Universal credit increase budget 2021

[LittleBirdy1]

Have I missed something with this announcement? Papers all reporting how people will be worse off and it makes no difference to peoples pockets. I think the changes should make a big difference to people, tapper rate lowered to 55p work allowance up by £500 a year.
500%12=41 41+293=334 new work allowance if you rent.

Take home pay of £2500-334=£2166
2166x0.55=£1191.30
£2000

• £1191.30

—————- £808.70 universal credit

Old workings out
£2500-293=£2207
£2207x0.63= £1390.41
£2000-1390.41=609.59

Based on a family of 2 adults, 3 dc, rent of £595 take home pay of £2500

Check your individual elements

Your award should say:
Joint claim 2 adults over 25 - £509.91
First child: £282.50
DC 2&3 £237.08 each: £474.16
Rent: £595

Your award total after the uplift ends is: £1861.57

Unless you have childcare/ a child with disabilities or something else to account for the extra £130.

@Danikm151 so no changes at all for TC?

[quote THOSEcobwebsareDECOR]@Danikm151 so no changes at all for TC?[/quote]
Not as far as I can see but they want everyone on universal credit now

@Theunamedcat

Disabled children don't get a winter fuel allowance

You only get one lot of school uniform grant if your in an area that does it that's not one a year that is one total

Free dental if you can find a dentist that does NHS

Free prescription I should get that anyway because I have a chronic illness but it's not the right kind of chronic illness so I don't

Council tax benefit depends on the area as to what you get

Yup, and whatever the amount of council tax help, you will still have to pay 25% of it from your benefits.

@selflove A school clothing grant is a one off payment of £60 and thats it, not £60 a year. No dentists' seem to be taking on any NHS patients at the moment either, not where I live anyway. And I dont get a winter fuel allowance, don't even know what that is tbh.

Most of the stories I have been seeing today have been saying either:

1. Middle income household Labour will be paying ~3k more on tax by the end of this government. Middle income earnings don't receive UC so the decreased taper rate doesn't help them.

1. Non working households, or those working below the required earning limits, will not receive anything (due to benefit cap for those working), but have been impacted by the ending of the temporary £20 uplift, so are being negatively affected.

The majority of these two groups are not being helped by the change to taper rate, but are impacted by the price increases and tax increases (both actual and real term).

The people in the middle will benefit but for others this budget is costly.

We are looking at paying significantly more tax in the next couple of years, without anything to offset it, alongside all of the other price increases. I am also expecting to see more taxation changes announced in spring, which I expect to hit middle earners.

Self love carer of disabled dc here and don't qualify for what you've listed. Winter fuel allowance????

The lack of understanding of the reality disabled people face is staggering.

@Willyoujustbequiet yes.

There is also little understanding of the fact that we can't work longer hours , be promoted etc. We are stuck with using what the government decide we need. Forever. It's depressing.

@CelestialGalaxy

Wooaah...you can have take home pay of £2500 and still get universal credit?!?

Yes, you can. It all depends on individual circumstances: number of children, whether you rent and in which area, childcare costs, disabilities, etc. But you can absolutely have a take home pay of £2,500 and be entitled to claim. I know this because my take home pay is £2,700 and hypothetically, if I split with my partner and my situation remained as it is now in respect of children and childcare costs, I would be entitled to in the region of £300 per month towards childcare.

Winter fuel payment is for i think pensioners

Cold weather payment is paid to some on benefits when the temp is below 0 for 7 consecutive days

Warm home discount is £140 a year credited to your energy account if you meet the criteria

Im willing to bet @selflove understanding of people only stretches as far as wanting them to wear a mask to protect her.

Am I missing something, I have a monthly take home wage of 25481.00 and my husband is around 170.00, with 2 children and after I have entered my pension contributions and rent, on the entitledto website it states I currently get 88.00 a week which is about right for my tax credit and child benefit, it then states I will be better off on universal credit as I would get 183.40 a week.

I am confused.

For those who don't get the warm homes discount payment - you are all entitled to it if you are on UC and not working. Just go to your energy supplier page and search "warm home discount". They give you £140 on your bill.

If you're entitled to UC and working, you benefit from the new measures introduced by the budget.

Clearer?

Only thing with the warm homes discount i think is its not available with all providers

I would say though that the disabled/carers/those not working already benefit from:
Free prescriptions
Free dental treatment
Free school meals
Free eye tests
School uniform grant
£180 winter fuel allowance
Council tax benefit

@selflove nope! I am a full time carer and get none of the above. Dh works and that takes us over the amount to get any of that you mentioned.

I'm a full time carer recieving £67 per week. (maybe £68)

My disabled daughter does not qualify for any winter fuel allowance. That's for the elderly. We have also never received warm homes.

Also there is no such thing as council tax benefit. It has been local government allowance for years now and every area can operate it differently. My daughter has to pay for council tax out of the £253 universal credit that she receives each month. As do many unemployed and disabled.

I also don't get free school meals as home Ed. That money would make a real difference as provide all meals on a low income. Also no help with anything for education, my choice to home Ed but when the kids were at home due to covid, the free school meals families still got help, so why has that never been applied to those who home Ed on low income?

Just like the uc uplift was not applied to legacy benefits. That was very unfair leaving out a chunk of the poorest people including the sick and disabled.

@Willyoujustbequiet

Self love carer of disabled dc here and don't qualify for what you've listed. Winter fuel allowance????

The lack of understanding of the reality disabled people face is staggering.

Google "warm homes discount" and your energy supplier. If you receive UC and have the disabled child element, you are entitled to £140 off your bill. It's something you to have apply for directly to your energy supplier every year, you don't get it automatically! Hope that helps xx

@danni0509

I would say though that the disabled/carers/those not working already benefit from: Free prescriptions Free dental treatment Free school meals Free eye tests School uniform grant £180 winter fuel allowance Council tax benefit

@selflove nope! I am a full time carer and get none of the above. Dh works and that takes us over the amount to get any of that you mentioned.

Yes that's what I mean.

"Poor" people fall into two categories

1. the "not working" poor who receive UC and are entitled to all those things I listed because they don't work
2. the "working" poor who receive UC and don't qualify for any of the things I listed, but benefit from the work taper and work allowances in the new budget.

Those with a household income that is high enough to mean they don't qualify for UC aren't classed as "poor".

@selflove only if you are on less than £1354 net wage per month or somewhere thereabouts. So if your partner works and you’re on uc with the disabled element, you don’t qualify.

last comment of mine, was in reply to the warm home discount @selflove

@danni0509

last comment of mine, was in reply to the warm home discount *@selflove*

Yes, got it! That's what I'm trying to say

If you/your partner work and you receive UC, you don't get any of those free prescriptions/school meals/warm home discount. But you DO benefit from the new taper and work allowance in the budget. So good news for you.

If you don't work and are on UC, the budget wasn't good news for you, BUT you get the warm homes discount/free school meals/prescriptions etc.

It will make a difference I have 4dc before 2017 entitled to roughly 1600 a month. I work and earn about 1400 a month minus 515 as I own rather than rent. So from the 885 I’ll take home an extra 70.80 which isn’t that far away from making up for the £20 a week they’ve taken away.

Disabled and unemployed on uc without disabled children or with disabled children over 5 do not get warm homes help.

Therefore only a very small group of those on uc get this help.

@selflove

I have a disabled child. They don't get winter fuel allowance. School uniform grant is not available in the majority of LAs. She/we don't need prescriptions.

Her costs are sky-high above what her DLA provides.