To ask why JSA is virtually half State Pension per week

[Oilnwater]

I'm probably clueless and totally missing something which is why I'm on here asking for help in understanding ......
Currently a single person aged over 25 would get £73.10 per week JSA. A single person basic pension is £129.20.
Why the huge disparity? Who comes up
With the figures? Is there a formula?
It just strikes me as odd that both single people would in theory be facing the same housing / petrol / fuel (the winter fuel allowance isn't much) food, normal everyday costs. Why the huge difference?

@Oilnwater

Is this a joke?

Why the huge disparity?

They don't want people living off benefits. They keep it low so people want to go and find a job.

JSA is set at a level to incentivise work.

To get full state pension you have to have worked and made full contributions for 39 years for women and 45 for men.

You are getting back what you put in.

If a younger person gets paid less that is the way of the world. With experience you will be paid more......it is a system that has operated in the UK for many years and with age comes experience.... and more money per hour....

I truly believe we could have a much better system especially for carers and also there are children who are carers and get nothing......

What we need to do is stop the entitled scroungers who would find a day at work too difficult...there are hundreds out there I have seen them....People who should be helped more get less because of the vast majority of work shy people.......

Because when you get to State pension age you have paid in all your working life, so are only getting back what you paid in. JSA is an amount of money you get to see you through until your next job not something to feel comfortable about and decide to retire on!

Does JSA even exist still i thought it was all UC now and how can you oay for rent bills food etc on £73.10 a week ? My rent alone is £150 per week

Speculating whether it may be to do with a higher percentage of state pension aged people being home owners therefore not being eligible for housing benefit. If your boiler etc breaks in rented accomodation the landlord should (in theory cover the cost) whereas a pensioner has house maintenance costs on top. Carer's allowance does sound pathetically low in comparison though. Under 25s used to have more financial support in terms of further study and ahigher percentage likely have some level of parental support.

Agree with PP that Carers' Allowance is a disgrace especially considering the impact being a carer has upon your ability to work and the amount of money carers save the government each year - £132 billion per year, enough to fund a second NHS.

To qualify for Carers' Allowance you have to provide a minimum of 35hrs care each week, the £66.15 works out as £1.89 per hour based on this, however the reality is that many carers are providing 24/7 care which equates to 39p an hour.

JSA is to help you with costs to find a job.
Pension is to live on , which includes all bills and food. An 80 year old person shouldn’t be looking for a job.

Luca - I think people on JSA also get housing benefit to mostly cover their rent. I could be wrong.

JSA/ UC is a pitiful amount of money to live on, the benefits freeze of that past few years has not helped.

I do think that contributory JSA and ESA should be a lot higher than the bare minimum needed to survive as people have paid in over a period of time to receive that money.

Pensioners have paid in all their lives

Have they? I know of plenty who have never worked a day. The idea that pension age people have worked hard and paid in all their days comes up t8me and time again on these threads. People forget that unemployment isn’t new.

If you never work a day in your life do you still get state pension? I have no clue about pensions.

I presume as others have said it’s because JSA is in theory is supposed to be a temporary payment unlike the state pension. However, I think JSA is incredibly low even taking into account housing benefit is in addition, though housing benefit rates in many areas no longer are sufficient to cover the full rent. I believe UK pension is much lower than other Northern European countries.

If don't claim benefits, even though I am physically disabled, and even if I couldn't work, my husband would be expected to "keep" me, which is also a bit messed up on my opinion).

@ProfessionalBoss, if an ESA claimant (ESA is the benefit for those through illness or disability cannot work) is placed in the ESA support group and not the limited capability for work related activity ESA group and if they have enough NI credits through working in the previous 3 years before claiming ESA they will receive Contribution Based ESA (a single person in the ESA support group can receive ESA contribution based and then an additional income support supplement if they have below the savings limit) and any hours that their partner works or earnings that they receive is not considered in regard to their claim. If a claimant is placed in the limited capability for work activity group then if their ESA is contribution based it will only not be means tested for the first year. After that it will be means tested on household income so if the partner earns above only a low amount the claimant will not get anything after the first year. I agree that is harsh. A claimant who has never been able to work will have their ESA means tested from the start of the claim.

ESA replaced incapacity benefit in 2008. There was only one group for Incapacity Benefit and it was not means tested. The Conservative govt in 2017 or 2018 (can’t remember exactly which year) then voted to reduce the payment to JSA’s rate (about £30 less a week) for those who are placed in the limited capability for work related activity group. Those placed in the limited capability for work group are still classed as not well enough to work currently but may be able to in the future. I think to reduce the rate to JSA was also harsh. Both Labour and Lib Dem manifesto said they would reinstate ESA limited capability for work group rate to equivalent to the support group.

