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

@greyblanket76 are you actually going to answer if you get child support or not?

[quote jesusmaryjosephandtheweedonkey]@labyrinthlaziness I'm not a cunt!
I'm a survivor of a shite childhood, that could of been better, if my mother wasn't given free money to be fucking work shy [/quote]
I know nothing of your situation, you may have reasons for being very upset by your own life history of course , but that does not mean that all people on benefits are the same, so it would be wrong to extrapoloate from one specific example IMO.

My view is that those who 'benefit bash' are cunts.

I think op is benefit bashing whilst trying to hide beside a mask

Sorry it's taken me a while to get through all the replies but how can I benefit bash when I'm literally on benefits myself? How does that make any sense?

And I have my perspective proven once more.

Sad, unchanging, nasty, useless, goady and wholly indicative of why nothing will ever change for the better.

It is far, far easier to become more and more entrenched at either end of this obvious polemic

You are a young single mother with two children under two and you will be receiving £2,400 per month in benefits plus CB. That is so much more than millions of people who work FT earn.

Be honest, OP, you know exactly what you are doing, You are an intelligent person who obviously understands how the benefits system works and you are taking advantage of it to get a comfortable lifestyle paid for by the taxpayer. I don’t blame you, I blame the system which is evidently broken.

Everyone doesn't benefit bash is the first thing, and I think people would rarely bash a person in a situation such as yours. The system is wrong, in that it ought to make sense to try and work, and on many other levels. It doesn't mean people are wrong to find themselves in such a situation. You have to be practical and do what is right for you and your kids in the system as it is. Anyone would do the same.

Apart from questioning the system, people might sometimes question the personal decisions that put someone in a vulnerable position. Obviously sometimes there's nothing the person could have done. But for example in your case, having two children in your early 20s when you are still quite young to know whether you are in a relationship that will last, may not have been wise. Of course it's not 'wrong' to have children young, and any relationship can end, but it increases the risk that your situation will change. They also might ask, as PPs are, what the children's father is contributing to their upkeep.

There are of course some people on MN, as anywhere, who don't have the imagination to conceive of a situation different to their own, or to understand that people are dealt different hands in life. It's also true that MH leans middle class (although by no means exclusively) so there might be a higher than average number of people here who haven't been very hard up, or used the benefits system much. But in most cases, I don't think they set out to bash individuals.

Yet you can earn more than 40k per year on benefits.

There is a cap of £24,000 a year in London and £20,000 outside of London. Anyone getting £40k a year has other issues going on (e.g., disabilities) for which the benefit cap would not apply.

I am very angry with the govt. I hate the Tories. Lots of working class people seem to think they’re Gods, and keep fucking voting for them (and don’t mention Brexshit).

But I can also resent people doing what they want rather than perhaps what they should, and then being self-righteous when others pick up the tab for them. I notice you’ve not responded to the people mentioning their own financial situations who despite doing things in a way they could stand on their own feet, now find themselves with no thanks or help? While you rented and decided to have children at such a young age, some of us were working 2 jobs to pay for education, then continue it to get into a career that provided for having children etc.

What luxuries? The luxury of time, the luxury of not having to do everything at 5 gazillion miles an hour, the luxury of not having to balance worrying about your child getting sick, not only as mum worry but how it will affect your job? The worry of the necessity of having a reliable car, and those costs, because it would all collapse without transport? The luxury of not rushing to ensure all family ‘stuff’ is done during a lunch break (if you get them) or after 8-9pm when everyone is fed, watered etc etc.

Those luxuries.

So you chose to have have a second child ? Is the Father paying ? I guess there are so many people who work and can't afford to have children, it's bound to result in a bit of bashing. Not that impressed myself when I have to get up for work at 5.30 every bloody day.

I don't know why anyone would be envious of people living on benefits. The long-term prognosis is very poor.

[quote jesusmaryjosephandtheweedonkey]@labyrinthlaziness I'm not a cunt!
I'm a survivor of a shite childhood, that could of been better, if my mother wasn't given free money to be fucking work shy [/quote]
But because your mum was that way does not mean others are . There are all sorts of reasons people are on benefits. Such as disability, mental health, domestic violence. Or min wage jobs so rely on benefit top ups .

[quote HTH1]@greyblanket76

“@HTH1 this is what I mean though. What luxuries are these that sister B is enjoying? Sister A has a mortgage which is cheaper then private renting no? Just because sister B is eligible for a larger council property doesn't mean she won't still be private renting and bidding for 10+ years... so the calculations don't make sense”.

