Universal Credit :-(

[LovelyBath77]

www.theguardian.com/society/2017/mar/01/universal-credit-hits-families-with-children-hardest-study-finds?CMP=oth_b-aplnews_d-2

Legislation was passed on Friday that stops under 22s accessing the housing costs element of UC for new claims from April. There are exemptions, but in practice, basically no-one under 22 will be eligible to claim housing costs in UC, or to claim Housing Benefit from April.

The full digital roll-out is not expected to be complete until 2022. Bearing in mind that it was originally supposed to be this year, that just shows how far behind the whole sorry shambles is.

Kath

There are lots of people who work and struggle on min wage, they work pt because that's all they can find.
There are people who only work 16 hours because to work more wouldn't mean just losing tax credits but gaining a childcare bill they couldn't afford.
At least for these people their 16 hours attracts support which allows them to keep working.

It's not a case of parents having to work a few more hours, they have to find another job and if they don't it's bye bye support.
I think this deserves a lot of sympathy as it just traps parents in deeper poverty.
Even though the mc may say they are feeling the pinch, they aren't living in poverty where the main people are who this will affect.
I'm glad I have sympathy tbh.

Wages need to rise to raise people above the need to rely on tax credits. People not profit!

Gilly. I have a colleague who has one 16 yr old dc. Working more hours would not incur childcare costs. She has been offered more hours in her current job over the years which she has declined because she would be no better off.

I did a calculation and I think it worked out that I'll be £70 a week worse off on UC. I'm a lone parent on min wage job. My contract is 16 hours but I'm constantly asking for more hours. Sometimes I get them, sometimes I Dont. If I do it's usually 2-4 extra hours, certainly not the 7 I would need to make up the shortfall in income from losing £70 a week. I know there'll be people a lot worse off too.

Sorry, I meant not the 10 hours I would need to make up the shortfall.

Wages need to rise to raise people above the need to rely on tax credits

Exactly. There are plenty of people who aren't entitled to tax credits because they have no DCs or have a working partner but still have to work for the same poverty wages as those who receive top ups, which in some cases can be significant.

I am concerned with the no hb for under 25's. For many reasons people move out of their homes and this will now add to the already high homeless list. On a selfish note, I have 3 under this age. They have moved out because they have gained employment. I want to down grade but feel I cannot because what happens if they loose their jobs? One there is the real possibility that redundancies will happen.
Many in this age group are on minimum wage and no hours contracts. £5.60 a hour for under 20's. £7.05 for 21-25. How are they supposed to live? Let me guess move somewhere cheaper? Which really works when you have a job in one area and faced with commuting costs and rent.

Then there's the shambles that is UC. 6 weeks minimum to get a payment. That's 6 weeks of no money. When this was first raised, claimants were told to save for this. You know because with the caps it's easy to pay everything and save to find everything for at least 6 weeks.

When I was working part time yes I refused extra hours. Want to actually know why? They weren't regular. I was offered 2 weeks extra hours. Even though such a short time I would have to declare and adjustments made. Then to declare again. Chances during this time any help would be paused which of course doesn't pay rent. In a year period I was offered about 8 times. Sometimes a few hours, days or two weeks. It's not as simple as take the hours. When I was offered more stable hours I took them. Just remember these top ups are the equivalent as having another earner, only with terrible Pay. If one takes a day without pay it affects the household. It's he same for the 16 hour. There's probably a better analogy but I'm sure you understand what I mean.

What you all have to remember is you don't know what's round the corner. You cannot say in 6 months time you will be in a relationship. You will be working. Because shit happens and realistically anyone can find themselves on UC. For many being on benefits isn't a choice they make.

It will be exceptionally hard for some people to budget for 6 weeks. I think there is some kind of advance they can apply for whilst they wait for the first payment but then that is repaid. Also there will be problems with the application process. From what I understand it is quite a long process which can only be done online and cannot be saved and returned to at a later point.

Affordable childcare needs to be a consideration too. In my old job with 2 children into different types of childcare (nursery and after after school/holiday care) I simply couldn't make it work. Even using childcare vouchers. TC gave me maybe £6 a week or something towards childcare, so not even the extra snack money required for breakfast club!

Not just affordable but flexible childcare, I would work on a monthly rota (as I am sure many do) and couldn't guarantee set hours for a nursery place. It's nearly impossible to find childcare that allows you to switch days and times every month.

mrsmcgregor I am actually in the process of registering as a CMer and flexible hours is something I will be offering for exactly this reason.

The Housing Benefit for the under-25's does worry me. I left home when I was 20 into supported accommodation and I was so lucky to get it. I really feel for other 20 year olds who will be in my situation as I was 13 years ago and they will be screwed.

Universal Credit has not been thought out at all and the roll-out dates just seems to be putting back further and further.

Also what happens when your payments take 6-10 weeks to process? What are you meant to live on? Not everyone has tons of savings to fall back on, some people live hand-to-mouth each month.

Hunter - I think when a claimant initially claims they can apply for some sort of advance but then this gets clawed back over a few months leaving the claimant with even less to live off !

Babyroobs Which bit of children being in poverty didn't you get?

Genuinely, is the change to hb meaning that young people won't get it at all, or that it will only extend to house sharing?

What about young parents?

Young parents will still get it I think. Under 25's won't get the housing element. 25- 35 year old will be expected to house share.

It will make a lot of under 25's homeless. Many cannot live with parents for various reasons. I think young people leaving care will be assisted.

Hmm, but many people don't leave care and yet need somewhere to live due to familial relations breaking down. Not great.

Yes or just young people finding low paid work in an area other than the one where family and friends are.

Thanks Babyroobs, i understand PIP is separate but the thing is with tax credits there are also disability premiums for people on the highest PIP and this makes a difference- this will go as will I think the other disability premium for the disabled going into 16 hrs work.

I'm also concerned about the self-employed and how they will be assessed. For example if one partner is self-employed the other on ESA / PIP will they expect the other to do lots of hours? I mean they could claim carer's but just over the threshold of £100 a week.

I can envisage young people sleeping ten to a room just to have a roof over their heads or renting a shed in someone's back garden like you see on these documentaries on TV. Bloody awful. I am surprised there hasn't been more in the news about this.

zilphas maybe flexible childcare will become more common as demand increases? I can only hope!

I am sure you will get tonnes of business, so many people require it.

Lack of flexible child care is one of the reasons I've struggled to find employment for so long. I regularly attend jobs fairs but it's the same story every time where all the vacancies are either apprenticeships (I'm too old) or shift work and I've got no friends or relatives to help with child care for those kinds of hours. I've heeded the warning to start saving for when UC affects me - it rolled out in my area a long time ago but they aren't switching me until I report a change in circumstances. But it's difficult to save when you're a single parent of four and on a very low income to begin with

I am surprised there hasn't been more in the news about this

I'm not. The media is 80% tory. The msm doesn't show a fraction of it for this reason, most of what I needed to know I got from claimant support groups' twitter pages

I used to have a fairly flexible childminder when my kids were young ( lucky I know) but it did make it hard for her and I think it only worked because her clients were all shift workers ( mainly nurses) who's shifts changed each week. I could imagine it could be a bit of a nightmare offering flexible childcare if you are wanting to childmind at your full capacity as there may be times when everyone wants the same day and then you would risk going over the legal numbers.