To not understand the benefit system . What is going on ?

[Westnsouthnabout]

I have got totally out of touch with the benefits system.. used to work in public services so did used to be in direct contact with a variety of social issues.
Am aware that sudden breakages like washing machines to be paid for, delays in initial payment and sanctioning can mean a sudden and catastrophic change in cash flow.
However, I have been reading that food banks are utterly stretched and in crisis.
I do understand that many people end up in emeegency sitiations, however, have also been reading that some are actually reliant on regular food banks . Sort of like a weekly shop..
I totally accept that I am out of touch with current situations and would like to kmow( seperate to current rising cost of living etc which i know about) .. what is going on re why so many people are relying on them as a regular source of food when they are in reciept of a regular and mostly preductable income( apart from sanctions etc as i said) in the form of benefits.
I am aware I am ignorant amd want to understand more and perhaps contribute.

I dont blame them for milking the system. why struggle in poverty when you can get a cash in hand job on the side to supplement your income and make your life more comfortable.
After all the rich have been doing it for donkeys years in tax avoidance scams and wheezes. Both are robbing the tax coffers, Just one is considered respectable and the other isnt.

@Suzi888

Oh give it a rest. Think a bit. People on benefits don’t have half of what you mention. And if they do, it would usually be because they have recently fallen on hard times getting out of that sky package you bought before you lost your job isn’t always possible to get out of. When I was on benefits following my ,marriage breakdown, my mum kept my car going and paid for me to have decent haircuts and filled my shopping basket with treats for my children.

As an aside, if you have decent credit, a new car can be as expensive as a second hand one, even with depreciation in value. Zero % finance deals can be cheaper than the cost of a bank loan, for example.

OP - have you not noticed the rising cost of food, petrol, and gas? My basic shopping basket has been increasing week on week - basic foods like cucumbers and apples going up 10p in a week. Benefits have not kept up with the increases and lord knows why the recent budget ignored those with little or no opportunities to increase their incomes - people with caring responsibilities and disabilities have been very hard hit in recent months.

@Suzi888

I will point out the stupidity in this statement, though.

but with all the ones... making fraudulent claims it’s very unlikely.

People don't make fraudulent claims. Some people make fraudulent applications. They don't award themselves.

Your age is a factor as well. If you're under 25 you get less than an over 25 year old. Last time I checked, housing, bills and food cost the same whatever your age.

There's an element of build it and they will come. If you have foodbanks that will supply to anyone, no referral, no questions asked, then some people will use them as an alternative to Asda. Others may have initially attended in a crisis moment and have now started regularly going as they can get what they need for free and spend on other things. The reduction in stigma surrounding foodbanks and the like will also have helped drive this.

To extend the idea further, if a van came to your door ever week and handed you a big box of food for free, no questions asked, no stigma, how many would turn it down saying o thanks i'll go to Tesco and pay for it thankyou, when the rest of the neighbourhood were taking it?

@user1471447863

There's an element of build it and they will come. If you have foodbanks that will supply to anyone, no referral, no questions asked, then some people will use them as an alternative to Asda. Others may have initially attended in a crisis moment and have now started regularly going as they can get what they need for free and spend on other things. The reduction in stigma surrounding foodbanks and the like will also have helped drive this.

To extend the idea further, if a van came to your door ever week and handed you a big box of food for free, no questions asked, no stigma, how many would turn it down saying o thanks i'll go to Tesco and pay for it thankyou, when the rest of the neighbourhood were taking it?

You need to be referred to use a food bank. There is a limit to how often you can use it. During the pandemic it's likely (and I hope) that criteria were relaxed, but that will probably change back.

Your post is just benefit bashing - several Tories have said exactly the same thing. Just admit to what you are.

I have referred to food banks for over 10 years and there is definitely less stigma now and people are much more willing to ask now

@Kangaruby

I have referred to food banks for over 10 years and there is definitely less stigma now and people are much more willing to ask now

And that is a good thing. There should be no stigma about it at all. It's just sad that we live in a society where people need food banks - let's not forget that a lot of people who use food banks are in work.

I still remember the threads we had a few years ago about how we shouldn't put 'nice' things like biscuits and treats in food bank donations. Because hey, poor people shouldn't have those things.

The benefit cap is £1600 and something per month- the maximum a household can receive in benefits, unless they earn over the threshold of £600 and something per month. (The cap is more in London.)

If your rent is £1000 you're left with a lot less for all other expenses than someone paying just £300 rent. I can see why it would be a struggle for some.

Sorry I should add that that's for UC, and there are other things that lift the cap such as receiving disability elements.

I work in a housing association, a very big housing association.

77% of our customers have to claim benefits. That's a HUGE proportion.

Then consider that benefits is only there to give you just enough to survive on. It's not there for "luxuries", but sadly those luxuries are considered to be tv, sky, phone, activities etc. Things which reasonably most families actually NEED! UC for example is all done online. So then the only place families can squeeze their finances is in the food shop area, meaning they likely cant buy enough to survive on.

