. That's after tax and NI. Yes, even on benefits.

And if you're still on the assessment phase of ESA, or in the WRAG you are unlikely to be in receipt of DLA/PIP, so are having to manage on £73.00 per week as a single disabled person. How much harder would you like me to try?

11k after housing costs is just existing

That is £916 a month. How much bloody money is needed a month if nearly a grand in cash and tax free is merely existing?

jw35 forced to work and leave your children in childcare is something most people do! It's not like you are locking them in a cupboard all day.

The cap is really a token gesture, it helps a little but doesn't tackle the major issues. For a start, you can simply work the very few hours of sixteen and get round it altogether and it's only 24 between a couple.

The very fact that many can net more in benefits for doing nothing than some do for working all week is appalling. It's not a question of just making wages higher, unskilled jobs don't demand a higher wage.

Whilst state support is so high people will continue to make choices they can't afford knowing somebody else will pick up the tab. It's no longer seen as acceptable to have children you have no means to support (now or in the future) and that's a very sad indication of how society has changed for the worse.

Living with a parent so it doesn't matter if they're sanctioned for leaving jobs, being self employed, not having inheritances of five or six figures taken into account for child maintenance (even arrears) becoming students, changing addresses - all sorts of ways... mine is constantly changing benefits and the system still hasn't caught up and paid even the pittance due from those for six months.