Do you agree with these benefits?

[Sophieleigh26]

Do you think the amount people get in benefits (before deductions like earnings) is the right amount, or it should be more / less?

MONTHLY AMOUNT
Single & under 25 £265.31
Single & over 25 £334.91
Couple both under 25 £416.45
Couple over 25 £525.72

£244.58 extra allowance for children (up to 2 children)

A single parent not working (24) with one child (1) would receive £509.89 a month, before deductions (loans, debt etc)

obviously these are just summaries and there are different rules if you have children born before 2017, for example, or disabilities, childcare costs.

YABU - It seems ok / right
YANBU - It should be more / less

No, it's for people who are ill/disabled as well. There are extra amounts that get added, but it takes ages to get those in place.

I was at a PIP appeal last week. The original application was made in April last year. The wait for assessments, decisions, etc is ridiculous.

@Choopi ahhh thanks for the info. Yes I can imagine in Irleand you look after your own more and have more concerned about the vulnerable. I can honestly say..
People constantly go to the GP and fill A&E up for the slightest things. So perhaps the way Ireland works is more of a deterrent unlike the UK.

@Paigeycakey
I don't know, it has to be a higher cost of living here now because no one could survive on those figures in the OP. I didn't think there was much change in living costs when I first moved here but it's over 10 years since I lived in the UK. I also don't notice any big different in prices when I go back over but I'm pretty much a tourist in London these days although I grew up there. Rent and house prices are very high here but we don't have any council tax which seems super expensive in UK. Ireland is a complete welfare state which brings its own problems but it nice to know there's a safety net if things ever go horribly wrong

My mum works with disadvantaged people in London and I'm always amazed when she tells me things like the people she works with need a referral to go to a food bank...you can't just show up anonymously no questions asked and get fed like you can here.

@Paigeycakey No need to wake up.
Of course they realise this...just too scared to make changes and then losing votes.

No idea why I've given you a cake rather than a raised eyebrow.

Not necessarily. Councils run their own schemes for council tax and in my area the minimum people pay is 18% of the total and that's only one council out of 2 counties and a city. The others all have a minimum payment of 20% of the total.

Council tax here is over £2k for a band C property.

The maximum allowed for housing costs is often significantly less than the actual rent and if you're not on an illness/disability benefit and subject to the benefit cap, you won't even get the full amount up to the maximum entitlement.

Rents are so high in this part of the SE that I had a single client in social housing who was benefit capped a little while ago.

You're right about PIP not taking a year. If you have to appeal, it takes 18 months.

I do a PIP application most weeks, sometimes 2, so probably 40+ a year. I've currently got cases that I did 5 months ago, and they haven't even got a date for their assessment yet. It can take another 2-3 months to get a decision after the assessment, so even if you get an award without appealing, it's still taking over 6 months before you get the actual money.

I think it should be more

Yes, it is.

I've worked with a few young homeless clients who've been placed in social housing following discharge from psych hospitals. Until they get PIP in payment, they get the shared accommodation rate, which is less than their rent.

I've had to do a lot of special pleading with councils to get discretionary housing payments and beg them not to start eviction proceedings. The uncertainty has damn near sent a couple of them into crisis.

I have a young client who lives in a village 8 miles from the nearest town and the first bus isn't till 10.14.

I got a grant from a charity so he could get a bike and cycle to interviews and, hopefully, to work. Before he'd got a job, his bike was stolen - from outside the job centre - and he had to decline the job offer he'd got because he had no way of getting there.

This isn't in an especially rural area, either - it's barely 50 miles from London.
Transport in rural areas is a huge obstacle to getting a job, especially for young people. I live in a town of nearly 20k population, and my first bus isn't till gone 9.00.

They are substantially higher than in many other countries.

Having lived on benefits a few years ago when my son was young ( he is 20 now ) I have to say they are extremely low .even if full rent is paid those amounts are not enough for food , transport and household bills . No wonder so many get stuck on the benefit cycle . I was only in full benefits around 3 months and it was awful just plain awful 😞, no money for anything nice , no way to go out , I can see why people get depressed and I’ll and why children often end up doing worse in school , think about it getting home and not even being able to have a bit of heating on for comfort or enough food or anything nice to look forward . It’s vicious cycle that is hard to break .

Even people on quite good incomes can still need help in high rent areas.

A couple of years ago, I had a client who was a nursing sister with 3 children. She (quite rightly) had a far higher salary than mine, but was still entitled to UC because rents and childcare costs here are so high.

