Family member shocked I get universal credit

[JungleJungle]

Had a long conversation with a family member today. I've just started a new job so not sure how much UC I will get this month, but previously was earning about 1800 a month, £950 childcare costs and £950 rent and would get, around £800 in universal credit. They seemed to think that I earn enough money to pay for myself and said nobody on 30k a year should be getting universal credit. They were quite shocked that I was getting anything. Childcare costs and rent come to more than my wage (£1900). I would likely have to give up work if I didn't get universal credit. My outgoings would be more than my incoming. I still struggle even with the £700 I have left after rent and childcare costs. Bills are so high, fuel, food, clothes, emergencies etc. Not sure what I'm looking for from this thread. I work so hard, full time, and never considered that I shouldn't be entitled to universal credit. I'm not being unreasonable am I in thinking that this is what UC is for, am I? Apologies for the slightly waffly post, just feeling a bit shit.

What a shame this thread has been hijacked by truly ignorant benefit-bashers (who incidentally come across as way more entitled than the people you're attacking)

Careful you don't all fall from your ivory towers.

It is absolute madness though.

Op you're not wrong for claiming but it's madness that you are working and can't afford to live.

You are being taxed and then it is paid back to you. The bureaucracy involved in the system must cost billions.

Absolutely this.

Well done for working hard Op and don't let anyone make you feel bad for doing what you need to do to get by.

Yanbu at all. Ignore your family member and keep doing what you're doing. X

OP - I have absolutely NO idea why you didn’t buy a house in 1991 or marry a barrister. What WERE you thinking? 😂

Rishi’s bang on the money (excuse the pun) when he suggests the country is numerically illiterate. £30k might sound like a lot - if you can imagine it sat in neat piles in front of you - in reality it’s feck all.

interestingly (or perhaps not) - I earned that in the 90s as a fresh grad in a subject mentioned on this thread which now earns LESS - despite it being an allegedly well-paid roll.

Enjoy your life OP and snatch and squirrel away as much as you can.

Signed: a single FT working mum claiming UC.

PS - my wealthy dad “hates” benefit scroungers - but was simultaneously delighted and full of mirth to discover I’m rinsing them.

Thousands of people will never own their own house. Are you saying that people who rent shouldn't have kids?

It's not only the NHS. We've got hordes of people who retired in their sixties who will probably live decades. The system was not set up for that. The Tories have bought their votes by letting them get away with it and taking from the young instead. The elderly did not lose a single bit of welfare (free bus, heating allowance, TV license, and on and on) after the 2008 financial crash. The young have lost everything. There's no housing assistance for under-25s now unless there are kids, there are huge tuition fees, and little NHS care. It took me nearly four years even to get signed up with a GP after I moved and I've never had NHS dental care. Most of my friends are in the same boat.

The ONLY reason for this is that older people VOTE young people do not - who do you think politicians are going to write there manifestos about?

Het the teens to vote and things will change. I don’t care who they vote for - because they’ll have to sit up and start helping them.

I have advocated for this for years.

You’re not being unreasonable.
Children cost a lot of money. Bring a single mum is hard. If the government thinks you’re entitled to the money & it’s all legit, then I don’t see what the problem. I’d steer clear of discussing what should be private financial matters with friends & family unless it’s absolutely necessary.

There's so many things wrong with this I don't know where to start.
I'm 64 does that make me a boomer? I've never voted Tory in my life so you can't blame me for the shocking state this country is in.
Some men do turn into no-hopers after children arrive but we're not equipped with crystal balls so sometimes get caught out when shit happens.
Well done to the op for doing everything she can to bring her child up with a good role model as a parent.

@Ffsmakeitstop, um, any time you want to say what's wrong with it instead of making it about you and denying you're part of it, feel free!

No, it is not good enough to act like you've had kids with a loser and had no clue he was like that. It's because women can get away with that attitude that the taxpayer is paying for so many people to make irresponsible decisions. We have nearly the highest rate of single parenthood in Europe and it's because people are not made to be responsible for their own children.

@NewYearNewCareer, thanks for providing an example of the attitude I'm talking about.

Young people EVERYWHERE don't vote as often as older people. It's because they don't understand many of the issues and often can't even get to wherever they need to vote or haven't understood that the need to register. Or can't get time off work.

Only in the UK is it normal for the older generations to vote entirely in their own interests. Every other country in western Europe is stable, with a decent standard of living for everyone because people don't selfishly set out to take it all. That's British Boomers.

