to expect to have more disposable income than single mums claiming benefits

[newnails]

i no longer know why me and dh bother, he works full time and i work part time so that i can juggle the child care.

i know of 3 single mums who stay near me who seem to have more money than i can dream of, out every weekend, always shopping and 2 of them manage to run cars.

i know the benefit system is needed by some people but it seems to be a complete joke these days, the wasters in this country are leading the life of reilly while the rest of us are left to slog our guts out to pay for there existence.

no doubt i will get flamed for this post but i have been out xmas shopping today trying to work to a budget then i stand next to these people at the school gates and hear about all the grants they are entitled to so they can buy xmas presents, one of them has even cut back the last 2 months and managed to save £800, it would take me bloody months to save that up.

ok rant over, deep down i am glad i am not one of these people and i do actually work for what i have but it still pisses me of.

Oh can i have a free babysitter? Dh and i haven't been out in, what, 10 years!

Jule I choose to stop at 2 I use contraception
Lucky - but it is someones else's business the money does not come from fresh air it comes form the tax payer.... we have the right to know where our money is going surely ??

macdoodle I wasn't on benifits when i had my 4th! I was with an abusive partner who worked.

Oh dear this has all got a bit nasty & personal, i don't think anyone should be judging tortoise you don't know her story or her life why pick on someone because they choose to have 4 kids as you put it! Do you know she choose to have 4 kids? no you don't so give the poor women a break.

Life is hard, my dp works hard, long hours, we live in the south east our rent is massive, we could not afford to pay it luckily dp's dad pays half our rent for us at the moment because we are waiting to be housed, if he did not do this we would be in the gutter & quite possibly on the streets.

Everyones situations are different, i don't know half of people home circumstances at the school gates but yes they talk about christmas presents, savings etc but i don't ask them how they afford it all.

The only answer is to scrap the current system of means-testing. Every British adult adult over the age of 18, working or not, would receive a non-means tested "living allowance" until retirement gae. The allowance would be calculated to be the minimum amount that a person would need to live on. It would not allow for luxuries such as cigarettes, alcohol, holidays or Hi-Fi paraphernalia. There would not be any extra for anyone with children.

Then, for those people who worked, even if only a couple of hours a day, all their earnings would be to their benefit, i.e. they would be better off by working.

There would be no tax allowance; all income (including the "living allowance") would be taxable. This means working people would always be better off than benefit claimants but benefit claimants would never be destitute and would always have enough to just about get by.

'And I will never own a home again unless there is a horrendous property crash, so like all people in rented accommodation, I'm fully aware that I could be kicked out of my house with about 2 months notice, whatever I do right or wrong and then have all the fun of trying to find somewhere else to live when I'm on housing benefti...'

Exactly, madamez!

I can't believe someone would begrudge a single mum and her kids a bit of money.

I mean, WTF? Who would chose that kind of life - that's bloody hard graft.

No, thanks.

Your choice then macdoodle.

That'd keep the population down alright!

but ssd that £300 might be a providental loan that she will spend the next year paying back. People on benefits dont simply have disposiable (sp?) cash at hand, how couls they? they usually live off loans.

A high earner is not necceassrily a millionaire ...you are taxed at 40% at anything over £33K not a lot at all by the time you take 40% of it....I know a lot of people who would have to earn £50K to live like they do on benefits..doesn't seem all that fair to me

"You have children to perpetuate human existence you know"

The human race is hardly at risk from extinction.

However I know several single mums who have three or four children by different Dads. The fathers are useless and irresponsible. The children are just as useless as their Dads. I doult that either the Mums or Dads are particularly bright. Does the country really benefit from them reproducing? A lot of the offspring of the mums on benefits are as lazy and gormless as their parents.

There is no doult that benefits system needs to be reformed. Working single mums are a completely different group of people.

Yes, I think that able bodied long term benefit claiments should do community service. Why do benefit claiments think that the rest of the country owe them a living?

