To ask how people will cope with Universal credit cut.

[ponyexpress22]

Surely they aren't going ahead with cutting it by £20 a week? I'm shocked that the government could stoop this low. What the hell are they doing.

This thread is sad reading although I did laugh at the PP who has 240k of assets in property and doesn't pay for childcare for basically comparing themselves to people who are struggling to put food in their mouths let alone grasp any rung on the property ladder. I mean fuck me. Either you are so totally out of touch it's not funny or you are having a wee giggle tonight.

Yeah, they exited the thread pretty quickly after they was pointed out to them!

@Tealightsandd

Perhaps they'll cope the same way as the mainly disabled people who are in receipt of the legacy benefits. They weren't included for the extra £20. Nobody seems all that bothered about them.

It's actually pretty disgusting and hypocritical to see all the apparent concern for people struggling. It's sending out a message that disabled and other struggling legacy benefit recipients don't matter.

Of course they matter, but a lot of people on disability benefits were better off to start with because of the disability premiums that don't exist under UC.

I've had to talk a few clients out of switching from ESA to UC to get an extra £20 a week. They'd have been nearly £50 pw worse off.

Wow, just looked at my disabled daughter's account to see the message that the £20 payments are stopping and there's a link at the bottom of it entitled 'help with debt'. I wonder why they feel that's necessary...

@Blossomtoes

I've got 3 children and wanted a 4th. We sat down and worked out our finances and realised we wouldn't be able to enjoy the (frivolous) things we do now - a holiday, occasional meal out - if we had a 4th.If you struggle to buy the food you want, then why did you have 3 such young children - genuine question

What would happen if you experienced a catastrophic life changing event that meant you had to rely on benefits? That’s what’s happened to a lot of benefits claimants. That would punch a hole in your smugness.

Absolutely this. None of us can see the future. We make choices based on how things are and in the reasonable expectation that disasters won't happen.

Because, thankfully, for most of us disasters don't happen. But those doesn't mean we should leave those less fortunate to flounder and fail.

I wish it was a shock that the Tories hate poor people 😡 but it’s not. It’s so short sighted to have benefits so low. Poverty leads to higher levels of mental health and physical health issues, fuels crime (desperate people can do things they never thought they would, not because they’re bad but because they’re desperate) all the government is doing is kicking problems further down the road. Children raised in comfort and dignity will grow to be healthy happy citizens. Sinking the boot in to the most vulnerable won’t suddenly make them wealthier. I’m in a fortunate position, mortgage paid off and savings I’d be a bit of a cunt to grudge someone trying to get by an extra £20. I was raised on a sink estate on benefits, the absolute misery and worry of knowing we would run out of basics like food and power every week affects children. It ruined my mental health. Cost the NHS more putting me right as a young adult than just making childhood a little more comfortable ever would have.

@PalmarisLongus

"It's perfectly feasible for people to still get £1000 in Uc when working, especially if they have high rent"

Rents only pay up to LHA rates and deduct for extra bedrooms. UC is Dependant on the LHa rates, not what your rent is.

Absolutely. If I was on UC (fortunately my husband earns enough for us not to be, but if we ever split up I'm only on carer's allowance, so I've checked it out) I'd be entitled to the 4 bed rate of around £750 per month. To privately rent a 4 bed, I'd be looking at £1200+ per month. I wouldn't stand a chance at getting a 4 bed council property and they wouldn't give me a 3 bed as they'd say I was overcrowded, so I'd have no choice but to find the extra money. The entire system is unfit for purpose.

@Theworldishard

How has a previous poster been able to get £1000 in universal credit?

Rent, probably. The LHA for a 3-bed property where I live (not London, not even near London) is just shy of £1,200 a month.

Mind you, the only 3-bed property for rent on Rightmove today is £2,500 a month.

Funny how those who think claimants are getting plenty of money fail to realise that a good chunk of it goes straight to BTL property investors. UC money ends up paying a lot of BTL mortgages.

@Babyroobs, it may be different where you are, but we've been finding that getting a UC50 is really random.

Some people seem to get them fairly promptly, some have been on UC and submitting fit notes for over a year but never had one.

It just doesn't make sense to me, I'd have thought that these things should happen automatically with a highly automated system like UC.

@Babyroobs

In my experience social workers don't seem to know much about benefits ( well the ones I know don't), you need to speak to an advocate who knows the work capability process. CAB representative would be able to look at the facts and write an MR or make an official complaint on your behalf if they have not correctly followed legislation.

A SW told a client of mine that they could get DLA as well as PIP!

I'm too shy to do it myself but I'd like to see a thread for people to explain how they ended up on benefits. It seems so many people (looking at @Heliachi et al) can't grasp the fact that life throws curve balls at us and very few people go in to life with a plan for benefits to support us and our children.

I had one child when I had a good job with career prospects. Her dad had a good job and a wealthy family. Then he cheated on me, I left, he wouldn't pay maintenance (self emp) but I still didn't need to claim benefits and supported us myself. Fast forward - violently abusive bf, mental health decline, had to move towns, lost house, lost job, worked hard to get well enough to work again and at that precise moment the wheels came off DD and she attempted suicide. I can't work as I can't leave her alone. Here we are living on benefits. It wasn't the plan at all.

I can't actually think of a single person who's planned children thinking the state would provide for them.

The extra augment was always going to be temporary.

And people who pay NI are going to pay more.

Things were never going to stay as they were, after lockdowns ended.

Another consequence of the uplift ending could be that businesses will suffer. This money on the whole won't be squirreled away into savings accounts, it will be spent on food, bits for the house and yes, shock horror the odd treat. People will be scared to spend and may tighten their belts even more.

