I am better off on benefits

[yousilvertongueddevilyou]

I make £1100/month self-employed. I now get £620/month in Universal Credit and £80/week in child benefit.

I'm on a £26K/year salary which goes a long way where I live.

If I got a job that paid £28K/year I'd have to work more, for £100/month more, which I'd lose in prescriptions, free school meals, and council tax support.

I'd have to make at least £30K/year to make working worth my while and then I'd have to lose even more on childcare to work full-time.

So I really need to make at least £35K/year and even then the slog wouldn't be worth it.

I'm grateful. It does trap you into a static income though. Unless my self-employed work becomes more lucrative.

I do work as much as I can, but only in school hours and before school, as it benefits my child to have me pick them up every day.

I'm certainly not incentivised to go back to work, but I am still seeking employment because I enjoy working.

Universal Credit was bashed but it actually works really well and rewards people to work.

@BodyShapeWoes Tbf if you've got a debilitating auto immune disease it's not the OPs fault you haven't tapped into the system you're entitled to.

I'm a single mum with no support from their abusive father. I also have severe health issues and have been deemed unfit for work by the DWP

Me and my 2 children are better off on benefits. I'd have to work 60 hours a week to be on the same income I'm on now. One of my several prescriptions alone is £57 for one item. Then I'd have full council tax, school meals, childcare, travel expenses, my own dinners ect

I'd love to be able to work and support us all, but at what cost would it come to my family? Theyd never see me aside from weekends. Theyd be at school all day then picked up by a childminder, theyd see me for maybe an hour before it was bedtime.

Loads of people benefit bash but unfortunatly for some of us, it does just work out better. I highly doubt my employer would let me have as many sick days off as I'd need to have, I'd be running myself ragged and I'd be absolutely skint.

@Coffeellama I didn't suggest the system is broken. I think the system works great.

@Dodgeitornot I was refused pip and can’t be arsed to appeal 🤷‍♀️ you know cause I work and earn enough to support myself

However I have gone about my entire life wrong, I should have popped out 4/5 kids and milked the benefits systems like the op does then boast about it.

There is a massive difference, you are stuck on benefits with no progression in income, no chance of owning a property etc. Your child will grow up and you will be even more stuck. I really don't comprehend people saying they are better off- you can't get decent credit etc.

@Dodgeitornot I have a degree and the job clubs are usually around CV writing.

Yes I would love to do a free course but they're all paid and no, I've been told there isn't funding for courses, only things like admin which I have a 20 year history in.

@Alargeoneplease89 Yes this is what I'm saying, although I will inherit property which will massively help.

Not everyone with one is entitled to pip though. Without counting I think I have 5 autoimmune conditions including being severely immunocompromised
Not entitled to PIP

But then you probably won’t be eligible for universal credit so it makes sense to work more.

Each to their own. To me your post is full of excuses. If you'd love to work you'd do it. I left an abusive relationship when my daughters Father was sent to jail for almost killing me. I didn't wallow when I could have sat at home saying I had PTSD and not working. I carried on working full time.

It is not the taxpayers job to fund other your kids. Call it benefit bashing all you want. It is just an excuse for laziness and I will stand by that.

@BodyShapeWoes I already told you it's capped at two kids. Your fertility wouldn't help. Your inability to appeal doesn't t make you any better. You could've approached citizens advice or other charities to help.
Most people on UC work full time. You're not better then them because you're bitter and your ego is too big to apply. Get a grip.
and @yousilvertongueddevilyou this should be a lesson learnt in making such goady posts. What your intention is doesn't matter, but they do make people on benefits look crap and make those not on benefits feel like they're getting scammed.

@Rebel2 Yes I know but that poster said their illness has made their life difficult. Seeing as PIP is needs based its really up to the person to fight to get it.

I guess it depends how it makes your life difficult
I have a condition which causes painful abscesses
One which means my immune system is fucked, the meds mean every week I have 24hrs of flu, bone pain, headache, pouring with sweat and am constantly fatigued, and can't go near anyone who is unwell (no socialising)
Another which means randomly breaking out in hives and the meds reduce my immune system even more

I can cook/clean/exercise but on a bad day I work and go straight to bed and my sickness at work is higher than most people. Many people with the condition have applied for PIP and appealed and all been turned down (I'm in a support group for it)

Effectively I can work 40hrs a week but that's about it

@Coffeellama Of course

If you acknowledge you are better off working more… what’s the point of your thread? Other than just being goady and inaccurate.

My question is why do you think the taxpayer should support you to stay at home?

