Why do you benefit bash?

[greyblanket76]

My family and I are working class and always have been. My friends are too and so are the people that I tend to socialise with/meet in everyday life. I've only been on MN since last year but have seen so many comments bashing people who are on/depend on benefits and I'd really like to know why?

Is this because some people on here think everyone that's on benefits is lazy and doesn't want to work therefore claim benefits? Or is it something else?

I'll talk about my situation and will keep it as brief as possible as I already know people will come in the comments to try and shame me. I'm early 20s and a single mum (didn't start out that way but your whole life can literally change overnight and that's what happened to me). I have one DC and I'm expecting another so I've been on maternity leave back to back as I'll have 2 under 2.

I've worked full time since I was 17 right up until I went on my first maternity leave. Due to the rate of SMP, I'm entitled to benefits as SMP doesn't even cover my rent which is £1200. I'm entitled to £1670 of UC which covers my rent and all my bills. During the first 9 months of my maternity leave I was receiving around £1507 UC (due to deductions) + £638 SMP = £2145 a month.
Once I give birth to my second DC, my UC entitlement should go from £1670 to £1907. This isn't 100% accurate but due to receiving SMP, let's say the deductions would be due £1700 UC + £638 SMP = £2388 a month. That would be excluding child benefit for both children btw.

When I was working full time, I was earning £1383 a month. I do plan to go back to work after my maternity leave ends as I genuinely love my work and have my whole career in front of me. However can people see the huge jump in difference between the two amounts? Nearly a grand in total! When returning back to work, I would be entitled to some benefits however because I'd be working full time, it wouldn't be a lot. That's why it's advised that you drop hours to work part time in order to get the most help available.

I've read my post back and hope it isn't too confusing but I just wanted some people who benefit bash to understand that sometimes life on benefits seems better especially as you have kids because you get so much more help. My mum keeps telling me to consider not working for a year or two just because I need to consider the quality of life my DC and I will have. I wouldn't be able to pay for rent AND childcare so what would I do? There's a lot that comes into play when deciding if you should go back to work or just be on benefits and I hope some people got that from this post. Seeing as this is an anonymous forum, if you judge/bash people on benefits, I'd really be interested to hear why. Posting in AIBU because I'm prepared to be flamed and have learnt not to take nasty comments to heart

Im a single mum on benefits. Havent worked in twenty years. Have severe mental health issues but even I think this post is goady as fuck.

Having fun OP?

@Frequency

It's because people are too blinkered to see past their own, small experiences.

They don't understand that not everyone is capable of getting 2/3 degrees. Not everyone has a family who will support them (practically, financially and emotionally) through higher education. Many working class young people are pushed into minimum wage jobs as soon as they leave school so they can contribute to the household income.

They don't understand that marriages break down or contraceptives fail.

They don't know anyone whose family was so abusive they left home at 16 and took the first job offered to them. They don't know anyone who has degrees and still can't get a job as they can't leave the area due to family commitments.

They don't understand that if everyone had a high paying paying job society would break down. Cleaners, bin men, service workers are needed. A doctor could not perform surgeries if cleaners and maintenance workers didn't keep the hospital clean and in good working order.

And if everyone who "couldn't afford" kids didn't have them we'd be fucked in 20 years when there was no-one to clean the streets or care for all the eldery 2x univerysity graduates.

If it doesn't happen in their social circle they don't get it.

The benefits system is not broken, wages are.

If you earn less than someone on benefits you need to be shouting for a payrise not demanding that others are pushed further down.

Fantastic post

The maximum 2 children has only been in force for a few years. Children born before that date no matter how many children in one family can still be claimed for.

@PaddleBoardingMomma

I haven't read the full thread so not sure if this has been said, but for me...

The benefits system is there for people in need, the vulnerable in society who need the help. 100% I totally support those who need it, it's a marvellous system for so many in need.

What I don't agree with is when it's a choice! When people "weigh up" what's going to get them more money and then just choose not to work. That's different, but I don't judge... if you want to set that example for your children then so be it 🤷🏼‍♀️

Yep. This pretty much sums up my views on it too.

So many bitter people begrudging others. I notice they don't envy the loneliness, being left, feeling trapped, limited opportunities, disabilities, illness, abuse, trauma, I could go on. Its not black and white to be jealous/ bitter about the money.

@Frequency come off it - we don't need people to have children and live of benefits to look after us in our old age. There are plenty enough children born to parents who work hard and don't do this.

Actually, there isn't. The elderly outnumber by far and the birth rate is still dropping. We already have a chronic shortage of care workers and this is predicted to get worse.

We could, of course, import them from elsewhere but then we'd have brown skinned people taking our hard earned taxes in benefits

That may have been the case with DLA which will soon no longer exist, but it certainly isn't with PIP. To claim pip you have to produce real evidence of diagnosis. Even then they assess you and decide for themselves how it affects your daily life. If they think you can make yourself a cup of tea you are refused the daily living element, if they think you can walk the length off a bus they refuse the mobility element.
Many claimants are refused pip and have to go to a tribunal where senior medical professionals decide your award

PIP decisions are a joke. I do a PIP application most weeks, often 2. The last time a client got awarded PIP without appealing was on an application made in July last year.