B isn’t paying any rent (she gets UC for that) and all of her living expenses are paid for with money left over. You said that yourself; if you were B, you would get £1,000 per month more than if you were A. I’m sure anyone here could think of the luxuries your extra £1,000 (or more when you factor in travel costs, childcare etc) would buy.[/quote]
@HTH1 sorry but you're not living in the real world, AT ALL. B gets UC for her rent, if she's private renting that's already half of the amount gone on the rent. There's bills, the cost of living, if sister B has more than one child, those children cost. It all adds up. As the pp who's a welfare officer said, it all looks good on paper but in reality it's very different. As someone else said, I must be using my UC wrong then because according to you, I should have all this money to be spending on 'luxuries'

I think there is more sympathy for people who fall into misfortune like a disability or previously self sufficient (either because they were a couple or lost a job) than for people who seem to “plan” their lives around welfare.

On one hand the reality is without some sort of welfare many people would struggle to have children and that seems wrong on the other many people plan cautiously and prioritise good decision making. But then if you aren’t taught those things, if its normal not to plan in your family etc then this is going to be difficult. Also I imagine there’s plenty of working class people who do not claim, not keen on the conflation between working class and requiring benefits.

@AchillesPoirot

The father of your children should be paying. Why isn’t he?

That wouldn't make any difference to the amount of benefits she gets therefore it is irrelevant here..

@Runmybathforme

So you chose to have have a second child ? Is the Father paying ? I guess there are so many people who work and can't afford to have children, it's bound to result in a bit of bashing. Not that impressed myself when I have to get up for work at 5.30 every bloody day.

I get benefits and I also get up for work at 5.30. Not everyone on benefits doesn't work.

It would increase her income plus he should be paying.

@AchillesPoirot

It would increase her income plus he should be paying.

Yes it would but it's entirely irrelevant since it's not taken into account where benefits are calculated. He should be paying, but it's irrelevant to the thread.

I don't benefits bash and have enough going on in my life that I don't need to give so much time to bring furious about what other people get.

And yes, you're income is higher than mine. We're in the position where we probably would be eligible for some help, but our savings are too high - I do think the amount of savings allowed should be higher, not because we might get something but because there should be a reward for long term saving. We all know we having an aging population, dropping birth rate and pension crisis...

@MintyFreshBreath

I don’t have a problem with people claiming benefits per se. I had to claim JSA once for 8 months so I’ve been there. However, I job searched day in day out and had a volunteer job the entire time to keep my skills up. Benefits are a stop gap and I will unashamedly benefits bash anyone who is too damn lazy to work. Why should I have to work 37.5 hours a week whilst other people get it handed to them for free? I have a disability which is a protected characteristic yet I still work and other people still don’t bother. So if you want to know why some people ‘benefits bash’, that’s why. They’re fed up of going to work whilst others don’t bother.

So again, it's that sense of 'well I do xyz so why the hell aren't you doing it too?!'

@Runmybathforme

So you chose to have have a second child ? Is the Father paying ? I guess there are so many people who work and can't afford to have children, it's bound to result in a bit of bashing. Not that impressed myself when I have to get up for work at 5.30 every bloody day.

It took 2 for op to get pregnant she did not do it on her own. It's not her fault he left . How do you know that he did not leave when she was 6+ plus pregnant. You think she should have aborted ?

If woman done what so many men do. and left, as well. think how many kids would be in care. The bloke can just f off then the mum gers bashed for it

I don't bash people who need benefits. But I do think it should never be the case that you earn more on benefits than working. People in work should always be rewarded. It is harder than not working.
If you are too sick or disabled to work then that's a different case.
To clarify, no one should be cold, hungry or homeless but working should be a solution and pay more

My SMP didn’t cover my mortgage but I wasn’t entitled to any benefits!

I borrowed 10 grand so I could afford to be on maternity leave which I’m paying back over the next 20 years. You sound lucky!

Swap Immigrant for benefits claimant. Everyone can claim benefits - if it's so much better quit your jobs. Claim benefits and have all the babies you want after all it's so much better right?

@Tomanynames

You seem to forget the common line used here

Once pregnant the woman has the choices, yes it takes two to get pregnant but it’s on the OP for deciding to continue pregnancies in a less than ideal life set up.

Even the first child was unlikely to have been born in an ideal situation based on the information we have to hand

Your benefits are a bit less than my take home pay (after my student loan and pension are deducted) working full time on 45k. I had to study for years to qualify. When I was on mat leave I'd just changed jobs (granted my choice) so I only got maternity allowance. Can you not see why people might be a bit irked by your post telling everyone what you get in handouts for reproducing really young? I had to return to work after 8 months maternity leave and I'm juggling still breastfeeding, it's hard work.

I'm not sure what you are expecting people to say in response to your post? Well done? Good for you?