To ask you to help me work this out?

[Lulu2021]

My head is a mess as I'm going through some relationship difficulties with a young baby and I'm trying to make sense of my entitlement to financial help.

I've done a UC calculation a few times but it comes out with an amount that i think is an overestimate.

My details are;

• FT salary of £47,126, net monthly income £2,516 after deductions.
• 2 DC (ages 15 years and 6 months) - no childcare costs for eldest, costs of £700 pm for youngest when I go back to work from mat leave.
• child maintenance of £120 pm for the eldest child only.
• private rented property
• no other benefits claimed
• no significant savings

It's telling me I'd be entitled to in the region of £650 pm as a single parent. Does this sound right? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[quote LittleBirdy1]@Lulu2021 my dh takes home slightly more take home pay than you £2680 and we do still get £766 in universal credit. I have 3 dc and rent from a ha so low rent of £550 for 3 bed property but have no child care costs as I stay at home. I hope that information is of so help to you as a comparison.

To work out you UC manually
(1) Take home pay-£293
(2) Than add up all your allowances, single adult over 25, 1 child born before 2017, additional child, rent and child care.
(3) Deduct the answer of step one from the answer of step to and that will be your monthly payment.

You can find the allowances for step 2 by googling universal credit elements[/quote]

Very helpful - thank you!

@Briony123 I bet the families on joint income of under £40k, with equally high or higher childcare costs, are loving the fact their taxes are going to be funding this person. My blood would be boiling.

Really? Then maybe they'd like to swap lives with the person who's just been left alone with 2 DCs to support, including a 6 month old, and is now being attacked by self-righteous internet strangers?

Also note that OP is nevertheless planning to go back to work full time, even though with a child this age, she could certainly drop out of the workforce for a couple of years and qualify for far more assistance than she'd be claiming now, maybe the moaners would prefer that?

Also note that the family on £39k combined income up thread should be bringing home over £2700 after tax each month, which is more than OP at present. And while with 2 adults you do have some additional cost you have far less risk, and tend to incur lower childcare costs as you've got a backup.

People need to get some compassion, and take into account that penny pinching on allowances for single mothers in work ultimately just pushes more into unemployment or less skilled jobs, which in the longer run costs far more to society and penalises children.

because its a joint income?

It's based on household income so makes no difference. You don't get more for being single, in fact the standard allowance is less for a single person than a couple on a joint claim.

[quote ablutiions]@FlemCandango Yes, what you said. Some people on here are so self righteous. The benefits system is there as a safety net, and warranted in this case.

Yes,the father should pay up, and he's a bastard, and yes he should be pursued. But that should be done by the relevant authority in parallel with the OP getting the support for her and her kids that she's entitled to.

Seriously people, where is the fucking sisterhood on here? A vulnerable woman asking for help, and half of you shit on her from a great height. Take a good look at yourselves.

OP , good luck with it all.

[/quote]

Thank you

@TedMullins

I want to apologise for my earlier post OP. I was very surprised you would be entitled to anything but I think the real scandal here is that your salary isn’t enough for you to raise your kids alone. Just highlights how we desperately need cheaper/free childcare and regulated housing costs. That isn’t your fault, it’s the society we live in.

It's the ridiculous rents that are mainly the problem. Childcare costs will significantly reduce after a few years and op will only need help with those in the short term, but not rents. It's crazy. UC also penalizes anyone trying to save to buy there own house because any savings over 6k will reduce the amount of Uc you receive and over 16k you are not eligible for any help.

I find there are a lot of people who would be entitled to UC not applying because they think thier income is too high, otoh I find a lot of people applied to uc with income too high simply because thier income reduced and they don't think it is high enough.

With rent at 600 and 1 child that I claim childcare for I worked out I will have to earn 36k to not get the basic amount and over 60k to not even be entitled to childcare.

My sister who has been able to claim UC for all 4 of her children has to earn over 100k to not be entitled to anything, otoh my brother only needed to earn 600per month to get kicked off UC. It massively varies depending on how much you are entitled to in the first place and if you have multiple children and high rent it adds up.

@TedMullins

I want to apologise for my earlier post OP. I was very surprised you would be entitled to anything but I think the real scandal here is that your salary isn’t enough for you to raise your kids alone. Just highlights how we desperately need cheaper/free childcare and regulated housing costs. That isn’t your fault, it’s the society we live in.

Apology accepted and thank you.

Its partly the higher cost of living and partly the fact i now have a number of household purchases on credit agreements that I will struggle to pay for alone when my partner leaves. They were purchased in my name alone, but his income helped pay for them. Now they are my problem alone. Along with childcare fees and everything else our daughter will need.

@Briony123. your post is factually incorrect, about benefits and income

OP, just ignore the rude remarks. All made by people who have never put a foot wrong or made a mistake in their lives ...

And if you moved somewhere cheaper, could you afford a place big enough to rent a room out?

You'll soon be free of student debt, and the baby will be a bit older and the pressure will ease off. Best of luck with it all.