I do think there is a difference between someone with 4 Kids finding themselfs in a situation of having to claim benefits and someone who is on benefit and has one child after another because in their (possibly) smallminded calculation another child will bring in extra money!
And someone on this thread earlier opened my eyes to the labeling of Kids (of course) here, where I see a lot of this benefit lifestyle thing going on, I also see a lot of parents getting their Kids labelled as ADHD, etc....and honest there is nowt wrong with them Kids, honestly there isn't...and my Kids aren't easy, believe me.....but yeah, it's all about raising their ncome, and that is even more infuriating, because I do know how difficult it is to get a statement, etc....and I know people with children who really are autistic etc...that even have problems to get the statrement...again...money is taking out from the spongers to support their lifestyle and choices, whilst those in the situation for real are often left high and dry

I am sorry Macdoodle but, we have a mortgage, less than 50k a year coming into the house and we are a LOT better off than anyone claiming benefits. Plus we will reap the rewards when the mortgage is paid off and we don't have to pay for our accomodation in the future.

so what you saying macdoodle? everyone on benefits should declare publicly what they spend their money on? or should we just not give money to people on benefits and let them fend for themselves, my point is nobody knows other peoples situations, read onlyjoking's earlier post and see what i mean.

Spot on 80smum - that would be a fair system. Juuule - you talk a lot about people's choice - well what if we all choose to have 4 kids and not go out to work because 'the state' will support us? Ummm....who's going to be left working to pay for this lifestyle choice??!!

Oh well I give up I thi k we are very lucy to have the benefit system try live where I grew up..no job = no money = no food end of....but in this country we are so used to being given everything and looked after by the state there is no incentive for people to work or better their lives in any way...there is always someone else to blame...
So I CHOOSE to have 2 children (when I would love 3 or 4), I choose to work (if I want to keep my very modest terraced house and 10 year old car)...I don't CHOOSE to pay tax so someone else can stay at home and lok after their 4 kids because they feel they are entititles to, I don't CHOOSE to juggle work and childcare and be criticised for being a WOHM.....I do CHOOSE to stay in this country ...maybe I shoudn't

I don't think anyone grudges supporting those who fall on hard times. I think the issue is of those who have reckless lifestyles, and expect others to pick up the pieces when they have no intention of making a contribution to society.

But everybody wouldn't choose to do that, would they? Because it's not really that great an option.

Of course you do MacDoodle.

I spend about £60 a week on food shopping, but it's hard to judge because as I don't drive I buy it as and when, so I can carry it. I spend roughly £4 a week on busfares, to and from the super market. I don't know how much I spend weekly on clothes, but i do know I have just had to replace ds1's entire school uniform, as he had grown out of it, and have bought ds2 a £30 pair of properly fitted shoes from Clarks. Strangely, ds1's school is the only school uniform I don't regularly see in the charity shops, I don't know why.

The TV licence has just gone out of my account, that was £35 as ex p left me without one (which I didn't know) so I am paying for that still, as well as installing for the next one. Oh, and the washing machine went band about 3 weeks ago, but I got a good deal from the coop after seeing if there were any second hand in the paper ... that's another £170. Christmas is coming, but I am not remotely worried about that, I am a squirreler and the boys are young. they want big boxes and bright paper, and they will certainly get it. So far I have spend £30 on ds1, and about £15 on ds2.

Is it embarrassing to relate every single financial detail to a total stranger? not a bit of it. You, as a Tax Payer, have a Right To Know.

I can kind of understand the op - but I do realised that a lot of single mums did not aim to be a single mum iykwim.

I get the child benefit every 28days, and want to change it to once a week. I can't - why? - because I am not a single parents or claiming benefits.

Having the payment once a week would mean I can buy food - dh works, I look after two dc, working as self-employed.

Why, why, why can't I get paid every week (apologies for rant, but I've been on the phone all day trying to alter it).

Never assume others are better off than you. I know many who look affluent but are up to their eyes in debt...

QWould you prefer is as a spread sheet?

You are wilfully missing the point macdoodle, you really are.
Personally if you have earnings over 33k a year coming into a house and you are no better off than a benefit claimant, something is seriously awry somewhere. You are simply living way above your means.

Cold thanks not what I meant and you know it...just a throwaway comment that it was no one elses business that someone is on benefits...don't need to know the personal details...but would like the GOVERNMENT to be accountable thanks!

Whether or not you need to know the details Macdoodle, you as a Tax Payer have the Right to them.

Don't you?