JSA is a pitiful amount to live on, and for many people it's not a short term thing. Jobs are very hard to come by in some communities. It's heartless, imo.

I don't live in the UK, but the JSA here is also less than superannuation. I have been applying for jobs for 14 months and just can't get one - probably due to my age - but I am supposed to live on a similar pitiful amount. When my savings are gone - in the next week or two - I have no idea how I am supposed to live, and how I am supposed to "find" a job.

JSA is set at a level to incentivise work.

No, it's set to punish the unemployed. The pension age has been raised, so there are plenty in their 50s and 60s who now have to claim UC. With little luck of being hired for a FT job.

it is a system that has operated in the UK for many years and with age comes experience

It's an outdated and backwards paradigm that has no place in 2020.

I truly believe we could have a much better system especially for carers and also there are children who are carers and get nothing......

Scotland have introduced a young carers grant for people 16, 17 or 18 who care for someone more than 16 hours a week. It is only £300 a year but should be higher. Someone with young caring responsibilities won't have the ability to go out and get a part time job like their peers and deserve to be able to buy clothes and have some fun like everyone else their age.

Not all pensioners have put into the pot all their lives.
I do know some that have never worked but still able to get the state pension. They'd spent years either living on the husbands' salary and/or whatever benefits.

JSA/UC is also a temporary stop-gap whilst the ESA claim is going through. They still have to shell out transport on top to get to appointments. Yes, I know that if you are successful you get both. Still not a lot in comparison to your pensioner.

£75 a week is fuck all when you are still paying gas, electric, rent, council tax, food etc. Then on top of that travel costs to interviews and of course daily access to the net to check messages from UC, employment emails etc. Yes I know they get hb on top (well they don't because it all gets paid under UC) but the claimant has to still pay top-ups.

Does JSA even exist still i thought it was all UC now confused and how can you oay for rent bills food etc on £73.10 a week ? My rent alone is £150 per week

@LucaFritz, I think - but not 100% certain - all new claimants now who are single can only apply for Universal Credit. The basic amount of UC is same rate as JSA. Housing benefit was in addition to JSA and now under UC is an extra component so both benefits had housing benefit as additionally. However, even when in addition £73 a week is not a lot to cover bills, food, transport to get to interviews phone to arrange. Also housing benefit now due to benefit freezes and reducing Local Housing Allowance rates is comparably lower to a few years ago and in many areas the rate will not cover the full rent so some may find some of the £73 will have to go towards their rent. It must be v tough.

If you never work a day in your life do you still get state pension? I have no clue about pensions.

For the most part, yes. It's a bit complicated and then there is the pension credit too.

The carers system is a joke. Millions are saved yearly from a family giving up their lives to caring for someone. It shouldn't be left to children to do this. Some also do have unrealistic expectations of their children, especially those under 18.

Unfortunately, they shall remain the forgotten carers until those in government start speaking up and making actual changes, rather than just acknowledging it's a problem and hope the issues magickly disappear.

@Chocpear I had my own successful business before my condition deteriorated, at the time I was unable to do anything for myself, so I asked if I was entitled to any benefits whatsoever, even to pay for a carer to manage my basic needs, and I was told that because my husband works full-time, and we own our home I was entitled to nothing.

Thankfully we had savings to pay for adaptions to our home, and with gruelling, regular specialist physiotherapy, I have managed to retrain myself, and I no longer need the same level of care.

Thankfully we could afford to live on my husbands wage alone for the year I was unable to. We know that my condition is progressive, so I'll constantly have the worry of it happening again, but we'll just need to cross that bridge when we get to it...

@ffswhatnext, ESA is split into 2 groups, the limited capability for related work activity group and the support group. About 2 years ago the Conservatives voted to reduce the related work activity group to the same rate as JSA or UC equivalent. Considering these people are still classed as too ill to work currently - just may be able to in the future - I thought it was a particularly mean cut. Both Labour and Lib Dems in their 2019 GE manifesto said they would reinstate the amount to the same as ESA support group claimant rate.

Carers Allowance is an absolute disgrace. The amount paid is abysmal, and you can only get it if you earn under an absolutely paltry sum. I earn ever so slightly too much to get CA despite the fact that my job is only 20 hours per month, and I spend the rest of my time caring for my disabled twins. It’s a reasonably well paid 20 hours per month because it’s a decent job, but the only reason I only work 20 hours per month is because I have two disabled children to care for!