Page 4 | To feel depressed about this?

Stressful00 · 2023-07-09T20:18:04+00:00

I work at a nursery. Not through choice but not having much luck finding nanny work. I live quite rurally and before anyone says move, I'm not in a financial position to do that. I feel really down tonight. On my FB feed there are people on benefits who are off on yet another mini break or who have bought a new car etc. I'm just living day to day. Working, going to appointments ( I have chronic conditions) and just being careful with money due to COL. I sometimes wish I could pack it all in and go on the dole.

Babyroobs · 10/07/2023 23:50

Uc should be there to support those who are ill, disabled and carers. It should not be there to line the pockets of private landlords and top up low wages for employers.

Anxioys · 10/07/2023 23:51

Perhaps my question should be, if you claim UC and do not work, what would encourage you to change that, and, in this answer you must think of where the money comes from to make these changes?

XenoBitch · 10/07/2023 23:54

Anxioys · 10/07/2023 23:51

Perhaps my question should be, if you claim UC and do not work, what would encourage you to change that, and, in this answer you must think of where the money comes from to make these changes?

Have a miracle cure for my illness and the reason I can not work.
I wish I could work... not working is horrible... I lack purpose and I lack money.

idontknowwhattosay23 · 10/07/2023 23:54

skire · 10/07/2023 23:02

When claiming UC, the claimant is always financially better off working.

This absolutely.

I suddenly became single with two very young children. I claimed UC and barely had enough to keep us all housed fed and clothed, but it was doable, we were existing but it was just the basics. Straight away I was searching for work and luckily found a fairly decent job within a few months of starting my UC claim. Before starting work my total UC income was £1260 a month. That had to cover everything including rent.

Now I'm working, I bring home £3200 a month which includes UC. I have to pay out £1100 of that on childcare (UC payment includes 85% of my childcare costs) , but it means both my girls are in a wonderful nursery setting and thriving, and I'm £840 a month better off than I was, for a 3.5 day week of working.

Put simply:

UC only, £1260 per month. After rent and basic bills I was left with £460 per month to feed / clothe us all and pay for transport etc.

Working 3.5 days a week + UC: £3200 per month. After rent and basic bills / childcare I am left with £1300 per month.

There is no doubt that in my situation it is absolutely better to be working. Not just financially but it's done me the world of good (overall, few hiccups at work) and to be setting a good example for my children for them to see me going out and working. I never ever want them to think staying at home and not working is a choice, I want them to know if you can work, you should work.

That being said, I am still baffled to this day how it is funded and had crippling anxiety for months because I was adamant it must be incorrect. I am not sure HOW it can possibly be viable or paid for but I am endlessly grateful because it has given me the chance to feel like a person who has a life and prospects.

Ultimately I hope to continue working, gaining experience, embark on further training and eventually be able to totally fund myself and my girls without any help from the state. But until that point in my life, the current help with UC has meant I'm no longer in poverty or ashamed of the life I was giving my girls. As much as I understand (I really do) the frustration from people who think others don't deserve this help, I won't feel ashamed about it.

Babyroobs · 10/07/2023 23:56

idontknowwhattosay23 · 10/07/2023 23:54

This absolutely.

I suddenly became single with two very young children. I claimed UC and barely had enough to keep us all housed fed and clothed, but it was doable, we were existing but it was just the basics. Straight away I was searching for work and luckily found a fairly decent job within a few months of starting my UC claim. Before starting work my total UC income was £1260 a month. That had to cover everything including rent.

Now I'm working, I bring home £3200 a month which includes UC. I have to pay out £1100 of that on childcare (UC payment includes 85% of my childcare costs) , but it means both my girls are in a wonderful nursery setting and thriving, and I'm £840 a month better off than I was, for a 3.5 day week of working.

Put simply:

UC only, £1260 per month. After rent and basic bills I was left with £460 per month to feed / clothe us all and pay for transport etc.

Working 3.5 days a week + UC: £3200 per month. After rent and basic bills / childcare I am left with £1300 per month.

There is no doubt that in my situation it is absolutely better to be working. Not just financially but it's done me the world of good (overall, few hiccups at work) and to be setting a good example for my children for them to see me going out and working. I never ever want them to think staying at home and not working is a choice, I want them to know if you can work, you should work.

That being said, I am still baffled to this day how it is funded and had crippling anxiety for months because I was adamant it must be incorrect. I am not sure HOW it can possibly be viable or paid for but I am endlessly grateful because it has given me the chance to feel like a person who has a life and prospects.

Ultimately I hope to continue working, gaining experience, embark on further training and eventually be able to totally fund myself and my girls without any help from the state. But until that point in my life, the current help with UC has meant I'm no longer in poverty or ashamed of the life I was giving my girls. As much as I understand (I really do) the frustration from people who think others don't deserve this help, I won't feel ashamed about it.

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It is pretty generous for most working people because of the work allowances and taper rates.

Babyroobs · 10/07/2023 23:58

Babyroobs · 10/07/2023 23:56

It is pretty generous for most working people because of the work allowances and taper rates.

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Sorry I should have said it's generous for working people with kids on their claim because of the work allowance that you get when you have kids. It's not half as generous for single working people who are reliant on it for helping to pay high rent.

idontknowwhattosay23 · 11/07/2023 00:02

@Babyroobs a really valid point. I won't claim to know the exact ins and outs, but from what I have read it certainly does mostly benefit those with children. If you are single and child free then the system seems much, much harsher.

To be fair my driving factor is my kids, I didn't want them to have a horrid childhood. Had I been single and for some reason unable / not wanted to work, I'm not sure what my motivation would have been to change that, because being in poverty is so depressing it's hard to have any hope about anything at all.

Annaishere · 11/07/2023 00:09

For me, a major issue is that I have severe insomnia coupled with sleep phase disorder. I’m on benzodiazepines which help but I will never be able to sleep and get up at normal times. As a single parent, it was not possible for me to work at night when my son was young.

In theory it is becoming possible for me to work at night now. But it would still require that I receive higher and higher doses of benzodiazepines to keep to a regular sleep cycle, which my doctor won’t prescribe. They will work for a while and then I need 2 weeks off to reset the tolerance. During which I can be awake for 4 nights and going mad and having severe panic attacks.

I need to either be referred to a sleep specialist to be allowed the correct prescription, or I need extremely flexible employment.