To notice the 10% benefit rise and know I'm on the bones of my ass

[Letspovertyplayagain]

I know it's tiny. But when you are properly skint after everything you notice this tiny rise will mean some strawberries for the kids or some fresh milk instead of uht. This is for the people who complain they are poor or feeling the pinch when they really have no idea. And define their poverty as not going on holidays....

Totally called for given that’s who you’re envying.

Really? Someone tells you they have incurable cancer and that's your response?

Sorry would have been a better response

@Geta10percentriseitsgreat that must be so difficult for you. I hope they are giving you strong pain meds, and you aren't alone 💗

@VladimirVsVolodymyr back to you as well. 🙂

@chiefschiefschiefs glad it will help.

Apologise?? I only said I wish I had a 10% pay rise.

Derailing a bit here. Don’t know if anyone else has noticed this but my husbands ex-colleague gets DLA for their kids and they’ve had a letter to say its going up 10% but they’ve changed it so he only payed every 30 days instead of every 28 days so really they’ll be losing money

Thank you so kind 🙂.

I never said I was envious is someone with cancer, this is madness!! I am sorry to hear about your horrendous situation, that's terrible.

That's not happening. They must have made a mistake down there

What?

A mistake. Sorry typo should have said somewhere. But yes the benefit payments are 4 weekly and that isn't changing. However even if it did they would not lose out, it's a weekly rate not a 28 day rate.

I don't know why you are comparing nurses and UC. It isn't a binary choice between the two - one isn't taking money off the other.

UC is still too low for most people to have a reasonable standard of living. 10% does not even touch the sides of the inflationary increases which affect the poorest people in our society- mostly food, but rent, fuel, childcare.

The govt also introduced far stricter sanctions in the budget (which they kept quiet about), so no one is claiming UC and sitting on their arse all day (and yes, you'll all come and tell me about your SIL's best friend who has 5 children by 4 different dads and 4 holidays a year now).

Public sector salaries are too low. Full stop.

Private sector salaries have not kept pace with inflation either. That's a fact. But it's not a race to the bottom and this is a different issue to the UC inflationary increase.

Tbf, my dd budgets £20 a week for her food shop. Not sure how nutritionally balanced that is mind, but it is pretty normal for a uni student to live off

I got my CB today and only half was at the new rate. I was expecting the whole £96 but got £91.60, bit of a pain when I had accounted for that "missing" £4.40. Something to do with when it went up, I think

Jesus, the replies on here really make me feel like giving up on the UK. They won't be happy until poor people are living in some Dickensian nightmare.

@StrawberryMoore
The OP must have two children.
£24 for the first and £15.90 for each subsequent child = £39.90.

Sadly even though benefits have risen a few quid a week so has the cost of living

You’d be surprised. Many of my friends are on over 1k in benefits and are not disabled.

10% seems a massive rise to me! I'm in the public sector and our union is having to fight for their proposed 4% rise. We usually get 1% or occasionally 1.5 or 2% if we are very lucky 🙄I doubt we'll actually get the 4% and if we do it won't be consolidated. And no, I don't earn big bucks, and yes I am middle class. We are struggling to pay our bills because we get no help from the govt who haven't even adjusted their definition of low income (probably because so many public sector workers would now qualify and it would look bad)!

Same, i know people who get £246765775655 a week UC, for a blistered finger, she even has 7 blue badges 12 range rovers and holidays in dubai every 3 days for 2 weeks

Laughing at the cake gif 🤣. I prefer banana bread myself 😋

Missing the point entirely but strawberries are hugely expensive even out of season and are a real luxury whether you’re middle class or not.

It all depends on your entitlements. Single/ couple/children/rent. Childcare if you’re working. I was entitled to £1360 ish a month, no disabilities but I have DC. I don’t get that as I work I get under £500 but I pay close to £600 in tax and NI.

It seems like a very complicated system in lots of ways, some countries give you an extra 50% tax free allowance per child which would seem a much more straightforward system than ours.