Sense of entitlement to the benefit system

[user1482079332]

I might be abit antagonistic here but wondered if my opinion is shared at all. I grew up on welfare, Very poor at times no food or electricity. Fast forward, Im now a single mum getting ready to go back to work. I have been offered a job full time that will mean I earn alot more in the future, it's worth the short term sacrifice of juggling it all and being skint for awhile . Prior to this I was making arrangements to go back to work part time in a very low paying job. I couldn't get over how much I would receive in benefits working only 16hours a week. There was very little financial incentive to work full time and admittedly if I didn't have this job opportunity I would more than likely stay part time and receive enough in benefits that's I'm on equivalent my previous full time job salary before I had a baby. I can't help but think this creates dependency and entitlement. I had a friend recently earn more and she complained that her benefits had been reduced as a result. I think the benefits system in this country Is a mess and there should be more incentive to work full time than part time if your fit and well.

'It should not be possible to be better off on benefits (including tax credits) and part time working than working full-time.'

Why? Is it a case of ensuring that everybody has to struggle the way you did?

Plenty of people receiving tax credits pay income tax!

I pay income tax thank you very much, get your facts right

I have no family support whatsoever and no help from my ex if I did not receive help from the government we would have ended up in a caravan by now.

"What exactly is being "loaded" on benefits, street? How much money are you talking about?

Loaded means different hinge to different people I'm guessing."

Ok Buns I don't actually mean 'loaded' but surprisingly comfortable considering my husband had left and I was on a part time single wage. It was a few years ago before tax credits cut I took home about £200 a week in salary, £190 (approx) in child tax credit and working tax credit combined a week, child benefit for 2 kids (I think about £120 a month) and all my rent and council tax paid for. I didn't have Sky or anything so I had over £400 a week AFTER housing costs. For me at that time as a single parent of course that's not actually 'loaded' but I used that term because I managed very well in comparison to when my husband lived with me and we had two incomes. Housing took up the vast majority of our money and suddenly that wasn't an issue plus I didn't have a grown man to by groceries for out of the money.
Things are much different now. I don't think you can get working tax credits as well as child tax credits unless you are working more hours than you needed to before. You have to pay council tax regardless whether or not you are on benefits and housing benefit has been reduced. I doubt you could get £400 plus a week as a single parent now.

It's genuine need vs. entitlement.

Impossible to draw the line, because people are never going to agree what is fair. Some feel that it's unfair that they should work when they have children, others feel it's unfair that they have to contribute towards that choice.

But life is about choice, and the choices we make impact hugely on the life we lead.

Although those who are left in a situation through no fault of their own - ill health, disability - should be supported regardless. But this brings us back to the question of where to draw the line. Like everyone, I know people who struggle to work because they don't want to live on the State, others who are happy to use any excuse not to work.

Tory HQ hard at work in the lead up to the election I see

"Just keep putting this stuff online guys, divide and conquer, aren't the British public stupid...

Just off to see about your Uncle's duck pond Giles..."

You had £1600 a month after rent and council tax street? To pay utilities, food bills, insurance, pension, travel, savings for a rainy day etc? That's not so much when you have a child.

I do think that other factors should be considered when calculating child tax credits - someone without a mortgage would receive same as someone with mortgage/rent. The only outgoings that count when claiming is childcare costs.

Similarly I think any financial support paid by other parent isn't accounted for, unless it's paid direct to nursery etc.

Btw I completely agree with the poster who finds the British attitude to benefits a weird hybrid of judgement and jealousy- I can't understand the mindset of being jealous of the poorest in society.

Hillingdon your post represents everything that's wrong with society.

See other posters Ghandi quote, maybe you'll learn something by it (doubtful but still)

olliiegarch you are completely wrong. People entitled to tax credit pay plenty in income tax. You can get them even if you are on 30K plus if only one of you works and you have a couple of kids. You pay out £600 plus in income tax and get a £100 or so back in tax credits.

i worked for 23 years, going back full time when my DD was 5 months.

when i was 39 i had a breakdown. i have no family to rely on. my physical health is also terrible.

so, i get ESA and PIP and i'm grateful for every shiny penny the government gives me. oh, wait - my NI was enough to qualify me for income-related ESA, in the support group.

i paid in, i take out. unless you know the circumstances of each family you should probably shut the fuck up.

