I know this will be contentious - cost of living rise

I'm willing to believe they exist but I don't know a single pensioner or person on benefits who is struggling for money.

There are plenty of pensioners in poverty. Pension credits only top up an income for a single person with no disability benefits to £182.60. It's shameful.

Yes of course many working people in receipt of disability benefits may also have options to increase their income, and won't be in additional need of heating. But on average disabled people above retirement age on a low income have only got the government to rely on.

To be honest it's a bit early to guess what Truss and Kwarteng are going to come up with and start frothing. I strongly suspect that when they come up with a plan it will be shit in a whole heap of ways we haven't even imagined.

@CredibilityProblem

I'm not in any bubble at all, that's the point you are missing!

Most working people are already working full time hours and some of us have families at home and are unable to put in any more hours. Furthermore, businesses are also under pressure and unable to hand out pay rises .

Some of us are in touch with the real world!!

Thank you, this needed to be said. People with disabilities aren't once homogenous group.

YANBU OP. I’m just waiting for the wealth tax, when middle earners will have to fund a tax grab on their pension pots and homes.

Yanbu me and DH both work as many hours as possible, he earns just over 50k, I earn around 12-15k working everyday around the school runs, evenings and weekends. Because dh earns over 50k, we don't qualify for any sort of help, we don't even get full child benefit. (Although a family with both parents earning £49k do?!) It's pretty disheartening when we're struggling, but know families who aren't feeling the pinch because they're on lower incomes, and benefits, so subsequently means they get additional government help. We own our home, and have lots of repairs, maintenance etc that we're having to put on hold because we simply cannot afford to with the increase of everything else, it's going to become increasingly hard to stretch out payday. We'd be so much better off if we were alot richer or poorer, but as an "average family" we're being financially screwed.

And nobody in full or part time employment can pick up extra weekend or evening shifts? None of us?

Okay great so people on benefits, not disabled, can get a part time job to give themselves a hand rather than get more given to them by the government.

If you think they are commiting fraud then report them otherwise assume someone has done an assessment and they need the support.

Presumably someone medical has said she needs a carer though so she can’t bd in good health? And if it wasn’t her partner, it would be someone else. Being at home all day being your partners carer doesn’t sound like something to be envious of, although for some it’s necessary. Buying puppies. Yuk. I’d just be glad you’re not like them. But I still don’t think they can be ‘rolling in it’. Carers allowance and PIP etc aren’t that much. Sounds a miserable life to me.

So many people looking for other people to criticise and look sideways at. Heaven forbid anyone should get something they don't - or they're perceived as getting "handouts".

I often wonder why there aren't more people on benefits. After all why bother working when you could be "rolling in it".

You could be getting just over £69 per week on Carers Allowance. You could also be getting Universal Credit (oh no I forgot Carers Allowance is deducted from UC).

I get it that a lot of people are going to be struggling but I'm getting mightily sick of all these benefit bashing threads. There will always be people who play the system. There are also a lot of people who play the system when it comes to paying tax.

Why can't people just concentrate on why these costs are rising instead of trying to scapegoat people on benefits. Benefits are humiliating to be on without this constant demonising.

I work full time 40 hours. People saying you can't get extra hours do you mean in your main job? I have had to take an extra two jobs working weekends and evenings.
Do you have sports stadiums and concert venues near? If you live in a city casual work is readily available at these places.
I consider myself better off than people on UC. At least my extra pay comes to me instead of being taken off a claim.
Obviously you have to be working 9-5 Mon to Friday to pick up extra jobs but the option is there if you are fortunate enough to live in a city.
Should we have to work ourselves into the ground? Absolutely not. But I can't afford to live on my wage anymore.

I was on a low income until very recently, topped up with tax credits. If that was still the case I'd be getting the additional payments. I now earn enough not to be eligible for tax credits - but my take home pay is exactly the same as I was getting when it was made up of salary + tax credits. Its really frustrating that exactly the same amount of money is considered not to need more help, when I would have got that help if part of my income was still tax credits.

OP, are you sure about that, i thought people receiving tate pension can only claim attendance allowance, and there is no mobility element in that.
what mobility benefits does she receive ?
and would you prefer your mother to be struggling.
it's hard enough to be an older person at the moment on a fixed income with soaring prices. if disabled, any extra payments go towards extra costs of disability, and are never enough.

It's interesting that, even after COVID lockdowns and furlough and the sick pay allowance, people still believe living on benefits is great and the system is too generous. That we should give less to such people because, dammit, I can't afford to go abroad with my kids this year.

Hope you like crime and high levels of occupancy in the hospitals and morgues, because that's how you get it.

Can I just put my hand up and say that a large number of people are both on benefits AND work. There seems to be some misinformation spreading on this thread that it's one or the other but for many its both.

They are miserable. They hate each other and argue all the time. They're actually shouting at each other right now. It just makes me angry when I have to get up at the crack of dawn to go to work knowing they're tucked up in bed with their taxpayer funded lifestyles. And yes you're right someone must have assessed her and declared her not well enough to work - ime and from what I've observed it's just luck or lack thereof of what person you have assessing you and how much you're willing to lie. I used to get low end DLA to help with the extra costs of a disability and it was taken away. I didn't have it in me to appeal so yes I'm a little bitter I suppose.

Also in general, working age people may have more opportunities to work extra hours to increase their income or ask for a pay rise
Very few people can work extra hours or ask for a pay rise (well you could ask but you wouldn't get it!). Retail and hospitality maybe?

My husband for example works 37.5 hours a week. That's how many hours it takes to do his job, where are extra hours coming from? Why would they pay him to do extra hours when the work can be completed in the alloted hours? And it's public sector so no asking for pay rises.

Most people receiving benefits do not get as much as a pensioner on disability, mobility and pension credits. The rate for a single parent or an unemployed person, for example, is seventy something a week. A carer receives £69 a week plus about £45 top up in income support, but a big chunk of this is taken out of the disability benefits of the person they look after.
And of course pensioners and disabled people tend to need the extra money for extra expenses incurred by age and disability: there are extremely stringent, stressful and distressing tests they have to go through to prove this before they are allowed those benefits and those tests are regularly repeated.
Of course middle income earners might also need benefits to top up their incomes now that the cost of living is rising. It would make sense if the income thresholds, based on what the government calculates people need to live on (e.g. a single, working age adult without disabilities is considered to need £78 or similar a week after housing cost, i.e. to cover food, bills, clothes and travel), were recalculated so that middle income earners can apply for universal credit if needed.
Alternatively/ also of course widespread measures to address the cost of living rises could be considered.

But raising the tax free allowance will also benefit those getting large private pensions and those earning £90k
Not really a priority to me tbh

It's not straightforward because of course we need to support all in need however there is a lot of burden on young people/young families because housing costs are so prohibitive.

Also if you havent got children. Even if you are on a low income you can't get benefits. Rubbish for single working adults. One of my colleagues works 50 hours a week ut will struggle to get by and isn't entitled to anything cause she's not pension age and has no dependants anymore.

I think it starts being tapered down after 100k to no personal allowance after 125k. I think it would be reasonable, the people who would benefit it proportionally the most would be those on lower incomes.

I want the less able, and those with no choices to improve their lot, looked after.
I'm working more. Then I will heat less.
I am relatively fit and healthy.
I don't want to see people in a worse situation suffering.
I want to see the fat cats and corporations properly contributing and having some sense of social responsibility.

Yes I agree with the first paragraph but surely the majority of people are salaried and have no hope of negotiating a pay rise (staff in the NHS, LAs, big corporations etc - you can't just negotiate your salary when it's set on a national pay scale).