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?

I agree it's not enough for those working either.But it isn't the fault of people on UC, we have a government who have kept wages low for 12 years. They delight in the poor attacking each other. Look at the culprits not the less fortunate.

*sorry 'trying to address or make their point'.

Just because you can form a question doesn’t mean you should post it here.

"But £1400 per month is more than a lot of people bring home from work and have to pay a lot of money for the privilege of going to work - transport costs, smarter clothes, contributions at work.

Going to work is stressful, and those at the lower pay scales are not being listened to"

But for people on benefits there's likely no other means of topping-up in an emergency. No credit, no overdraft, no loans etc so it doesn’t take much to push people over the edge. Poor housing with inefficient heating systems, expensive top-up meters, phone & internet on pay-as you-go can cost more in the long run. Being poor is expensive.

I agree. The tone in some of the responses in this thread is so condescending, it’s just not the way to go about educating others. That’s MN for you though, so often posters use aggression and sarcasm to get their point across. Such a ineffective approach. You catch more flies with honey than vinegar, and another opportunity to enlighten and educate has gone to waste because some folk cannot control their tempers 🤷🏻‍♀️

Because it reflects on society most how we treat those who are lost at risk and most vulnerable.

If you are working you are already. I'm a better financial position than someone solely reliant on benefits.

In theory to be eligible to claim benefits you should be unable to work or out of work but trying to get back to work. Comparatively, there are very few people solely relying on benefit claims to survive (most of the "pot" for the benefit costs are actually pensions). I assume these are the people we are talking about.

So you have a small number, compared to whole population, who already get a paltry sum to live on, who are facing increases in cost across the board. These are some of the most vulnerable people in our society.

They should absolutely get an increase in line with inflation because without it these people simply won't be able to live. If someone is living with severe disability do you think, as a society, they should also have the worry of whether to heat or eat?

If we make decisions that impact the most vulnerable positively, that becomes the culture more widely and businesses, and other areas of life will see treating people better as something we just do. It's part of the fabric of what we are as a country. Ultimately, we all benefit from a bit of compassion and moral fortitude.

I think you have to admit that every population genuinely has its share of feckless wasters who can’t be arsed. But benefits are a blunt tool and there will always be people who are genuinely in need or doing their best under not ideal circumstances. I’m not sure what I think of an inflationary rise tbh, I’m inclined to say no on the basis of current government support packages.

The lady talking about 39k said she was topped up to equivalent of 39k not that she was making 39k net. So 1200 uc a month which is believable. Tbh if you are a single parent working and with kids I wouldn’t begrudge that.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3919414-People-on-universal-credit-how-much-do-you-get-a-month

thats an interesting thread, some people will be doing ok, some people struggling depending on their circumstances.

I didn't choose to be disabled & housebound, I worked for 27 years before I had to give up work due to ill health.

Go try and live on universal credit OP, then get back to me. I was a single mum on universal credit renting privately,there wasn't enough coming in to pay what was going out. We ended up homeless, it was horrific. Universal credit works for some but majority of the time it's dire.

Pip is only available to adults, it’s dla for children

is this changed now? I thought they weren’t uplifting until April?

www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/2022/september/government-announces-benefits-will-not-rise-inflation-until-april-2023

That you Liz? 🤔

Cannot wait for the next general election. This is exactly the mindset created by long lasting Tory government ideology & its ugly and negative for everyone. Who benefits from this way of thinking? No one. Oh except the OPs employer, who is getting a great deal - a cheap employee with no pay rise to offer and reluctant to leave her job - good stability for them.

It’s not a race to the bottom.
You and your DH should consider changing professions. You deserve regular pay rises and if you aren’t getting them, move. There has never been a better time to be a candidate in the job market. It’s not OK that you’ve not had a pay rise. Someone above you definitely has whatever sector you work in. The government cutting benefits for the poorest won’t help you or your DH to get on in life.. Look at the people above you in the jobs market rather than those below you. xo

This.

Which is why we have Universal Credit - so those who are in very low paid jobs can get additional income support.

Wonder if Liz had any breast feeding worries…😂 need to change my user! My dd is nearly 4 now!

No I’m in support of support, I just thought they weren’t increasing it. I’m undiagnosed Adhd in a massive que to get support.

Yes my son's disability, which was formed in the womb, is such as lifestyle choice. Wow!

40% of those who receive benefits actually work.

The results of this poll are quite sad tbh. Those who think benefits are an easy life should go try it for a month or 6.I’m not a huge wage but I wouldn’t begrudge people who aren’t the money to live on and not starve/freeze. I work in healthcare and being poor makes you sick.

I watched my dad struggle to get work after being made redundant and have to go on benefits in his 60s and get sanctioned for forgetting a catch up appointment. Not signing on, not anything important just a chat . He remembered an hour late, contacted them straight away and got money took off. He went on every course, training session, applied for jobs, everything they wanted.

Qualified in his own field for decades and had worked very hard for us. He had paid his fair share of taxes and NI and deserved those shitty benefits. He took his pension in the end it was grinding him down. He has a small private one that’s now dwindling and he claims nothing. He will eventually claim pension credit if he lives that long because the pension is also shit.

We claim dla for my disabled child and are both working full time at the minute so joint earning ps approx £80k. dla is a gateway benefit and it entitles you to other help not necessarily financial to assist with having a disabled child. Our situation is very fragile and wouldn’t take much to change for one of us to have to give up work as is the case with many parents of disabled children

I'm not on benefits but I still know that benefits are far less than a wage would be, it's peanuts and claimants still have bills to pay and need to put food on the table.

For millions of people benefits is a life style choice

millions? PMSL.

Well Jake Berry suggests people like you should get a better paid job so...🤷🏻‍♀️

If benefits rise with inflation (which they should) so should public sector jobs- that's fair as the government control both and it might go some way to addressing the chronic shortage of essential staff in healthcare and teaching etc.

The cowardly op seems to have fucked off for now, but I would have thought the answer was obvious.