Working tax credits have been used by businesses to justify low wages - it was predicted this would happen when they were brought in, and sadly it has. So in order to get a little higher employment rate we have taxpayers subsidising the wage bills of massive corporations. If they were entirely removed tomorrow then it would probably equalise over 2-3 years and wages would have to rise - unfortunately the impact this would have on people's lives means that it's not possible to go backwards.

I agree with Instasista - I wouldn't call that loaded. It may be manageable but it isn't excessive.

Instasista
£1,600 per month - That's not so much when you have a child.

I can't get my head around that! I work full time and don't have that money to spend!

Different people - different expectations - I would say some quite unrealistic.

I think more single mothers will go in to prostitution to make up for the cuts in the welfare system. I know of two already.

ExWife
The State should be helping you - and you should not feel guilty about it.

street - I am not COMPLETELY wrong
the tax credits people receive are not TAXED
if that amount was earned as income - it would be taxed.
child tax credits is NOT taxed
I seriously doubt that people who supplement their income by working part time and claiming tax credits pay as much tax/ni as a person working full time and not claiming tax credits - clear enough ? maybe the way I phrased my point was misleading

I agree, HoldBackTheRain

A snapshot of the failure of civil society in one post.

You had £1600 a month after rent and council tax street? To pay utilities, food bills, insurance, pension, travel, savings for a rainy day etc? That's not so much when you have a child.

Slightly more but yes approx £400 a week but you have to remember I was only working a few hours in the evenings and the weekends. I admit the two years I was single I didn't pay into my pension or save so long term I suppose it wasn't great. But my husband at that time worked 40 hours a week and brought home £1600 and we had to pay housing costs. So to be single, work less hours and feel better off felt a bit....wrong? I didn't struggle at all and had luxuries which I felt undeserving of.
That is how I PERSONALLY felt at the time. I am in no way judging anyone else on claiming benefits. Why would I? I took them and they subsidised part-time hours. I also took the chance to study for a degree and am now in a professional job earning well. BUT, was it really up to anyone else to pay for that study? I get paid better than my ex-husband who didn't have the luxury of working part time and studying in his spare time. I am grateful but can see how it causes resentment iyswim?

Choose unwisely with regard to men

Wow, Hillingdon, just wow.

I suspect I'm one of those you would say chose wisely. (Though I reject that as a judgement on any single parent.) I married my university boyfriend, and we both worked hard and provided for our children as highe rate tax payers. Unfortunately he got cancer, and the year we were unable to work (him due to ill health and me because of caring for him and our DC) began decimating our finances even before he died. I was on benefits for a while after that and if it hadn't been that I had my own business that I could mainly run from home it would have been several years before I could work again. Aside from anything else, one of my children didn't manage full time school for a considerable amount of time.
As it was (3 years ago) thankfully there were benefits available that meant I was at least able to keep our home, and pay for the bereavement counselling we all desperately needed that there was more than a years wait for on the NHS.
(Theresa May agrees with you however that all single parents should be in work, and my friend whose DH is dying in a hospice will only get bereavement benefits for 18 months and then will be moved onto universal credit. She has been a SAHM so she won't even have time to train in a career that she could juggle alongside childcare.)

Other friends of mine are single parents because they left abusive relationships or their previously loving partner suddenly left them. And they are also in need, in many cases, of benefits for a realistic amount of time to enable them to help their DC heal and settle into new schools and home, before they can even think about retraining or job seeking.

You should feel ashamed of yourself.

'It's genuine need vs. entitlement'

Have I slipped into a parallel universe where it's inaccurate to have a sense of entitlement to things that... well... you're entitled to?

Has the meaning of the word changed?

Electrolux

OP here have a

It's a struggle everyday as a lone parent with a disabled child and an abusive ex husband who abandoned all his responsibilities.

Tell you what I'll work myself even harder till I drop and then cost the tax payer 100 times as much in care costs shall I?