to be shocked at universal credit amount?

[oddsocksmatchifsamethickness]

I've just become a single mum of one, husband gone. So obviously I want to bring my earnings up. I'm self-employed and will be doing so. But I put in a calculation for UC to see if I could get help while I sought new contracts. I'm self-employed. I earned 1K this month and did the calculation and it says I will get another 650 a month from UC.

Can that be right? It seems a lot, it would take my income up to a wage of 28K/year, but I only work 20 hours a week.

Is this what people get?

My 21 year old gets 270 a month on universal credit. He lives with us which is good as if he were renting he could only get 135 a week max on housing benefit. Even studio apartments near us are 750 a month. He literally can't live out. He'd be destitute.

Exactly - it's similar where I live and many people are renting social housing/ HA for similar low rents long term secure tenancies

Difficulty with that is finding employment. There is a reason areas are cheaper. I could up and leave to a cheaper area but I’d lose my job, childcare provider and all social support and might not be able to find the same job or salary in the cheaper area.

Because she hasn't gleefully updated us yet that her husband is a high earner and will be providing her with thousands in CM yet perhaps?

Absolutely no need to post how few hours you need to work, yet still have money left to put into savings. Plenty on benefits struggle and can't afford to do this. Plenty of people unable to receive benefits also can't afford to do this. So yes, another goady thread 🙄

Very few 21 year olds can afford to live on their own without help from parents. £135/week is fair for what most students and young graduates pay in a house share.

" The North " is a big place,in some parts a two bed will be significantly cheaper than £700.

I don't know, just looking at listings in Scunthorpe on right move and you don't get much under £700 private rent.

You are correct once I moved now we could both claim universal credit under the same roof it would have been a joint claim. I get the pip universal credit. Can’t work even they’ve said I’m too disabled too work so safe in that respect but I worried for weeks about it.

I don't much in life is fair and never has been.

I think you could be falling foul of the minimum income floor? I'm new to being self-employed on UC but I read that they give you an amount you must earn as a minimum each month to get UC, otherwise they deem your self-employment not gainful work.

I earn 700-1000/month depending on the contracts I get that month. So I think UC will be expecting me to earn a min of about 700 and then if I earn more I get less UC and if I earn the full I get the minimum UC.

This way I'll just work what I can, and always have the same income, which is more than enough really. I can look after my child and give her a nice life and work hard on ways to increase my income until I'm off UC, and with christmas not being stressful or hungry. I've just got a £200 advance from them to come in Monday so I will be doing our monthly food shop with that.

Where you live in the country makes so much difference. My kids are in their 20s two have bought houses in the North, one in the South and the other is looking to buy in the South. The differences are huge. Salaries for their jobs don't differ that much between areas. It's a crazy country.

I'm no economist but you would think making the UK less london-centric or South-centric would be a good thing.

I find these threads interesting. I find that some people are expected to live of so very little and yet other, such as the OP, seems to have a reasonable (just) amout. It's foolish of anyone to stay on benefits if they can work though. I suspect they will regret once they are older. You are pension age for a bloody long time.

Same here with ESA and UC worse off now by a lot.

You will most likely qualify for the £900 energy payments next year as well. Ignore anyone saying don't claim if you don't need the money, it only takes a broken appliance or unexpected expense & you will be glad of the money. Being a single parent isn't cheap.

I hope he finds work soon. We had a short spell of DS living at home after uni, no way he could have moved out when he was on the dole. Even with his first job he stayed with us for a while, only moving out, into shared accommodation, when he got into decent paying employment and had to move away.

Very low food budget as I cook every day and do lots of savings on food.
Low rent and bills. I think it will be great actually. I think we can live on far more than we do in this country. Many of us pay for things we simply don't need. I buy from charity shops all the time and don't drink much (bottle of red £4, every week or so) and don't smoke.

I get £1407 after deductions - I work 37 hours a week, rent £450 month, 2 children. I get £903 a month!

I find UC very very good! Claim ANYTHING you can. That's what it's for.

Unfortunately as he's autistic he can't house share - or work for that matter! (Yes, I know many autistic people work, and we hope one day he'll be able to, but he hasn't the skills right now). The only person he could possibly house share with is his best friend - or possibly his younger brother, but that would be in ten years or so. His best friend is also autistic and nowhere near ready to leave home yet, though copes better with life in general than DS.

We are waiting for lwcra and he does get pip.

It will depend on how many children you have, and whether there is a housing element to your claim. Make sure that you fill the form in accurately. I’m in arrears atm, and having to pay it back monthly, due to them miscalculating, but at least they’ve now admitted that it was their error and they can’t prosecute me (as they were threatening) for the so called “benefit fraud”.
I have a mortgage, so get no help with housing, but with one child, I “get” £650/ month. But that reduces by 55p for every £1 I earn over £500 (around 15/hrs/ week) . You say that you are self employed, so be very careful when filling in the form. If I earn £1000/ month after tax/ pension/ NI, my UC payment reduces to around £225 for that month. They calculate the amount you can claim AFTER tax/ NI and pension contributions have been taken out,

After tax and student loan presumably

£1,650 is tax free. A wage of £28k per year would mean tax and NIC deductions, workplace pension deductions, maybe student loan deductions, etc. Would probably end up with net (after all deductions) of around £1,800.

Thank you for this, I'm waiting for my first appointment so had no indication what the minimum income floor will be, but I don't earn this, and not sure I can gather enough contracts immediately to do so, and if I take work out of the house I'll be working for less than at home and unable to take work at home.

My friend is employed and only expected to work 24 hours a week so how come I would be expected to wok 35? We both have children over 5.

UC give you £900 a month??

I mean, you can always give it away if you're struggling with the amount? Plenty of foodbanks around...

So if I work 35 hours a week including seeking out new contracts and improving my portfolio and some of my projects take longer equalling 35 hours a week, then this will be all I'll be expected to do?

How do they determine the minimum income floor? I only earn up to a grand a month right now

Rent being capped doesn't change the market value of accommodation. If the occupant ends up paying less than the market rate then the shortfall is being subsidised by someone else. Probably the landlord, until they get around to selling the house so they can reinvest their money somewhere that doesn't result in a proportion of their income being confiscated.

Oh okay, my child is under 13 so I can just do fewer hours.

Isn't this sort of what people mean by it doesn't pay to work.

If that's the case, how would we expect jobs to be filled?

Sick to death of this "it pays not to work" bs.

Anyone who has been in the position of genuinely needing to claim UC or other benefits after coming out of work knows this is not the case at all.