Many of us don't particularly want to go to work but we do it so we can have a roof over our heads, pay the bills and have food to eat.

Why do you expect us to work and fund your lifestyle?

I am sure people who are on low/minimum wage especially who read your post must be delighted to hear that their taxes will go towards your upkeep.

If you are disabled/sick/elderly I think it is perfectly right to expect support but it sounds to me that you are mentally and physically able to work.

I assume your children also have a father who again is able to work.

Living on benefits should not be a lifestyle choice.

If you are finding that your current income isn't enough, then you should aim to improve your skills and experience not to expect other people to carry you.

If we all had the same attitude there would no one working to fund to the benefit system...

@Coffeellama Well no I mean when I inherit then it will make sense to work more. I haven't inherited yet and I'm still better off for now on benefits than working a job without a really decent salary. It's not just about money but lack of stress.

I know it won't be forever. Obviously. I hope the work I do from home is around forever but nothing is guaranteed.

@Greenfairydust Those low minimum wage people probably get UC just like me. I work 20 hours a week, I'm only missing 13 hours off a full-time job.

@Greenfairydust Well it's just a pie in the sky thing you said there, if we all had that attitude, that would never happen. You have people who aspire to be doctors and psychiatrists and accountants and they make upwards of £100K a year and would never want nor need to use benefits.

This isn't about morality. Things are as they are. I've worked all my life and still work now.

@Dodgeitornot

Ah yes my ego…honestly look at a few facebook pages to see how many people DO NOT get PIP…and don’t forget I work so can’t just hop off to the CAB to see them etc its not worth me doing 🤷‍♀️

As I have previously said working is obviously a mugs game 🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️

Hardly bitter just pissed off that the op likes to boast about her wonderful 26k on benefits

@yousilvertongueddevilyou You keep ignoring my question. Why did you make this post? What were you trying to achieve aside from making people on UC look crap and those not on UC feel crap about their taxes. What has this achieved for you? As someone who worked in the system and seen how life changing this support is, you've really pissed me off.

@BodyShapeWoes I don't need to check. At one point in time I would've been the person volunteering at citizens advice that would be helping you appeal if that's what you decided. I'm not blind to the problem nor am I any less pissed off than you are at OPs post. But you're taking the piss out of people in poverty and thats not fair. I've explained to you multiple times that working is not a mugs game and OP will be in this situation for a very short time. For almost everyone else, UC is not better than working full time. But you're choosing to ignore that and still spew hate about people with lots of kids and out of work. As someone who has a disability you should really know better and realise how fortunate you are to be in a position where you're not desperate enough to risk your employment for tribunal hearings or appeals. A lot of people don't have that luxury. That doesn't take away from your suffering but you should acknowledge it.

I like how you completely ignored where I said I have severe health issues & have been deemed unfit for work by the dwp, also where I said I doubt my employer would let me have as many sick days off that I'd end up needing to have

You know what they say about assumptions 🤷‍♀️

I’m so glad to know that people are earning almost as much as me doing a 60 hour work week by sitting on their arse because they like it more that way. It really gives me a boost knowing that all the tax me and my wife pay is going to make their lives easier instead of being squandered on infrastructure or public services . I shudder to imagine the apocalyptic destruction caused by a kid having to walk home from school without getting picked up. Tears are pouring down my cheeks merely thinking about such an outrageous occurrence.

Maybe some people would be better off not working but I definitely wouldn't. I claim some UC, I'm a single parent, I work. If I didn't work I'd get about £800 a month, that wouldn't be enough to cover my mortgage and bills, let alone food, because UC doesn't cover mortgages.

At the moment i work 22.5 hours a week and I'm only "permitted" to do this by UC because my children are young, 8 and 5. If they were secondary age, or if I didn't have children, I would be instructed by the DWP to get a job with more hours.

I'm soon starting a higher paying job working 30 hours, and even though i will be entitled to less UC, I will still be better off than I am now.

I never stopped working since having my kids (apart from maternity), so I've been able to upskill (hence promotion), still pay into a pension etc. these things aren't impossible to do whilst not working but they are more difficult. Long term I will earn enough to stop relying on UC, otherwise it'll be a huge shock when the kids hit whatever age it is for me not to be entitled.

We are not entitled to free prescriptions or free school meals - your income has to be very low indeed for that entitlement.

There is always a perception that everyone on UC sits around all day in their pyjamas.
People around me have made comments about "X and Y are obviously on benefits" without realising I am too. Working professionals can need some government help too.