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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

£1,800 universal credit for the unemployed AIBU ???

136 replies

rosekettie · 26/03/2020 18:58

Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of sympathy for people that has lost their jobs due to COVID-19. BUT.....just announced now...a family of 2 children out of work can now claim £1,800 worth of universal credit WHILE AS a registered nurse after paying all taxes, parking fee and pension comes home with £1,700 on a good month. That's with enhancements of weekend and night working. Even less so for HCA and other support staff. Maybe we should all go home and isolate..THOUGHTS,????

OP posts:
TitsInAbsentia · 26/03/2020 21:38

I'm in the begrudger category too....still working...still paying tax...and will for certain have to pay even more tax when all this is over and the government tries to work out how to backfill on the unicorn money they have just promised people...

Surely if you are self employed it's your responsibility to have a back up plan/funds/insurance for times when you can't work, that's the reason I've never gone self employed Confused I don't even want to get started on the self employed people I know who don't put everything through the books.

Inappropriatefemale · 26/03/2020 21:41

Self employed folks are getting money from applying for UC and the amount they get is based on the tax they paid year ending 2019, and they will get a lump sum just now but then they have to wait until June to get backdated payments.

Not all self employed people make enough to have a stash and it’s not fair to say that they should, nobody thinks that they have to prepare for a global pandemic.

Leobynature · 26/03/2020 21:42

I agree that £1800 is a lot of money for a family to get in benefits and does make me question whether I really have to work 40hrs per week with young children. However, I’m getting slightly fed up with the angelic portrayal of nurses. Equally care workers, social workers, police, teachers are essential to our heath and personal safety and can earn a very modest income.

flirtygirl · 26/03/2020 21:42

The people saying UC is alot are the people who will always accept divide and conquer.

The people who are happy to see poverty as long as they feel superior and that no one is getting more than them.

The people who vote to make everyone poorer as they would rather have that, instead of aiming to raise standards for everyone.

The people who agree with zero hours contracts and think everyone has a choice in their choice of job.

The people who refuse to see inequality in society.

The people who buy into the concept of the deserving and the undeserving.

Pandemic or no pandemic, these people are a sizable part of the UK population and the Ops post is just one of these type of posts/threads that appear on mumsnet every single week.

Rollypollyrosie · 26/03/2020 21:42

The support package for self employed and UC are 2 different things

myboysmum · 26/03/2020 21:44

My partner is self employed and now can't work so we applied for universal credit. As I am still earning full time we are only entitled to £90 per month towards our rent. My wages alone do not cover our outgoings, we are at least £300 a month short and that's not including buying food. He is not entitled to this news today of helping the self employed as he only became self employed in August last year. We thought he could get a temporary job at a supermarket as they are advertising around here for temporary staff whilst the country is going through this but I am in the extremely vulnerable category as I am having chemo so have to isolate for at least 12 weeks so we risk him catching the virus and bringing it home to me. Just don't know how we are going to manage 🙁

SimplySteveRedux · 26/03/2020 21:51

think it’s brilliant for the people who’ve lost their income through no fault of their own, but will still be a lot less than a lot of people are used to earning.

Absolutely, it's not the windfall suggested.

I worry for the long-term disabled/unemployed/people relying on top-up when the dust settles post CV.

Rollypollyrosie · 26/03/2020 21:54

It’s always been shit for long term disabled/unemployed. They’re used to living a hand to mouth existence, well below the poverty line with mounting debts they can’t afford to repay. After CV it’ll continue to be the same old shit as always.

Zilla1 · 26/03/2020 22:01

Sorry to hear and that sounds tough, Myboysmum, on top of what led up to your chemo as well. I imagine HMT had some pointy discussions before they said self-employed for less than a year only get UC. UC is not generous even with the £20 per week top up.

SimplySteveRedux · 26/03/2020 22:02

Excellent post @HeIenaDove , as always, and I hope you are well.

flirtygirl · 26/03/2020 22:04

Rollypollyrosie
It’s always been shit for long term disabled/unemployed. They’re used to living a hand to mouth existence, well below the poverty line with mounting debts they can’t afford to repay. After CV it’ll continue to be the same old shit as always.

This absolutely.

SimplySteveRedux · 26/03/2020 22:16

@Rollypollyrosie * It’s always been shit for long term disabled/unemployed. They’re used to living a hand to mouth existence, well below the poverty line with mounting debts they can’t afford to repay. After CV it’ll continue to be the same old shit as always.

This absolutely.*

Yes, myself and DP are worried.

SinkGirl · 26/03/2020 22:21

Surely if you are self employed it's your responsibility to have a back up plan/funds/insurance for times when you can't work, that's the reason I've never gone self employed

After the financial crisis and changes to disability benefits, the number of self employed people sky rocketed. A significant percentage have never earned minimum wage. I know lots of “self employed” people who are disabled, trying to earn bits of money when they can, and who should be on longterm disability benefits but are not. They can’t work a full time job, many of them used to. They can barely pay their bills let alone save a stockpile. They don’t choose to become self employed, they were just trying to survive.