Its a complex issue.
Partly it is incorect in the labelling of all benefit users ,working or not working but I do think that at present there is work avaliable if it is wanted and people are mentally able or pysically able.
I think what has changed is the acceptance of benefits for lots more people than what used to.be a stigma and therefore they can more freely choose it as a lifestyle or a top up as mentally to.them it is acceptable. For example. Its is now seen as acceptable by some to work part time and and top their income up voa benefits. My friend does that and openly says she does not want more work as it will.affect her benefits. To her this is not a starement to be ashamed off but what is her lifestyle.
For meyself, i could not say that as I was brought up to provide for myself. So I would get , and have had several jobs to do.just that rather than be on benefits.
I think that perhaps society is not simply judging the poor or being a ' tory' but that it is split at times between these two cultures. The first has evolved over time.
This is the thing that causes problems I think and it is not as simple as calling someone a tory if they think that work should pay.
Its about work ethic tos ome . And yes i know minimum wage is a struggle ,like i said to juggle jobs is possible.
I think benefits should be seen as temp not long term unless disabled in some way.
Ive read on this thread in terms of the uplift going..
A woman who wont be able to take her kids to swimming lessons..now the cut is comming . Sorry but many people cant afford that.
Cant afford other than cheap fruit.
Neither can many.
Do you think its ok to expect this in the long term.? How does it make people strugglimg read this.? Many are struggling ,its not just you giving up swimmimg.lessons
And yes I imagine the vulnerability and fear on benefits for many is immense.. i am just talking about views like this that think it is ok to beamoan the loss of a luxery of swimming lessons now the uplift is going and how it may sound !
Ithinkthat many people on benefits must feel vulnerable,but some attitudes such as
I cant now now swimming lessons
I cant put my kids in after.school as id have to pay( like everyone else)
I cant work extra..
( my very middle class mate conciously does this and it is a long term lifestyle. She has the education , mental and
physical and ability to work choses this happily)#
This Is what upsets some people ..Not people in poverty. Theyey need support#
Not all those on benefits live in poverty . Its does not make you tory scum to say that.

Agree. Its a cultural shift that is needed.
That benefits is not a lifestyle that is supposed to.pay for things like swimming lessons and that if you want extra you work extra . With expeptions for people who cannot.
I do not see what is wrong with that and is thw ethos of the.original system .

My husband gets PIP and also support group ESA ( given to people due to illness , never expected to return to work ) I get carers allowance. No extra £20 for us.
Our neighbours saved their £20 uc credit extra and currently are on holiday because of it .

For example
I have a disabled relative. She cannot work. She gets benefits. A disabled car. A cleaner. Weekly massage.for pain. All good.
My dc able bodied. Her rent is very expensive. She has three jobs to pay for it. It is not easy. All good.
I think this attutude is good ..?
If you can . Do it . If you cant ( not that you dont want ro affect your benefits/ pay for after school club etc)then the SAFTEY NET of the benefit system quite rightly will support .

@IceCreamAndCandyfloss

Even if they were able to take on a second job or work more hours, they'd lose most of the extra money because it would just come off their UC

So? The system should ensure people are doing the max possible to support themselves not doing just enough hours to get around caps or refusing to work more because they lose benefits. Self responsibility surely has to play a part.

I agree.

It keeps coming back to the same thing. When non benefit claimants see people with multiple children claiming benefits, they find it hard to reconcile the desire to grow your family and the inability to afford it. Yes relationships break down, but the children still have 2 parents (in the vast majority of cases). A broken relationship does not give both parents a free pass.
Feeling disgusted and outraged at the majority for thinking this is all well and good. But that same majority often limit their families or step up when relationships break down.

It was a temporary measure to aid during the pandemic. But I know people that have had this extra income and received the vouchers for shopping, and are now adapted to that income. But stopping is going to be hard for someone I would imagine, so can see why people upset.

Seems to be a race to the bottom on here

@BigThumb

Some of the comments on here are proof of how well the governments little tricks work to redirect anger and hate. People begrudging people £20 a week just because they don’t get the same. People who are clearly happy that struggling people are going to struggle more now just because they didn’t get the £20 themselves.

And to the silly buggers who think the extra £20 a week was because the government care - its because a lot of their benefit hating voters suddenly found they needed UC when COVID took their jobs and they had to keep up the illusion that everyone on benefits lives a comfortable life.

Absolutely this.

As previous posters say in last 10y the basic rate has gone up 1% due to austerity freezes. If was £73 10years ago and we kept 1% a year it would mean extra £7.30 by now. So we would be on £80 a week.

But we go from £93 with uplift back to £73 while even in last 18m there have been much higher than normal increases for everything. If we lost £20 but committed to 1% year from now on it be start but no such promising. Not much you can do with extra 73p a week but year on year it’s a start.

@Iheartbaby

I hope it’s stopped, no one has given me £20 a week more.

I had to take a 20% pay cut (which was more than £20 a week)

@IveGotASongThatllGetOnYNerves

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/british-people-stopped-believing-benefits-due-tony-blair-researchers-claim-9753824.html

Blair launched the war on the disabled and
vulnerable. Gordon Brown followed with his housing benefit cuts. Next up was the self described 'heir to Blair' Cameron. And his evil henchman Osborne. Onto May and no change - austerity continued. And here we are today.

The root cause of so much of the problem - the reason why so many need benefits to survive (if they can), the reason why the benefit bill is so high, is the public health housing and homelessness emergency. If we had more social housing - genuinely affordable secure housing - people would be able to live on lower incomes. Society would be more stable and cohesive.

Our neighbours saved their £20 uc credit extra and currently are on holiday because of it

And you know this how? The reek of bullshit is overpowering.