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

I think appointees days are benefits department he’s very much the stick not the carrot @FamBae it’s not a case of you deciding whether it’s worth your while dragging your ass into work for £200 a month.

they make the process so difficult and humiliating that’s your incentive to go to work, not having to deal with them.

AuntSalli

Your earlier comment about the TV licence for my DS did you mean he should just stop paying it or did you mean he shouldn't have a TV?

I am on universal credit, this will help me so much, thank you so much for posting it. I knew about broadband social tariffs but had no idea you could get mobile ones.

🙄Ouch! that's a bit harsh.

So a single person with one child is getting £2k net a month and housing benefit. Making more than many people if they work.

And it’s too low? And people wonder why attitudes have hardened towards welfare in the last decade. If this is the sense of entitlement of people to be subsidized by those paying into the system.

I agree that it should be higher, I also think that it's utterly ridiculous that under 25s get less than over 25s. I think the excuse in the past was that they could still live with their parents, etc, not taking into account that many couldn't, many had come out of care and that even if under 25s can live with their parents so can over 25s!

Thankfully, most people on here are not being too harsh - although the advice that someone should get rid of their TV license is outrageous - but the general societal disdain for those on benefits is really depressing.

Your post is misleading because there are too many variables. In addition to what you posted, people can also get money to pay their rent, help with council tax, their children’s school meals and trips free, free prescriptions, extra money for each child, free nursery from 2.

It may or may not be enough depending on individual circumstances and choices but yabu for the way you’re framing it.

Have you worked out how much a single parent not working (24) with one child (1) would receive before deductions (loans, debt etc) if they worked full time at NMW with help from UC for childcare fees etc? It might still not be enough, but it would be more relevant and thought provoking.

How did you get to £2k a month from those figures?!

The majority of people on benefits have paid into the system and/or will pay into the system. It's what the system is there for. It's not a sense of entitlement, it's an issue of need.

I mean when I became a single parent to 3 1 born after the cut off so no entitlement I have to say I had a better life then claiming a UC top up to my part time wage than I do now working full time and only receiving child benefit top up. So from my perspective it’s deffo doable and was a much grateful received short term support for me I couldn’t complain. I’m deffo worse off now but still not at a stage of struggling we do have luxury’s now and we also had luxury’s then

I was about to say the same thing. Why the hell are working people paying their taxes because it's clearly not going to the needy. HTF does a person even exist let alone live on such a pittance.

*@sst1234

So a single person with one child is getting £2k net a month and housing benefit.

£509.89 A MONTH!!, not a week. It's not doable if there are unexpected expenses eg washing machine breaking, growth spurt meaning new shoes etc etc.

Glad it was useful @Howdoisawwithnosaw!

Where did you get 2k per month from?

A single parent with a child will automatically start to receive the over 25 rate. Still appallingly low.

The 2 child limit should be scrapped

Carers allowance should not be deducted from UC

@FrankTheThunderbird

She didn't read the OP properly, appears to have thought it was £509.89 a week, not a MONTH!

Too low, especially work so many ways to get a sanction too. Most people on benefits don't want to be on them but circumstances outside their control have put them there. Real help should be given into work, not the threat of money being cut even more. Benefits should cover all utilities, food and necessities such as clothing etc. Also think people should be able to have a decent life on full time min wage but benefits need to top them up too in many cases.

Sorry, haven't rtft so apologies if I'm repeating this point.

If benefits were high enough, there would have been no need for the furlough scheme - everyone could have gone on Universal Credit and all would have been fine. It drives me crazy that there wasn't more discourse around this point at the time.

We're fine with Other People living in abject poverty. But not People Like Us.

The level of state pension (or pension credit if you don’t qualify) is £801 per month. Seems like a huge discrepancy between that and uc. I wonder why….

@Whatabambam when? I’m 23 with a 2 year old. I don’t get the over 25s rate. I’ve lived on my own since 16 and worked until I became a single parent and couldn’t afford £1500 childcare costs a month.

Do these amounts factor in housing benefit? Council tax? Free prescriptions free dental treatment and milk tokens?

*and free school meals?

There is also no higher rate for people living in London. Luckily I don’t, but I’ve lived in the north and south and there’s a huge difference in prices of things.

@CrossStichQueen I haven’t paid for a TV license in over 25 years. That’s all I’m saying on the subject.