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.

@vivainsomnia I'm afraid they are all linked. We live in a society where we are more likely to question those scrabbling about for scraps than those gorging themselves at the top table. The proof is that we have a Boris in power and a Prince Andrew still a Prince.

Its fine that we disagree with each other.
It looks like the vote is pretty much split and indicates that each camp has many followers anyway.
And yes ,i have veered off the point. Aware of that.

It's a little misleading to say they are cutting it by £20 a week. They raised it during Covid and they are now taking it back to what it was.

However, I agree people will struggle with this and I am really not sure that now is the right time to do this.

@Badgerbonce

We’re one of those families your focussing your Daily Fail misinformation on. But seeing as you’re SO right and know exactly what the problem is, please tell me how to fix our life.

I work 40 hours a week. We have 2 young kids. DH had a business which fit around our family life and helped keep us comfortable, until COVID when he couldn’t trade and ultimately had to shut the business. From the first day of lockdown, we lost an income and no, he wasn’t entitled to the vary narrow government grants or loans (as 1000s of others weren’t).

He went on UC to help support us and he now works 2 part time jobs and I still work my 40 hours.

Guess what?

We still need UC. Getting well paid, part time jobs that got around your children is rarer than unicorn shit. What’s more, with the cost of living rising significantly and NI shooting up, we’re poorer than we ever have been and rely on the UC to feed our children.

PLEASE work this out for me and tell me what to do to fix this situation using your infallible wisdom. As a family we are exhausted trying to keep up. Taking that £20 is just another kick whilst we’re already low.

Anyway to the poster who said missed the point of the thread. Rhe op is actually misleading . This is not a cut ,it is a return the the norm
As post above this onw says.

@Badgerbonce

I totallt agree.. that as you put it . Genuine cases should not suffer. I am not arguing. I am talking about a demographic that openly turn down additional.work so that they keep benefits . And they do not have depwndants or physical or mental health issues. They just want to work part time but expect their choice to be paid for.

The people i kmow who do this are not the picture of poverty but are middle class " snoflakes " for want of a better word ,who.want an easy life. They are not the poor they are the boden brigade.. sterotypes used in humour that you get thepicture .

These people you are referring to are also rarer than unicorn shit or more accurately, don’t exist

This is pretty old so I'm sure the figures have changed, but it gives you some indication of how much the UK prioritises benefits over other rich countries.

Sorry for blurriness - basically the red column is the Uk.

What the basic rate got your 18m ago is very different to now. At very least should be looking about at least an inflation increase over the winter. 1% in 10years already meant Was much lower than what it was designed to provide.

I know not many people have had increase but most people have had least 1% in 10years. Benefits stuck at that level and not going up anytime soon

@Badgerbonce and for many, 'the norm' was choosing food over heating, or to feed your kids but not yourself, or neither. But do crack on with the semantics.

What are some synonyms for 'starving children'?

IfImLyingImDying
I was talking about people who refuse to work more hours. You are working, i presume the equivelant of two full time jobs. Thereforei was ,for sure,not talking about people in your situation .. at all.
I am talking about people who choose t9 work.part time when their is no obstacle to full time work.
Is yr dh s hours the same as full time? If yes then i am absolutely not talking about your situation.
I kmow how hard it can be .
I was full time and my dh worked 60 plus hours a week.

I was full time and my dh worked 60 plus hours a week.

Ah so you are receiving support from another source, not just you part time wages. Rendering your bitter, poorly punctuated rant, pointless.
Good good.

@Badgerbonce

IfImLyingImDying I was talking about people who refuse to work more hours. You are working, i presume the equivelant of two full time jobs. Thereforei was ,for sure,not talking about people in your situation .. at all. I am talking about people who choose t9 work.part time when their is no obstacle to full time work. Is yr dh s hours the same as full time? If yes then i am absolutely not talking about your situation. I kmow how hard it can be . I was full time and my dh worked 60 plus hours a week.