I've had clients get zero points at the initial stage, only to get the higher rate of both components when I ask the DWP to reconsider their decision. That's just a paper exercise, with the same info and just a bit more legal jargon. One client got turned down despite really compelling evidence, including scans, x-ray results and private and NHS consultant reports.

I've yet to lose a PIP appeal. That just shows how utterly wrong their decisions are. Nationally, I think the success rate at appeals is 70-80%.

That's why I always take stories of people scamming disability benefits with a pinch of salt. I know how hard it is for people who are entitled to them to get them, god knows how scammers manage. And I think people maybe need to remember that not all disabilities are visible.

Exactly this. It's also the attitude of people like the OP. She states that she is "entitled to" live off benefits. It's that sense of entitlement that winds people up.

@oopsIdiditagaintoo this isn't my attitude. When you're on the Payment page of UC, it literally says, 'What you're entitled to' and explains the breakdown. That's all I meant😕

I may.be wrong , but this feels like a goady wind up.
For hard workimg.people on minimum wage.
For hard workimg people who have sacrificed years of earning power to study.and.now earn lite.more.than rhe op. And I think.she knows it.

@Peppapigforlife

A lot of people saying that OP hasn't had to work for what she has, like they do, but the amount OP gets right now is LITERALLY because she has worked. She doesn't have the benefit cap because she has worked and her UC is increased by SMP BECAUSE she has worked, and is going back to work afterwards. She wouldn't be getting the same amount as those in work if she had never worked, or didn't have a job pre pregnancy. Also, unless you have a disability, people on UC and jobseekers can't stay on it as a lifestyle. People say they're annoyed when women cut their hours to 16 a week but you can only do this until your youngest is five. So it's not a long term lifestyle choice and unless someone is really good at faking disability, you can't stay on the full amount without working full time, for life.

Thank you!!! It's as if people can't read

I can't believe how much you receive in benefits! I didn't previously bash people on benefits because I thought they were struggling, as they received barely enough to live on. I stress the PREVIOUSLY because now I've read your post, I feel like I want to benefit bash!! That is a full time wage for some people! My OH took home £1700 a month when he was working a very stressful 48 hours a week as the Deputy Manager of a hotel chain! You get it for doing nothing!!! Obviously if people physically can't work, thats a different story.

Also why have a 2nd child when you're already on benefits? You can't afford to look after the 1st child by yourself!

It does baffle me how people manage to get degrees when they are apparently incapable of basic reading and comprehension skills.

OP works. As do 90+% of UC claiments. She's currently on maternity leave.

@Stroopwaffle5000

I can't believe how much you receive in benefits! I didn't previously bash people on benefits because I thought they were struggling, as they received barely enough to live on. I stress the PREVIOUSLY because now I've read your post, I feel like I want to benefit bash!! That is a full time wage for some people! My OH took home £1700 a month when he was working a very stressful 48 hours a week as the Deputy Manager of a hotel chain! You get it for doing nothing!!! Obviously if people physically can't work, thats a different story.

Also why have a 2nd child when you're already on benefits? You can't afford to look after the 1st child by yourself!

As far as I understand op was not on benefits when she became pregnant

OP is basically congratulating herself in this post by telling people how well off she is, being funded by others having children she cannot afford, nor the father/s will pay for. Well done OP, you win the prize for goady post of the day.

@sst1234

OP now that you have had your stealth brag about how you’re making more money on benefits than you did working, you’ve achieved what you set out to achieve with this thread. And the faux ignorance about why it winds people up is a little too obvious. Of course you know why it winds people up, you even gave numbers to back it up in your OP.

@sst1234 I'm trying really to not act my age and go around insulting people but what are you actually talking about? I've had a stealth brag about what? Receiving £1670 a month when my rent is £1200, council tax £109 and gas & electric is £72. Did you see the part where I have £73 left to last DC and I one month or did you not read that far along?

How is it faux ignorance when everyone I'm surrounded by is on UC or has UC top ups? I never hear anyone speak a bad word about benefits yet people benefit shame on here all the time. I asked why and I was told why. Don't act like there was some secret agenda here. I have a DC to be looking after, I have better things to do with my time

Again: most benefit claimants are working and many of them are doing absolutely essential jobs such as social care. It's just that almost everything is now privatised and private companies extract profits rather than investing in staff, so the benefits system has to be humiliating and complicated and invested with shame so as many people as possible can be forced into underpaid work.
The other factor was the destruction of social housing - most of those former council houses that were sold off are now in the hands of private landlords, who are pocketing all that universal credit some of you appear to resent paying for, rather than it going back into the government's available funding.

But MN still allows the OP's post.

@Stroopwaffle5000

I can't believe how much you receive in benefits! I didn't previously bash people on benefits because I thought they were struggling, as they received barely enough to live on. I stress the PREVIOUSLY because now I've read your post, I feel like I want to benefit bash!! That is a full time wage for some people! My OH took home £1700 a month when he was working a very stressful 48 hours a week as the Deputy Manager of a hotel chain! You get it for doing nothing!!! Obviously if people physically can't work, thats a different story.