So hypothetically your household income is £90k before tax (based on you both earning £45k each) and you are saying it’s not worthwhile for you to go back to work? What planet are you living on? So if your childcare costs are £2k a month that comes out of the £90k household income……not just yours! It’s a shared cost between you and your H. I earn the same as you - you can easily afford half of £2k a month. Stop kidding yourself that is why you can’t go back to work. It’s your choice. Remember you also get a pension paid and maintaining your career. No one knows what the future holds. We all thought we had perfect marriages until it happens.

I couldn't work this one out in fairness.

You are so ageist. Is that acceptable?
I’ve worked bloody hard and held off having kids until I was late 30s as I could afford them before that. Then I had just two- would have liked more but couldn’t afford them - no childcare contributions then. I worked full time all the way through their schooling. I was first generation to go to university. I’ve sacrificed so much and you are telling me I’m selfish and all this is my fault!!!

Why are we not blaming the loser?

@IneedanewTV, good try but nope. It is not "ageist" to state reality. You may not like that someone is saying it, but that does not actually make you a victim! WE are the victims. Good grief.

Sadly they'd need more than enhance turnout to overcome the demographic imbalance. It is not just that they vote less, there are less of them to vote.

Whilst I do sympathise with older people who haven't voted for right wing parties the realty is that they are the exceptions that prove the rule and also even if they are Labour voters I doubt they would genuine vote for something that was against their own self-interest (for example to reduce state pension terms and conditions or means test said pension) if the Labour party was campaigning on that platform.

There reality is that there are too many boomers for the working population to keep in the style they are accustomed and they are actively voting for parties that will shield them from the worst impacts of economic turmoil by punishing the working population. The problem with that is that it has hobbled tax receipts actually making the issue even more acute.

I go to a church with lots of middle class older people, they are doing much better than their equivalents the generation behind them.

I've done the same as you in terms of working hard all my life, I have got myself and good education and am paying plenty of tax. Why am I getting paid less now in real terms than I was 10 years ago even though I've had a promotion? Because boomers vote Tory. My hard work is not worth less than yours.

@IhearyouClemFandango, that's a fair point and I agree that the person most responsible is the loser. Making fathers pay what it costs to raise a child would go a long way towards solving it. Men would be much more careful. It's shocking in the UK how so many go and start family after family, leaving their children in poverty and the taxpayer with the bill for raising them.

At the same time, the attitude of the mother as a blameless victim has gone too far. What used to be a novel concept (that women shouldn't bear criticism and shame for being single mothers) has been taken to an extreme and now we're landed with nearly the highest rate of single parenthood in Europe. The kids grow up without opportunities, with mothers who have too little life experience and education to give them a decent start.

These posts here are FULL of situations where women have knowingly had kids with losers and then act like they played no part in any decisions. This attitude disappeared in every other country I've lived in long ago. It's time to be concerned for the actual victims. The children growing up without one of their parents and often in poverty.

@Bronzeisthecolour there are no 2 bed flats for rent for under £1200 within 5 miles of me.

OP I am also a lone parent, became so under similar circumstances.

DD is now 13 and life is a lot easier now, because of the career based efforts earlier on (I'm in tech) It was difficult until she started school, I had to throw alot of money at the childcare issues throughout and worked hard to buy a house etc.

You don't have to justify yourself to anyone. We are sometimes lucky to have supportive friends and family, we often come across judgemental stupidity.

When your child is older they will tell their friends how amazing you are.

Ignore the idiots, they don't deserve your headspace.

@NameChagaiiiin if you’re on £45k and your husband is only on £32k, wouldn’t it make more sense for you to go back to work and him stay home/go part time? Also have you looked at the tax free childcare top up, you’ll get a bit of help. Plus you still get child benefit on that salary. But yes full time childminder and travel would wipe you out. Childcare is crazy expensive.

Exactly why people are striking cus even though it sounds like they earn enough - it’s just not anymore

my Childcare bill is 2000£ a month - I only earn 1600£ so if I was single I’d be fucked !!

Surely the government should be cracking down on landlords charging ridiculous amounts of money? Basically the government are basically paying their mortgages and more. Plenty landlords bought ex council houses at discounts, charging prob x3 or more than they are paying in mortgage payments. Depends on area. What a bloody farce. Also multi national company’s keeping wages so low, knowing the government will top up with uc.