No, his hours aren’t equivalent to full time, if you actually read my post then you would be able to work out that he can’t possibly work 37+ hours a week because where would the children go?! Who’s going to pay for the childcare because we sure as hell wouldn’t have the money to! The choice would literally be between heating and food and childcare. So again, work it out for me.

You’re wrong. You don’t have the slightest clue what it’s like out there for the 10s of 1000s of families like us.

As an FYI for you, applying for benefits when you need it is TOUGH. It’s a really really difficult process and takes a lot of time. There is no way people that don’t need it could put themselves through it and rake it in enough to live the high life. It’s impossible.

PalmarisLongus
Yes i did not have my specs on .. sorry.
No ,i DID work full time when I needed to. That is my point. I worked full time to support my life WHEN i needed to . I WILL do the same again if I need to. My part time choice is not one others should have to fund.

LyingImDying my friend had the same childcare dilema. One workes mostly days the others nights.

@Badgerbonce

PalmarisLongus Yes i did not have my specs on .. sorry. No ,i DID work full time when I needed to. That is my point. I worked full time to support my life WHEN i needed to . I WILL do the same again if I need to. My part time choice is not one others should have to fund.

You missed the point.

You've stomped you nonsense over this thread about poor people being reliant on £20. Claimed people shouldn't rely on others to pay for them... Whilst simultaneously admitting you have a dh that also works part time so you have someone to rely on. plus, there's no mention of children to worry about.

Your situation is exactly the situation you are yourself decrying. Why should middle.class people not work full time if there's nothing stopping them? It's a lifestyle choice to rely on other people's money... Just like you do... only you're allowed to make that choice, but you deem other people not worthy of your lifestyle.

You are no better than the MP that said to make up the £20 should work an extra 2 hours... That Kier pointed out they'd have to work an extra 9 hours, or an entire work day.

Don't reply to me any more. You're ridiculous and a hypocrite.

Also when I was a chikdminder it was cost effective for the parents to work whilst having the dc paid for.
I dont kmow if that would help at all . Or childcare swaps with mates. Or use free gov places.

PalmarisLongus
Ok .. no problem. Sorry that you have to resort to name calling.
People are allowed different opions. As the poll highlights.

@Badgerbonce you really are spectacularly naive. Childcare swaps with mates?! And when are they supposed to work? PP just said she can't afford childcare and you mention childminders? Free government places - wow, I'm sure that never occurred to anyone.

This thread is full of people who have absolutely no clue, talking out of their arses with wild abandon. Talk about entitlement.

This and the furlough scheme were intended to help people during the pandemic. It was clear from the start that it was only temporary.

The country is facing serious economic difficulties, including tax increases. We all have to do our bit. There are plenty of job vacancies, so opportunities to earn extra income if you are struggling.

Tax increases are not an economic difficulty. Hungry kids are.

NiceWelshLady agreed.

@Badgerbonce are you actually my mum? She told me all about this wonderful idea she'd had a few years ago. She thought single mums could all rent massive houses together and work shifts around each other so you were either working or looking after however many children. She reckoned this was a brilliant idea and rent and bills could be shared. And there would be no childcare costs.
I pointed out we'd had this before... they were called work houses.

You can afford to work part time because you have a second wage earner. Great. Well done. Have a shiny medal. Ffs.

EmmaOvary I actually agree childcare swaps are a good thing and it is something that we do weekly to support other parents to work . Eg take it in turns to do free after school care until parents finish work. Its common here.. parents help each other out all the time.

@Badgerbonce

LyingImDying my friend had the same childcare dilema. One workes mostly days the others nights.

Oh he does work mostly nights. Try again.

Who do you suggest opens a new business, registers with Ofsted and pays all the start up fees for this childminding business? Also, you have no idea where we live. What if we live rurally?

Free government childcare places mostly don’t exist anymore. They certainly don’t in our area. We’re looking at £50+ per day for a childminder and £70+ per day for a nursery in our area.

We can’t do childcare swaps with mates because we work so much trying to feed ourselves we can’t reliably do our turn of the swap.

You can bleat about “your opinion” all you want. You’re wrong, out of touch and hypocritical.