So I don't know much about UC but think this might be right. My SSP is about to run out, (haven't worked for 18 months, furloughed a lot of it, child with relapsed high risk leukaemia) and I had a call with a young lives vs cancer benefits team this week. My husband earns 49k and I was told we would be entitled to UC once my SSP runs out. This is on top of carers allowance and DLA.

I'm guessing there's maybe a 'circumstances' bracket that single parents fall into?

Just a guess but thought I'd throw it in.

@Musereader

I find there are a lot of people who would be entitled to UC not applying because they think thier income is too high, otoh I find a lot of people applied to uc with income too high simply because thier income reduced and they don't think it is high enough.

With rent at 600 and 1 child that I claim childcare for I worked out I will have to earn 36k to not get the basic amount and over 60k to not even be entitled to childcare.

My sister who has been able to claim UC for all 4 of her children has to earn over 100k to not be entitled to anything, otoh my brother only needed to earn 600per month to get kicked off UC. It massively varies depending on how much you are entitled to in the first place and if you have multiple children and high rent it adds up.

Your sister is only likely to get Uc though because I suspect all her four kids were born before 2017. This has changed now and people only get it for 2 although can still get childcare help and disability elements for more than 2 kids. Also for any child born after April 2017, the higher child element is no longer paid only the lower one, so people having kids now fare a lot worse off than a few years ago.

That’s more than I get and I’m only on £14k per annum so I can’t see how it’s right

@loumoo

So I don't know much about UC but think this might be right. My SSP is about to run out, (haven't worked for 18 months, furloughed a lot of it, child with relapsed high risk leukaemia) and I had a call with a young lives vs cancer benefits team this week. My husband earns 49k and I was told we would be entitled to UC once my SSP runs out. This is on top of carers allowance and DLA.

I'm guessing there's maybe a 'circumstances' bracket that single parents fall into?

Just a guess but thought I'd throw it in.

It would depend what your husbands net income is really and whether you have rent to pay. If on higher care component DLA, the disabled child element is quite high something like £400 a month and carers element another £163 a month.

Isn’t there a maximum that Including universal benefit the total income cannot be more than 26,000

@thinkingaboutLangCleg

OP, just ignore the rude remarks. All made by people who have never put a foot wrong or made a mistake in their lives ...

And if you moved somewhere cheaper, could you afford a place big enough to rent a room out?

You'll soon be free of student debt, and the baby will be a bit older and the pressure will ease off. Best of luck with it all.

Thank you

Hi, if you have a spare room then consider getting an au pair for childcare x

@loumoo

So I don't know much about UC but think this might be right. My SSP is about to run out, (haven't worked for 18 months, furloughed a lot of it, child with relapsed high risk leukaemia) and I had a call with a young lives vs cancer benefits team this week. My husband earns 49k and I was told we would be entitled to UC once my SSP runs out. This is on top of carers allowance and DLA.

I'm guessing there's maybe a 'circumstances' bracket that single parents fall into?

Just a guess but thought I'd throw it in.

You could potentially claim new style ESA when your SSP ends if your GP will still sign you off and as long as you have paid NI contributions over the past 2-3 years, but that would be deducted pound for pound from UC. It would depend whether it works out a higher amount to claim UC or new style ESA really. Carers allowance is also deducted pound for pound from UC but you do get a carers element added on to the UC.

Isn’t there a maximum that Including universal benefit the total income cannot be more than 26,000

This is the benefit cap- it's the maximum in benefits alone- so UC, CB etc. To lift the benefit cap you need to earn £600 odd per month.

@Iusedtoliveinsanfrancisco

Isn’t there a maximum that Including universal benefit the total income cannot be more than 26,000

No you are possibly thinking of tax credit thresholds ?

@JenniferAllisonPhillipaSue

Congratulations on studying and applying yourself to earn that high a salary but ... I also know families who earn less and who aren't entitled to UC, so I'd be surprised if you are entitled to that much.

This, sorry, but this.

@drpaddington

Isn’t there a maximum that Including universal benefit the total income cannot be more than 26,000

This is the benefit cap- it's the maximum in benefits alone- so UC, CB etc. To lift the benefit cap you need to earn £600 odd per month.

Yes op would not be affected by the benefit cap on her earnings.

@Lulu2021 you’ve been given quite a hard time on here from some posters.

I really hope you can sort this out and get the help and support you need

@iusedtoliveinsanfrancisco

The benefit cap of 26k is the amount you can be paid in benefits if you are not working.

If you are working the cap does not apply and you can get more than the cap sometimes, also childcare does not fall under the cap. We have had fraudsters who claim to be earning the minimum amount required as the deduction for earnings is less than the amount removed for benefit cap

Babyroobs

They gave me the option of UC or the new ESA. Going down the ESA route but there was only a few pounds difference between the 2. Higher rate DLA + mobility but they said that's not taken into account when benefits are calculated.

OP I'm sorry you've been given a hard time. If you're entitled to UC, you're entitled to it. Some people are acting like you make the UC rules!