One thing breaks and that's it. Low income is like a house of cards, wouldn't take much for even the best financial planning to topple.

Nearly 30 years ago my husband left me with a toddler and a baby. I had no job as he insisted we prioritise his career over mine. I got a job and a bicycle with a baby seat on the back. Walked or cycled everywhere and somehow managed to hang on to my low paid job and look after the kids, but it was so very hard. Not long after the youngest started school, tax credits were introduced. I can still remember reading the tax credits booklet and crying with relief. The very first payment was used to buy the kids new school coats to replace their pretty inadequate charity shop ones. It's a very, very long time since I've needed any benefits but I would never begrudge others getting help of any sort when they needed it. Benefits saved my life once, literally and metaphorically.

Watch I, Daniel Blake. The food bank scene makes me cry my eyes out every single time.

@user1471447863

There's an element of build it and they will come. If you have foodbanks that will supply to anyone, no referral, no questions asked, then some people will use them as an alternative to Asda. Others may have initially attended in a crisis moment and have now started regularly going as they can get what they need for free and spend on other things. The reduction in stigma surrounding foodbanks and the like will also have helped drive this.

To extend the idea further, if a van came to your door ever week and handed you a big box of food for free, no questions asked, no stigma, how many would turn it down saying o thanks i'll go to Tesco and pay for it thankyou, when the rest of the neighbourhood were taking it?

What a load of crap

‘Build it and they will come’

Ffs. Everyone e knows food banks aren’t ideal- there’s little choice and it’s often the very basics- pasta, tinned stuff , rice. Yes it’s good but it’s not the nicest !

Anyone, given a choice would choose not to have to use a food bank

It’s like public toilets - yes they are there but you’d only use them if desperate - most people would rather have the voice to wait till they get home

Voice-choice

There will always be tiny minority who misuse anything and spend extra on fags and the like. But less over all crime and affects on poverty on the community of this is via food banks than going without or shop lifting or theft. If I give £5 of tinned food to food bank I give freely same as with homeless person. Always chance using for other things but risk I’m willing to take after being hungry many times myself.

Agree about the 11% less in real times. Even if basic rate of £74 went up 74p a year for last 10 years it would be worth extra £7.40 now.

PupInAPram thank you for sharing that. So many people seem to begrudge those who are worse off than they are anything at all. It seems to be a weird quirk in this country - people vote not necessarily so that they can be better off, but so that others will be worse off. I don't understand it.

I've never needed benefits other than child benefit (which my DC have aged out of) and I absolutely don't begrudge my taxes going to people who need support. I am not a high earner.

Suzi888 Theresa Coffey is back I see. Stick your vile judgement where the sun doesn't shine.

The poor are getting poorer because the Tories have been in power for 11 years and collective bargaining has been destroyed.

FYI 40% of UC claimants are in work

I am not sure where you are getting the info that people are relying on food banks regularly - we donate regularly to the one near us, and you are only allowed to use it a few times within a 6 month period. It used to be 3 times, but I think has gone to 4. And you need a voucher to use it too, which you can only get from certain people. The stated aims of food banks is that they are not a long term solution.

@Suzi888

This isn’t something that I see. It honestly baffles me when I hear people struggle on benefits. Yet they come in to the office, hair, Botox, lip filler, new car, (yes we can see the car park), clothes, latest phone, sky package, see all the outgoings on bank statements, the extravagant holidays etc. Most of their disposable incomes were higher than most of the staff. Maybe that affluent lifestyle comes from the white van parked on the drive way. Who knows.

I can see how the very few genuine ones struggle and should definitely get paid more, but with all the ones milking the system, making fraudulent claims it’s very unlikely.

@Suzi888 A friend of mine doesn't work (through choice as she said she's better off) and she's better off than I am.

I wwouldn't have a clue as to how much uc people get. Some folk struggle and others say its plenty to live on so its quite confusing. It needs to be more transparent.

Because benefits aren't rising with inflation, the benefit rates are what should of been in roughly early 2000s.
People on benefits get a £1-2 increase a year if they are lucky but it's usually taken back out by another benefit therefore cancels out.
It's genuinely not enough to live off espically when shopping, electric/gas, clothing, etc etc are all rising very steeply.
If your in a position to support your local food bank even if it's just £1-2 a week please do.
People don't want to rely on food banks believe me - but they simply have no choice.

Also people don't just take, when in a better position they donate back. I've seen this with my own eyes.

As for the comment about Botox, lip fillers it does happen but it's a very small minority. Please don't tar everyone with the same brush, most are families busting their arses trying not to drown.

Don't forget the generous £10 Xmas bonus for some benefit claimants.
The amount was set in the 1970s, when it was introduced, and hasn't been increased since (save a one off payment of £70 in 2008, due to the financial crash - it reverted back to a tenner the next year).

The amount of benefits being paid is lower than the cost of living as it's never increased in line with inflation. You can't budget with money you don't have.