To think work no longer ‘pays’

[Cuppasoupmonster]

This is a controversial topic so I’m expecting a few biscuits to be thrown at me so I’ve got my hard hat on. Inspired by the ‘benefits overhaul’ thread.

I often see on here that working and owning your own home is always better than claiming benefits and living in social housing. But it seems like the perks are long gone if I’m honest.

It feels like every day I’m dragging myself up at 6am to take my daughter to nursery (when I would much rather have her at home with me), just to pay our enormous mortgage and bills, before breaking even at the end. We haven’t had a holiday in 5 years. A few months ago I went into my overdraft for the first time in about 6-7 years despite the fact my spending is no different. What are the upsides again? Is it just that we get to choose the care home we die in (perhaps)? Because right now I’m feeling pretty pissed off with the whole thing and wondering if anyone else feels the same.

Working isn’t about perks, it’s about paying your way as a responsible adult and an engaged member of society.

The reward for the best years of your life is feeling like a responsible citizen? Fuck me, what a marketing ploy! 😂

As someone who was retired on ill health grounds at 33, I'd say the grass is not greener.
Worrying if the benefits will stop.
Having to show how disabled I am every few years (and them taking over a year to assess).
Not being able to give my dc the childhood I planned and they deserved.
Mentally not stimulating.
Minimal social interaction.
Being looked down on by society.
Deserted by friends and family.
Fighting for the basics.
Living on a weekly food bill of £40 including special diets, hygiene and laundry/cleaning products for 1 adult 3 dc.
Yes it's hard work being a working mum and paying nursery fees (I know I had two in nursery at same time and one in wrap around as a single parent) but your situation has an end in site, you'll have a good pension, you'll be able to progress your career as the children become more independent. Being on benefits I can't do that.

No but I am at the mercy of my lender who increased my payments to an unaffordable amount, so we now have to move 🤷🏼‍♀️

Look at a benefits calculator. I seriously doubt you’d be better off on benefits in social housing.

I would if I left DH. I could actually work part time and be better off.

How the hell should I know why you personally are better off, (there are of course the universal reasons like you will be able to save, gain assets, have more control over your life where you live what you do to your house etc etc but I’m sure you don’t need something so blindingly obvious pointing out to you.) but YOU obviously know deep down it’s better for you otherwise you would be quitting your job and signing on. Maybe ask yourself what stops you doing that?

Benefits are a political decision. They could be torn apart by Governments of the future

You have more control in work, with a mortgage and savings.

The upside is ,that as long as you pay the mortgage you can never be evicted at short notice. It's security. Social housing is a thing of the past for most people.

I suppose if you want to count pennies for food shopping forever, struggle to buy uniforms, choose which bills to pay, and never be able to buy yourself anything...yes benefits is the way to go. You can sit at home but you'll have no money to do anything and you'll be bored because everyone else is at work. You won't feel mentally challenged or stimulated and you'll probably be quite isolated. School trips etc will be a stress. When your child is old enough to do activities, you won't be able to pay for them.
Nursery years are hard but they pass

I'm less well off now so I can enjoy my retirement without having to pay a high level of rent. In my area rents are more than the state pension.

Hi OP. I’m in a council house with 3 kids. I work full time. Usually pretty exhausted to be honest with not much money left over even after affordable council rent.

I think it’s better to own your own home as you’ll pay off your mortgage at some point where as I’ll be paying rent until I die and I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to afford to retire. I try not to think about it too much but it’s a depressing thought.

I’m not sure to be honest. Arbitrarily accruing ‘assets’ that will decrease in value and I don’t have the time to enjoy anyway, hardly seems worth it 🤷🏼‍♀️

We’re much better off in work, we’re able to afford our mortgage (we would need to move a long way to rent anywhere on benefits), holidays, hobbies, utilities, a campervan and the extras we need clothes, new school shoes etc. It also means if something significant goes wrong we could sell our home, this would keep us going for a long time, it can also help fund any care we may need in old age.

If we were on benefits we would lose our home, campervan, holidays, have to ration utilities, fewer hobbies, find it harder to buy new school shoes etc and our children would have fewer opportunities. There are people who would do anything to be able to work.

Sick of the ‘poor renters’ and ‘you are sitting on a money pot for owning a house’ comments on this site. The pure jealousy of people who think you’re rich for having a mortgage/own a property spews out.

They're not the only options though are they?

We work hard, aren't on particularly high pay, are crippled by high nursery fees, receive some benefits and pay extortionate amounts of rent for substandard private housing. I'm permanently in my overdraft (literally paid and then within 3 days bills out and back in overdraft). Our car is falling apart, we can't afford holidays and we don't have extravagant tastes/days out/ hobbies/ social lives etc.

To be honest I'd happily take either of your initial options- the security of being able to own your own house or the security of social housing sound far better than what we have! Living solely on benefits would be the shitter option of the two though.

Because, as others have said, if you don't work you will be stuck on benefits for ever. It's hard just now, but in a few years your income will be better. the money you are paying for your mortgage will not seem so huge after a few years have passed and house prices have gone up, as they do (and rental properties will eventually be far more than the cost of your Mortgage before too many years have passed). And the nursery fees will be a thing of the past. Ultimately you WILL be better off if you work. You may even get promotion etc

It is just very hard in the early years, but you need to take a medium to long term view of things

The reward for the best years of your life is feeling like a responsible citizen? Fuck me, what a marketing ploy! 😂

Well, the reward for the best years of my life has been financial security, choice over where I live, a rewarding career, professional respect, self development, gaining knowledge and skills, flexibility now to chose the work I do, lasting friendships, security in retirement…

Probably depends what work you do. As a high earner, working obviously gives you the opportunity to access a quality of life which would otherwise be completely out of reach. For me personally, it means that as a family we can comfortably:

• Own our own home
• Drive a nice car
• Go on lovely holidays
• Never have to worry about day to day expenses such as bills, groceries, etc
• Access private healthcare
• Give our child the best opportunities by sending them to private school
• Save for our own and our child’s future

And if all those things weren’t enough, I also get a great deal of enjoyment and fulfilment from my job 🤷‍♀️

So you have a big fat asset but want to get the violins out because a landlord isn’t paying for you repairs? Boo hoo. I know what position I’d rather be in.

when my dc were tiny it felt terribly unfair that the mother of my niece had a council house and didn’t work and I was private renting, forking out for nursery, having to leave my dc. It really felt she had a much better deal on benefits. Now dc are teens, I own my home (mortgaged) we can afford nice holidays and are fairly comfortable, she is still not working, her income is reducing as her kids start leaving education, I wouldn’t swap, but I don’t think she would either tbh.

i do think it’s important to consider you are paying into pension and probably developing your career even if your take home pay is wiped out by childcare.

But why is owning that asset so great? Can you actually say rather than just ‘you have an asset’? It may well be sold to pay for care anyway 🤷🏼‍♀️

I live in social housing (I work too) and honestly the only benefit I can see of owning my own home, is choice. I’d love to have chose what area I live in and the type of property.
But that’s the only plus for me personally. I have a secure tenancy so my home is mine as long as I want it, I don’t have to pay for upkeep or repairs.
You can argue that I’ll be paying rent forever rather than being mortgage free when I’m older but I don’t think that’s an incentive.

I'm with you.

Better get signing on then hadn’t you

Seems quite a lot of people are from the votes!