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.

@Myusernameisnotmyusernameno

I know someone who gets 2k a month because he's deemed as unfit to work yet plays drums in a band and always has massive tv and latest computer games.

Yeah. Course you do.

It's been mentioned on the thread that benefits have not risen in line with inflation. That is true of public sector pay aswell, I have not had an above inflation pay rise in the last 10 years but the tax burden has risen considerably through increases in many peripheral taxes, decreasing take home salaries.
In general this is likely the case for many and not just isolated to those in receipt of benefits.

I think in the same way some people are unable to imagine having cancer unless they get cancer, some folk just can't imagine their circumstances taking a turn for the worse and needing a hand to survive. Saying some people cheat benefits so all people on benefits are cheats is like saying some people fake illness so all people who are ill are faking. Please understand, bad things can happen to anybody, even you.

I know someone who gets 2k a month because he's deemed as unfit to work yet plays drums in a band and always has massive tv and latest computer games.

A disabled person who is able to play an instrument! Blimey. Can't possibly have a disability then.

Thanks to the benefit cap, the max a family can get if none of them get PIP/DLA, is £384.62 pw.

Where I live, 50 miles from London, a 3-bed private rented property is near impossible to find for less than £350pw. How the fuck is anyone supposed to pay their bills and feed and clothe their children on £34 a week?

Therese Coffey would say that they should move to somewhere cheaper, but if they're locked into a 12-month agreement that may not be possible, and moving itself costs money. And that's if they're able to find a landlord willing to accept a tenant on benefits.

Any family can find themselves in this position if they lose their job, suffer illness/accident that means they can no longer work or the working partner ups and leaves.

If they get PIP or one of their kids gets DLA, the cap is removed but they would only get £276 towards their rent, so would have to top it up by £80 pw from their other benefits. And it takes months for a PIP or DLA claim to be processed, a year or more if people have to appeal.

The benefit system is broken. The safety net is now so full of holes that most people crash straight through it.

There is no slack in the system, no community care grants for replacing essential items, you can only get a budgeting loan if you've been on benefits for 6 months, so if your washing machine packs up you have no choice but to get it on expensive credit (no launderette within a 10 mile radius).

I've seen a mother driven to tears when her teenage son came home from school with the sole hanging off his school shoes. She had no money to replace them and knew the school would send him home if he went in wearing trainers.

There are no grants for school uniforms any more either!

@SpittinKitten @Myusernameisnotmyusernameno
Goats used to be given away as standard to benefit claimants along with their flatscreen tv.
Thanks to Tory cuts they are no longer. However the drummer/gamer guy could clearly afford to buy his own with their huge benefits income.

@drpaddington

I know someone who gets 2k a month because he's deemed as unfit to work yet plays drums in a band and always has massive tv and latest computer games.

A disabled person who is able to play an instrument! Blimey. Can't possibly have a disability then.

Yeah, that Stevie Wonder must be faking it!

Im torn on this one. Benefits are terrible unless you know how to play the system, and prices are increasing constantly without the benefits increasing. So i do believe there are people who genuinely need the help. However, i have a food bank local to me and every single Thursday its the same people going in there. These people will openly admit that they do it so they don't have to buy shopping and it gives them more spare money to spend on their leisure activities which usually include going to the local working mans club, drugs and fags! They think it's absolutely fantastic that they can do this! As i said before I know that not all people on benefits are like this, but around here there are whole generations of families for whom the norm is to live on benefits their whole lives! I honestly don't know what the answer to this is though, how do the government ensure that people only use benefits as a safety net not a life choice, without punishing those who genuinely need it?

@drpaddington a person with a disability must not have hobbies and interests! Their personality is that of a generic disabled person so they mustn't think about anything other than that.

[quote MyDcAreMarvel]**@SpittinKitten* @Myusernameisnotmyusernameno*
Goats used to be given away as standard to benefit claimants along with their flatscreen tv.
Thanks to Tory cuts they are no longer. However the drummer/gamer guy could clearly afford to buy his own with their huge benefits income.[/quote]
Thank you!
Where the chuff is my goat?

@KrispyKake

With the cap on the number of children UC will pay for if they are born after a certain date , when was that introduced?

Are there any figures for that policy as I really doubt that anyone would have had a bigger family just to get a few pounds extra a week as a child would still cost more than then increase ….

Would be interesting to see the numbers

The provision was in the Welfare Reform Act 2015, I believe, and applies to children born after April 2017.

I've not seen any evidence that it lowered the birth rate, but as we have a falling birth rate, I suspect that's not desirable either.

@SpittinKitten thank you for that. I appreciate the explanation. Coming off this thread now as I seem to be the enemy

@wanttomarryamillionaire
I wish you all the best with your comment

@wanttomarryamillionaire

Im torn on this one. Benefits are terrible unless you know how to play the system, and prices are increasing constantly without the benefits increasing. So i do believe there are people who genuinely need the help. However, i have a food bank local to me and every single Thursday its the same people going in there. These people will openly admit that they do it so they don't have to buy shopping and it gives them more spare money to spend on their leisure activities which usually include going to the local working mans club, drugs and fags! They think it's absolutely fantastic that they can do this! As i said before I know that not all people on benefits are like this, but around here there are whole generations of families for whom the norm is to live on benefits their whole lives! I honestly don't know what the answer to this is though, how do the government ensure that people only use benefits as a safety net not a life choice, without punishing those who genuinely need it?