Also why have a 2nd child when you're already on benefits? You can't afford to look after the 1st child by yourself!

Children are often ten ticket for many to live a life funded by others. This is why the 2 children cap was largely a popular policy, because of so many people using this as a lifestyle choice. Many still do, but the two child cap restricts them somewhat.

@sst1234

OP is basically congratulating herself in this post by telling people how well off she is, being funded by others having children she cannot afford, nor the father/s will pay for. Well done OP, you win the prize for goady post of the day.

Have you read the ops post?

@polkadotty2

Hey OP.

I have no idea why I wasted my time reading this whole thread, time I will never get back. Or why I am responding. I am about a decade older than you. Without giving too much away, I have 2 degrees, spent 7 years in higher education, then have been spending years building my career. I am married. DH and I are long distance due to unpredictable career transfers. We don't have DC yet. I take home less than you once student loans, tax etc is deducted. So does DH. I dont own a home yet. I am waiting to own a home, to get transferred to the same city as DH, build up some more savings and get to a reasonable level in my career before we consider TTC.

I think several people have explained to you and answered your original question in the OP. Happy Tuesday.

@polkadotty2 thanks for taking the time out to comment and explain your situation. I hope it all works out in the long run so you and DH can be closer together. Enjoy your night☕️

@Fittleswade

OP I don't believe this post is sincere at all. You are baiting people. I don't believe people should have children knowing they can't afford them. I understand misfortunate circumstances occur and life can change, but that's not the case with you. You've planned another child knowing that welfare will cover your lifestyle choices. I grew up in a benefits culture. I don't have a lot of respect for it. I hope your children break the cycle.

@Fittleswade you clearly can't read

Let's also remember that there are very, very few jobs which fit round primary school hours and pay more than minimum wage - and most of those will not keep you for very long if you have a sickly kid or one with additional needs and therefore have to keep taking time off.
If the state subsidized childcare and it was available 24/7 more single parents might be able to work (and no, this doesn't mean all these evil selfish career women will never see their children, which they shouldn't have had, waaaa, etc - it means that there are more options, such as evening jobs, for parents if they have someone who can mind the DC in the evening).

Though we also have a problem with those who fetishize Hard Work (by which they generally mean not just waged employment but the worst sort of shitty, insecure, undervalued waged employment) for other people... Most people actually want to 'work' in that they want to do something meaningful and productive with a fair bit of their time - but few people want to spend 6-8 hours a day phoning people to ask if they want to change energy supplies, and being told to fuck off over and over again...

My MIL worked sporadically and part-time. Has been assessed with arthritis in her spine (but she is just as fit and able, prob more so, than my mum). She’s younger, has overhauled her garden, moved paving slabs and last week wallpapered her lounge. She has a sympathetic doctor who has classified her as disabled and she gets:

She won't get PIP because her GP has "classified her as disabled", it simply doesn't work like that. She will have had to fill in the PIP form (which is a huge form and take ages) and will have had to provide evidence for each of the questions she has answered. For example, if she has said that she struggles to cook a meal due to her disability, she has to have detailed those struggles, then said what help she needs, who provides it, what aids/adaptations she uses, and what happens if she does not have that help/those aids, she then also needs to provide evidence if this via diagnostic reports, assessment reports, letters from doctors, etc.

2 bedroom bungalow and various bills paid for

Bungalows via social housing have eligibility criteria, if she has one then she meets the criteria. Not sure which bills she has paid for as PIP does not qualify you for free bills

Motability car - a gold coloured Renault Megane convertible with electric roof at one point, plus tax and, I think, insurance paid for. Replaced every 3 years.

Meaning she qualifies for higher mobility rate of PIP. This is not a "free car", she forfeits the mobility portion of her PIP to pay for it, my aunt gets a mobility car and gives up £68 a week from her PIP for it. Disabled people need a reliable car that is not likely to break down, often the car needs to be adapted (e.g., wheelchair space) and these cannot be done to older models. The car is on lease, it is not theirs to keep.

Blue badge for parking.

Again, this means she meets the eligibility criteria. They are not easy to get and applications have to be evidenced.

Free glasses (costing hundreds of pounds per year)

Once again, she obviously meets the criteria. I get free eye tests and I'm not on benefits but I have a first degree relative with glaucoma.

Multitude of benefits, I am not kidding, she is rolling in it.

Mmmhmmm

Treated herself to a £2,000 puppy last year.

Its up to her what she spends her money on.

My mum has to save for when she needs new glasses.

Maybe your mum should look into claiming PIP.

Do you know the difference? My MIL knows how to play the system. She just moans and tells sob stories until she’s given what she wants.

Moaning and sob stories do not qualify someone for disability benefits, as detailed above.

@murasaki

Unless I've misread, she lives in zone one London, she could live somewhere cheaper..

@murasaki I'm about to be a single mum to 2 under 2. My whole family lives in zone 1. How does it make sense for me to still private rent somewhere cheaper but I'm completely isolated and have no help from family or anyone else? It makes no sense at all