BeijingBikini · 26/03/2020 22:22

Surely if you are self employed it's your responsibility to have a back up plan/funds/insurance for times when you can't work, that's the reason I've never gone self employed

Same could be said for employed - you could hate your job and want to leave, have a breakdown, have an accident (I know someone who fell and had to be off for 6 months) or be laid off.

Rollypollyrosie · 26/03/2020 22:31

People are in shock that there’s only an incredibly flimsy safety net when the shit hits the fan. The govt have stepped up and offered a safety net and some people begrudge that. The support packages are disjointed and confusing and vast numbers of people aren’t eligible. A universal basic income for all would have been much better, but I suppose some people would begrudge that too.

JanMeyer · 26/03/2020 22:32

why though isnt it highlighting the shit poor pay the uc gives out,or benefits in gneral.all those people up in arms saying the 251 wouldn't be enough to live off.not near enough.as in its nothing. so they changed it now.ok,but that is waht all those people on the normal uc have to live off!and they bloody struggle every sodding day.why havent anyone been up in arms for them.or the wait time they have had to go through which has now dissappeared for the 'new' unemployed.why is it ok for those others to live on fuck all but not these folk.

Yep, all excellent points. Especially about the wait time. When disabled people have to transfer to UC no-one gives a fuck that they have to wait five weeks - they're told to save up to prepare for the month they'll have no money. Yeah, save up on the pittance people get that barely lasts the month.
But oh no, all these special people who have now been forced to claim, the rules don't apply to them like they do to the rest of us peasants.

Would all the people who went on about benefit claimants living a life of luxury on their taxes like to admit they were wrong now? Or will they just carry on in their usual blinkered way convinced that everyone was getting that amount of UC all along?
But then it's not just about the money, none of these people will have to deal with the work related activities, the job searching, the stress when the DWP accidentally on purpose fuck up your claim. They won't know what it's like to live in fear of a brown envelope coming through the letterbox every day.

It really really makes me angry to hear MPs going on about how £94 a week isn't enough for someone to live on, when there are disabled people living on even less than that and most of them don't seem to care about that 😡😡😡😡

YoureAllGrounded · 26/03/2020 22:33

People are facing devastating financial ruin at the minute, as well as physical and mental health worries. We're living in such unprecedented, unnerving times.

I don't begrudge anyone receiving whatever they need.

OlaEliza · 26/03/2020 22:34

Yadnbu op. Benefits (for the able bodied, whatever other disclaimers are needed) are supposed to be a stopgap.

Rollypollyrosie · 26/03/2020 22:39

Yet tax credits exist because wages are piss poor and many people on UC (which has replaced tax credits) are also working - so not a stopgap for them.

Also most disabled people don’t get any more UC than non-disabled. They’re permanently meant to survive on £73 a week (often less)

Femail · 26/03/2020 22:45

I work part time and dont get anywhere near that amount but yet having to go to work in these times risking my health and that of my disabled daughters. Keyworkers should get hazard pay

Gingerkittykat · 26/03/2020 22:46

Can I ask the OP what they think would be a reasonable amount for a family of 4 to get on benefits right now?

Pineappletree33 · 26/03/2020 23:04

Surely if you are self employed it's your responsibility to have a back up plan/funds/insurance for times when you can't work, that's the reason I've never gone self employed*

Surely the same could be said for the employed? Or do self employed people earn so much more than the employed, that they can just stash thousands? I’m self employed and had a small back up, which was used during my 3 month maternity leave 2 years ago. Maternity allowance isn’t great. My colleague has terminal cancer, her financial buffer has gone on days off for her treatment.
Damn, We should have seen this pandemic coming and saved for it.

KillingEvenings · 26/03/2020 23:07

Surely if you are self employed it's your responsibility to have a back up plan/funds/insurance for times when you can't work

What a load of hoey. These are exceptional times. If you believe above then the same logic holds that if you own/run a business you should have a back up plan to pay your employees for times when the biz can't earn and the govt wouldn't have to be bailing them out.

(I'm self employed and have had plans and funds for covering holidays and sick pays for the last 10 years. I've got insurance that covers if I'm not able to work due to accident. The way the govt has gone into lockdown-lite means this isn't covered by insurance.)

Original poster
rosekettie · 26/03/2020 23:08

Thank you all for good discussion, support and scrutiny...I am really thankful that I still have a job and that I am in good health, and can keep my house. Nursing is a vocation and that's why like many I went into it. Today more than ever, am so thankful and proud to be a nurse BUT while the govt put the NHS in austerity for the last 10 years with little to no funding in some areas. Why was this money not poured into the NHS earlier and look after staff to retain them?

OP posts:
Zilla1 · 26/03/2020 23:12

Because there's no such thing as a magic money tree OP. Until there is. Schrodinger's magic money tree.