Firstly, you have to have a referral to a food bank. Secondly, those referrals are only a few a year....there is a limit. Thirdly...how crap life must be to have to exist on a food bank parcel...no perishable goods at all. Little in the way of protein etc.

So yeah...I suspect you are talking a load of bollocks.

It is a combination of wages being too low and benefits being too low. The government needs to force more of the burden on to private business, by implementing a minimum wage that it is possible to live comfortably on and banning zero hours contracts. Most benefit claimants are in work, and the government (taxpayers) are subsidising their profits with top up benefits. That's it really.

The fraud in the system is minimal, and when any is found is given a disproportionate amount of media coverage.

I don't understand how people can get so worked up about someone on benefits having "the latest phone", but barely bat an eyelid at the minimal taxes paid by amazon and their ilk. Really?!

There but for the grace of God, go I.

Debt.

Borrowing to keep yourself afloat when life hands you a kick in the crotch, such as eviction, redundancy, family death etc can really fuck up your whole life, and is often unavoidable. It creates a spiral that's very difficult to escape.

That reliable, steady income from your wage/benefits suddenly gets very tight and you may end up with very little leftover with which to feed yourself.

I applied for a goat when I became a single parent in 2009. By the time they had processed my application I was no longer eligible for one. Sad times.

We had a situation in January when my husband had been out of work for a few months and UC suddenly cut our childcare payment with no warning. I totally understand their reasoning that he could be looking after a child if he wasn't at work. However childcare providers need warning and as the UC payment is related to outgoings and pay the previous month, meaning we were paying for 2 months childcare with no money to cover it. We were very lucky in that we had family members who could bail us out, but many people don't have that luxury. The system is good in so many ways, but the lack of communication for reducing payments means that those people who have no back up, who budget carefully for the money that they're expecting are suddenly unable to pay for the basics. This kind of situation must mean people have to rely on food banks.

OK so I'm reliant on benefits I have two disabled children. I'm quite happy to answer any income questions.

Things I will say off the bat.. my new car? Motability. The decent TV we have? My dad brought it for me as a present because he knows I have zero options for being able to get out in an evening. It was a one off present and I resent the idea I shouldn't have it because we are reliant on benefits but likewise, I didn't squander my benefits to buy it, I would have just gone without. By decent its a £350 smart TV which actually saves me money as I no longer have a TV package, I just use netflix which saves £40pm. I know TVs go up in to the many thousands but this isn't one.

Please look into what UC entitlements are, compare the LHA entitlement rates to actual private rent costs.

When I looked into claiming UC- I'd exhausted all other options, I remember thinking, the car that we need, will have to go. But then we're fucked. How can we go back to work?
Then I looked, electric, Internet, phone contracts would need to go, credit for phones, wouldn't be able to keep insurance on the house or the dog.
Wouldn't have had enough to feed ourselves on what was left, for 1 week, 2, maybe 3 if we were really really careful but there would be no room for error in the budget or anything like mufti day, school cookery classes or emergencies like the washing hine breaking.

I also say my new car, it isn't my car, it is DC1's but she is 7..

@Suzi888 sounds like you are talking about someone on working tax credit if they are working at your office. The overall discussion is about people solely living off of UC with no additional income.

If your colleague works then they can do what they like with their money in my opinion. Your boss is the scrounger for expecting the state to top up the low wages.

If you can’t afford to pay a living wage then you can’t afford to run a business.

Last time I had a (modestly sized) flat screen TV and a financial disaster, I took it to pawn. And dropped it as I approached the counter, smashing the screen. That really wasn't a good day. .

@Myusernameisnotmyusernameno

I know someone who gets 2k a month because he's deemed as unfit to work yet plays drums in a band and always has massive tv and latest computer games.

So? If he has been "deemed unfit to work", then somebody dealing with his claim has made the decision that he is entitled to benefits. It's up to him how he spend that money. If his bills are paid then what he chooses to do with whatever is left is up to him. Have you asked for the receipts for his telly and games? How do you know he was the one who purchased them?

@HerRoyalWitchyness

I'm on benefits. I got paid yesterday. After paying for

Rent, gas, electric, water rates, TV licence, my phone (not the latest model), my Internet, shopping, my debt management plan, the budgeting advance that I got from UC and then what I owe my mum I'm left with £50.

To last me almost 3 weeks until I get my pip. Luckily I've already bought everything we need for the next few weeks, but I can definitely see how an unexpected expense, like travel to hospital (which with my disabilities is a semi regular thing, hence owing my mum money. I had to borrow it to get ti hospital) or a vet bill could tip me into needing a food bank.

You may already know this but if you’re going to a hospital appointment you may be entitled to help with travel costs. www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/help-with-health-costs/healthcare-travel-costs-scheme-htcs/