I’m a nurse, I work 2 long shifts which is all I can get childcare for as I have a child with additional needs, timings of shifts etc. I could leave and work full time at nmw and earn what I do now but I’d still get top ups as I do now. These, of course will stop when my children are no longer dependent solely on me - rightly so. I can then increase my hours and work more extra shifts. There is not a lot I can do re extra work I work the days my children are with their dad and occasionally my eldest son will help out.

wgen they were small I was with their dad but after we split life became very difficult trying to juggle shifts and kids and find childcare - nursing isn’t conducive to normal childcare so I had to stay on part time. I don’t get hb but some wtc and ctc and cb. I have nothing left at end of the month not a bean I’m really worried for winter ❄️

Single & under 25 £265.31 - too high, should be living with parents
Single & over 25 £334.91 - too low, should be about 4x this value
Couple both under 25 £416.45 - too high, two sets of parents to live with so no excuse
Couple over 25 £525.72 - should be the same combined as the single person gets individually, they can live in a one bed flat the same as a single person

£244.58 extra allowance for children (up to 2 children) - should be zero, don't have kids you can't afford

A single parent not working (24) with one child (1) would receive £509.89 a month, before deductions (loans, debt etc) - too high, should be living with parents at 24 so no payments needed, the parents can support them and the child

What happens if you have no living parents? Do the under 25s live on the streets?

@TigerRag
I’m under 25
I moved out at 16 into a hostel
was under social care as I have NC with my parents
Lived in hostels till I was 18, got a 1 bed flat in the worst possible condition, did it up
did several house exchanges and now have a lovely 2 bed new build
it’s been extremely difficult just getting by though. I tried going to uni but they count maintenance loan as income so I got no benefits and I couldn’t afford to live (have a 4 year old too)

This has to be a joke. Can you not think of any reason why a 25 year old would not want to living with their parents?

Why should the parents of an adult child be supporting them (and any children)? They may be low income or on benefits themselves.

It's not as simple as 'should live with parents'

Generally speaking, a person is more likely to need support from benefits if they come from a similar background. It's hard to get out of that cycle, so where parents are also on low incomes it's not necessarily an option that they can just support adult children and their children. Most houses don't have space for that many adults plus dc.

Of course, there's the whataboutery to follow. There's the abusive and NC families, parents move and no space/too far, disability and infinite other reasons.

'Can't afford them don't have them' is easy enough to say in practise though it's not that simple. An unplanned pregnancy is just that and it's not the childrens fault, they should not be made to suffer.

I'm not defending the benefits system at all, it's unfit for purpose but that isn't the fault of those relying on it to survive. I don't agree with the under/over 25- nothing is cheaper because you are under 25.

Ooh, fab, does living in a 1 bed flat together halve your food bill and transport costs? Where do I get my refund for the last 13 years of cohabitation?

uc isn’t supposed to be for people who are Ill or disabled though. They are supposed to be able to claim pip or other benefits. Whether or not they get them in practice (or indeed if they are in fact disabled or ill) is another matter.

UC is for people that are ill/disabled. There is an element for it (LCWRA). Not everyone that claims it is on PIP/DLA. PIP/DLA exists to cover the extra costs that someone with a disability may incur, not to pay for the usual day to day things like bills, food ect. That is exactly what UC is for.

I'm "too ill" to work but apparently not ill enough for LCWRA/PIP.

The whole 'don't have kids you can't afford' thing shows a serious lack of thinking. People have kids and then fall on hard times - an accident or serious illness can put someone on the breadline almost overnight. People like to think it couldn't happen to them, but it can. If you're on a low income and just getting by, saving is also not a realistic option - certainly not the amounts needed to be able to live without benefits when disaster strikes.

The 'I'm alright' brigade really need to take a look at what real life is like.

@FrankTheThunderbird Me too. UC acknowledge I'm too ill to work, but I've been on the basic rate £334 for a year. I am choosing between using fuel and eating, and every fortnight I have to sit for days without electricity because it runs out and I cannot top up my meter until UC comes in. So I cannot use my freezer and I've lost weight. Foodbank food is making my health even worse.

People have no idea. There are very very long waits and lots of wrongful declines (70% I think).

Also people forget about the 5 week wait for payment, you then need to take out a loan to pay rent and live, which then reduces your payments to even below the basic level for a whole year whilst it's clawed back.