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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be on low income , but dont want to claim benefit's

182 replies

Hidijihidoho · 26/04/2023 22:18

We are on low income working oart time each And live very simply . We have a 15 year old car , live on very simple food and enjoy being creative. No heating on ! …
we could claim top up benefits , but having paid taxes as public service workers paying tax for many years ,we don't Feel that it is right for the system to support us when we choose to work part time .. its nit the taxpayers job to pay for the choice We have made as we have got older and cant hack working in the public sector full time anymore .
people keep telling us we should claim .. we are not wearing hair shirts .. we simply feel it does not fit with us .. are we bu ? Is it normal to expect our income to be supplemented now that we feel burnout and need to do less hours ? For us , we would rather cut our cloth and although the lack of money can be hard it feels the right thing to do . We do not feel comfortable working oart time but expecting others to supplement our income as ultimately its out choice ?

OP posts:
ArcticSkewer · 27/04/2023 17:33

If they both earn, for example, minimum wage and work 20 hours each a week they are entitled to ....

zero ....

assuming no rental cost/disability etc.

Dying to know what the actual income is now

ily0xx · 27/04/2023 17:34

Cringe. You’re such a martyr OP! 🤧

wasacasa · 27/04/2023 17:34

OP what benefits are you entitled to? A few posters are interested to know?

ily0xx · 27/04/2023 17:37

She probably isn’t entitled to anything, this is just a goady thread. If she’s working under 16 hours a week she’d be forced into signing on and looking for work with more hours as a way to get benefits.

Viviennemary · 27/04/2023 17:40

I think you are right not to claim when you only work part-time. Anyway I don't think the rules allow this unless you have caring responsibilities.

olive55 · 27/04/2023 17:53

Bit strange. I work part time and I claim what I’m entitled to, I pay taxes too so why should I feel bad? Maybe if I was unemployed I might feel different.

CarrotCake01 · 27/04/2023 17:57

I'm a single mother so very low income.

It really pained me to go on benefits, I didn't want to be stereotyped but the way I saw it was that actually this is for my daughter and her quality of life. I'm not cheating the system or taking advantage of anything. I just can't earn as much as a family with 2 incomes.

It wouldn't be unreasonable either way, just got to do what's right for you!

YellowDots · 27/04/2023 17:59

Hidijihidoho · 27/04/2023 17:12

What do you want to actually know about my finances ?!
i have not discussed any specific things in the pub .. only that we buy our own and cant afford big rounds .

Yes , we have no mortgage, but plenty of other normal bills. The car has just failed its mot for eg and its £ 500 to fix .

What benefits are you entitled to that you do not claim?

CecilyP · 27/04/2023 18:19

Hidijihidoho · 27/04/2023 17:12

What do you want to actually know about my finances ?!
i have not discussed any specific things in the pub .. only that we buy our own and cant afford big rounds .

Yes , we have no mortgage, but plenty of other normal bills. The car has just failed its mot for eg and its £ 500 to fix .

I don’t really want to know anything. I actually speculated about your lack of housing costs and you’ve confirmed I was right. We’d need to know how few hours you work to know if you are entitled to anything at all, though your are perfectly capable of using the benefits calculator.

I would assume you pub friends are much richer than you and also have limited knowledge and somewhat skewed ideas about the benefits system, which I believe you share, otherwise you would have put them right.

henchhen · 27/04/2023 18:19

Hidijihidoho · 26/04/2023 22:43

Because they know we cant do somethings they invite us to due ro money and they are trying to ‘ fix’ it ?

Wow, what a martyr

Original poster
Hidijihidoho · 27/04/2023 18:27

“Bit strange. I work part time and I claim what I’m entitled to, I pay taxes too so why should I feel bad? Maybe if I was unemployed I might feel different.”

….the above quote is from a couple upthread…so many of you are saying that you cant work part time and claim benefits to top up .. and that people are hounded to work full time by the benefits agency in this sort of situation …whereas the above poster clearly works part time and claims benefits..? … so that sort of situation may be what people who have advised me to claim were talking about. ?

Maybe my info isn't current .. as I used to know a few people who said they chose to work pt so it would not affect benefits.

To be honest . I have not done a benefit check re us .. I assumed that we could apply given that people suggested that would be the case to us .. I have not gone as far as to actually check .

