To wonder why benefits should rise in line with inflation when no job is?

[Bananil]

Massively struggling with food prices and absolutely no chance the heating is going on for a long time yet. DH and I work full time but have not had a pay rise since before the pandemic and wouldn’t ask for one as our industry has taken a real hit. I can’t think of any jobs that are expecting a pay rise in line with inflation so why do much fuss about making sure benefits do?

@AuntSalli Well precisely that is the first thing that needs fixing if we want to fix our benefit bill is to nail these bastards

I couldn't agree more.

However, there needs to be better education to stop some girls getting themselves pregnant with these wasters.

Not necessarily. Depending on what elements one has on the claim it is possible to be topped up that amount.

So many myths about benefits being the source of the money drain that I don't know where to start - for example:
In 2011-12 just 0.7 per cent of the benefits bill was overpaid due to fraud – £1 billion compared with £70 billion lost through illegal tax evasion.

@Bananil I just read a very informed article that breaks it all down. It has helped me understand why Truss’ refusal to commit to a rise in line with inflation this has caused unrest among Tories

What would a real-terms benefits cut mean for UK claimants?

These two sections stand out:

So benefit claimants are already enduring a real-terms cut?
Yes. The April 2022 uprating was the biggest fall in the real value of the basic rate of unemployment benefits in 50 years, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF). The government deflected criticism by arguing claimants would “catch up” next year, when the September 2022 rate of CPI inflation (about 10%) would be reflected in April 2023 benefit rises. The former chancellor Rishi Sunak promised in May that this would indeed be the case.

Will Great Britain’s 12.5 million pensioners be affected by a real-terms cut in the value of benefits? So far the prime minister, Liz Truss, has indicated there will be no real-terms cut in the level of the state pension next April. However, it could be tricky explaining why there should be a cut for low-income working-age people but not pensioners.

Meanwhile how much did the back tracking on the top rate tax cuts cost us?

Fucking sickening.

Mombie2016 i have ahdh. I do not consider it a disability or to get benefits due to this?
Yes , life is harder with adhd as we are not neuro typical. But i celebrate my differences , work with the good and the bad. I do not consider it a reason to claim benfits,/ not work?
I would make an absolute mess of some jobs .like an office job, but with my hyperfocus abities , i had a very good specialist career. This in spite of ahd , working to my stregths , despite being laughes at all my life and being seen as odd, flighty , funny.
I think we have to be careful not to label ourswlves , but to celebrate neuro diversity. I also think it comes down to acknowleding and taking responsibility for it.i wd not dream of claiming benefits due to adhd. Its the card ive been given , ive been given , its my job to work with it .

People need to stop thinking of benefits as one homogenous pile. I can't see why anyone would have an issue with disabled people/people who care for someone full time/pensioners/people who work 40 hours a week but still don't have enough to support their family, etc having benefits that keep up with the cost of living.

I think people conflate the above "deserving poor" with those people who decide that for whatever reason, working isn't worth their while.

There are often threads on here along the lines of "after I've paid for childcare and all my bills, I've only got £20 a week left so would I be unreasonable to quit and claim benefits instead?" These are the ones people have most issue with. Because that's a lifestyle choice. If you can afford to pay all your bills and your childcare on your wage, then that is what you should do, even if it doesn't leave you with much leftover. Deciding you'd rather someone else paid for it shouldn't really be an option

Again you won’t get any argument there from me however, they moan on and on and on about how much it would cost to implement a proper robust child-support system like they have in Australia. They would not dare try and get out of child-support over there. We split on the Thursday and the first payment was in my account the following Tuesday.

but some of the women are wasters as well and it’s better that they don’t affect to families by breeding together I guess

However, it could be tricky explaining why there should be a cut for low-income working-age people but not pensioners.

Would it be tricky?

Read it in the context of the article. There is a section on: How working age benefits and pension age benefits compare

amp.theguardian.com/society/2022/oct/04/what-would-real-terms-benefits-cut-mean-uk-claimants-inflation-liz-truss

Once you’ve read the article the question should answer itself.

So if your job went up would you then want benefits to go up?

My advice from personal experience - NEVER EVER moan about benefits or downgrade people who receive them. Life can be unpredictable.
You'll be very surprised how low they are when the day you need them will come.

Not really no. I agree benefits should rise, but I don't get the we shouldn't begrudge people on benefits getting more (even though wages have stagnated) but fuck pensioners they should suffer too. I'd suggest the justification is that people have pair their stamps for the qualifying amount of years, the triple lock has long been promised and most aren't able to supplement their pension with work. For every pensioner sitting on a throne of their riches they accumulated when times were good in their huge homes there are plenty struggling. A state pension (bearing in mind most jobs didn't have employment pensions as they do now so didn't have the chance to put towards one of those) isn't much at all, and many still have to pay for their social housing or whatever.

Surely we should all be pushing for benefits to rise but not complaining about a group who will have theirs do so. Lots of people hate the elderly mind and either have wild ideas about their wealth or begrudge them for some reason.

Perhaps you should follow the advice of the Tory scions and Get A Better Job.

I hope your friend is receiving all of the benefits she is entitled to.
If they are all severely disabled, she could claim up to £1842.01 per month UC PLUS housing allowance (dependant on her LHA rates and size of property) PLUS up to £470.70 per week in disability benefits.

That's the equivalent of UP TO £3881.71 per month (or £895.78 per week) plus extra for housing element.

If she is claiming all she is entitled to, apologies, i cant imagine how difficult it must be to try to survive on £65 per week to feed and clothe herself and her children. 💐

I don’t think it’s about begrudging. It’s about not creating an inequality that leads to begrudging.

Both pensioners and the disabled struggle to improve their income, which explains why inflation rises make sense for both groups. Why should they both not be treated the same when it comes to state welfare?

Why shut up and not complain? Why not complain- by striking, writing to your MP, protesting etc the low wages and high transport costs, I.e. the things that will actually make a difference? Instead of just bashing those also in an awful situation.

Also you can’t really compare a single person to a single parent with 2 children. If a single parent of 2 only earned £1400 they’d be entitled to Universal Credit. Many of those receiving benefits are in work.

I know, all the country needs is for all the cleaners, nurses, refuse collectors, shop assistants, carers, factory workers, hospitality workers, delivery drivers, admin staff, teaching assistants, nursery workers etc etc to become bankers or hedge fund managers! It’s so simple, I don’t know why nobody thought of it before.

OP hasn't come back. Probably sitting under their bridge chortling at the hate they have unleashed.

Exactly, far more than the cost of keeping benefits in line with inflation. But, predictably, this government will try to sail through its many costly blunders or deliberate mis-spending of public money by getting the poorest to point the finger at each other- scapegoating benefits claimants and migrants has long been a Tory strategy and sadly it works all too well.

It's worrying that OP is even asking this!! The vulnerable really are struggling at the moment.

People wouldn't be arsed if it was the other way round would they- the point is that we should be pushing for everyone to get one rather than saying a certain group essentially shouldn't. Ew.

I'm sorry but this is false. Unless you get the LCWRA component for disability then you do not get £1400! That's just given a load on mumsnetters the total wrong impression of what people on UC receive!

If you're not disabled and don't have a disabled child then the rate of UC inc the rent payment is less than £1000

Disabled people are exempt from the benefits cap. However if she has no kids then it's not physically possible for her to be getting £2600pm. Even if 50% was earnings. Those payments don't exist and I know the DWP inside & out