OP posts:
CecilyP · 27/04/2023 18:27

CarrotCake01 · 27/04/2023 17:57

I'm a single mother so very low income.

It really pained me to go on benefits, I didn't want to be stereotyped but the way I saw it was that actually this is for my daughter and her quality of life. I'm not cheating the system or taking advantage of anything. I just can't earn as much as a family with 2 incomes.

It wouldn't be unreasonable either way, just got to do what's right for you!

Don’t feel pained! In-work benefits for low income working families are for people like you, and have been around for 50 years now. Having small dependent children is such a short time in the average person’s working life.

Original poster
Hidijihidoho · 27/04/2023 18:32

CecilyP
yes .. pub people are rich .. so maybe its a case of assumption on their , and also my part.
i don't know why people are calling me a matyr.. I have no idea were that is coming from .My main feeling is relief at jot working in a nhs setting and being able to earn money without being distressed .

OP posts:
AnotherEmma · 27/04/2023 18:35

Tell us what you mean by "low income"?
If you're in your 50s with no housing costs (own your house outright?), no dependent children and no disabilities or health conditions, you would be unlikely to get benefits anyway, depending on exactly how much you earn.

CecilyP · 27/04/2023 18:35

To be honest . I have not done a benefit check re us .. I assumed that we could apply given that people suggested that would be the case to us .. I have not gone as far as to actually check.

Unless they know a lot more about you, other than you’re a bit skint and have a 15 year old car, and they also have some knowledge of the benefit system, I would take their suggestion with a huge pinch of salt!

Original poster
Hidijihidoho · 27/04/2023 18:42

AnotherEmma
around £300 in total pw

OP posts:
Choconut · 27/04/2023 18:43

What's unreasonable is your need to tell everyone about it, if you didn't then they wouldn't be able to comment on it.

unflapper · 27/04/2023 18:46

I understand your desire to not burn out in public service jobs and be miserable but it strikes me that living in a house with no heating and never being able to have a small treat or buy a round of drinks is not much fun either!

If you're happy that way and that feels like a good quality of life to you, then fair enough.

Original poster
Hidijihidoho · 27/04/2023 18:47

I am not telling ‘ everyone ‘ about it .. I only mentioned it in the context of saying why we need to buy own drinks in a pub and cant join in rounds .

OP posts:
Irritateandunreasonable · 27/04/2023 18:56

You wouldn’t be able to claim benefits for to long anyway. There’s no reason why you can’t work more so eventually they’ll make you and when you fail they will reduce your benefits bit by bit.

No, you shouldn’t claim benefits just because you cba to work more but can.

MojacaSunset · 27/04/2023 18:57

Up to you entirely if you want to claim or not but it only takes a couple of minutes to find out if you are likely to be eligible to claim anyway,

Why not see what the actual likely hood is first????
https://benefits-calculator.turn2us.org.uk/

Turn2us Benefits Calculator

Use the Turn2us Benefits Calculator to find out which welfare benefits you may be entitled to.

https://benefits-calculator.turn2us.org.uk

AnotherEmma · 27/04/2023 19:01

Hidijihidoho · 27/04/2023 18:42

AnotherEmma
around £300 in total pw

As a couple with no rent costs, no dependent children and no disabilities, the maximum UC you could get would be £572.82/month.
However, earning £300/week, which is about £1,300/month (I assume this is net), £750 would be deducted from your UC entitlement (55% of your earnings). That amount is higher than your maximum entitlement so you wouldn't get any UC - by a significant margin.

As someone with no rent or mortgage to pay, you are relatively comfortably off. Perhaps not compared to your rich friends, but certainly compared to people on benefits.

AnotherEmma · 27/04/2023 19:02

Sorry £715 would be deducted

Loria · 27/04/2023 19:17

If you stop going to the pub you'll have more spare money OP 👌 might even be able to put the heating on now and then

funinthesun19 · 27/04/2023 19:20

I just think more fool you. That money is there to help you.

And honestly, I don’t think any tax payer would care if you were to struggle if you don’t claim it.

No tax payer is going to appreciate you not claiming as they’re still going to be paying tax anyway. It won’t make any difference to them, and all the while you’re scrimping because you care more about tax payers than yourself.