Just at the cut off for free school meals

[Velveteengreen]

We claim UC and are just under the threshold for FSM. Therefore all the holiday clubs and activities that we could access during school holidays, we’ll need to pay for ourselves. which isn’t feasible. We’ll just about be able to afford to feed our DS this summer holiday as it is and we’ll probably end up back in the overdraft.
I so understand there has to be a cut off point, but I can’t help feeling a little envious when friends who do qualify for FSM are talking about sending their DC into holiday camps for the entire 6 weeks for free. Plus a lot of them will get money from councils for food and essentials too. Same as last year.
I’m honestly not trying to upset anybody but I just feel really down and worried about the upcoming holidays.

How many hours a week do you and your partner work? (Awaiting the sob story in 3…2…)

Why do your friends need 6 weeks worth of tax-payer funded childcare in the summer holidays if they don’t work full-time, which they mustn’t do if they earn below the FSM threshold.

How do we know OP can't be bothered to work more?

Both could be argued to be morally dubious. I said different. There's a big difference between someone being annoyed that their much higher net contribution to the state gives them less in return and taking some mitigating action vs. someone thinking the state should find their entire life whilst offering up nothing in contribution. The net impact is radically different.

Both are the fault of a badly designed tax and benefits system.

This must be a troll. Don't believe that this is a genuine post otherwise this country is well and truly f**d

How can two able bodied people be unable to earn more than £8k per annum and be complaining about not getting free school meals and freebies

Then have other posters encouraging her or him to up pension contributions to get below the threshold when they apparently can't feed their kids.

Level of entitlement in the U.K. is shocking and likely worse under Labour which endorses this behaviour

Absolutely ridiculous.

Does anyone in this country try to work full time or is it just take take take?

She mentions a partner - between them they can't earn £8k?!!

You're paying the full amount into your pension but can barely afford to feed your child? Cut the pension for starters. As PP say the cut off is v low, can you pick up more hours or a second job? If you're only working v few hours why do you need so much childcare?

A wild guess given two adults do not earn 8k between them (but are well enough to do some work)? I'll stand corrected if the OP returns.

Am guessing the OP won't be back.

(and possibly already has someone in their DMs, offering to pay for her 'childcare')

Except the higher rate tax payer probably isn't claiming anything at all as it's unlikely they will be entitled to anything. If you're talking about people earning over £100k then the additional tax burden is insane when they are already contributing so much. The person earning £100k plus is probably working very hard and extremely long hours in a high pressure job. If it was that easy to earn that amount then we would all be doing it!

People like OP will be contributing very little and taking a hell of a lot from the system. They must be working very little to be so close to the FSM threshold and posters are encouraging her to work less or divert more of her money into pensions so that she can claim even more.

This is why the system is broken. The sense of entitlement amongst some groups is through the roof. Why on earth should the rest of us be paying for OP's kids to go to free holiday clubs when she works so many hours less than us and we all have to pay for our kids to go to holiday clubs whilst we are , you know, actually at work?

It's not childcare, it's the HAF programme providing a meal and activity for children in the holidays who suddenly don't get their free school meal.
I guess depends on your politics whether you see these parents as struggling or scroungers.

👍
Very good!

This!

Feeding my child would be first priority, not relying on handouts that I may or may not be eligible for. I'd worry about pension when I was in a more financially stable position.

The cut off for free school meals is extremely low so you must have an income of less than £7k per year which indicates neither of you are working full time

If you are both in work is there a reason one of you can't work full time?

I'm a single parent working full time on a salary of £26k and I've never been entit3D to free school meals for DS apart from the universal ones in key stage 1.

Although I'm tempted to believe that this is a wind up to get people frothing about benefits, last minute attempts from Tory HQ.

Have you created an account just to post this thread OP?

Many reasons why parents can't work full time including too expensive childcare or disability. It actually works better if you are in retail to drop your hours and get UC than work full time as it isn't work it financially. Blame the government rather than the individual.

Doesn't need much encouraging really. 😁

No it doesn't. I'm a claimant myself and you are better off the more you work.

Why is it someone else's responsibility to feed your children. Don't have them if you can't feed them.

That's not true on UC. The more you work the better off you are.

Never be envious of those who are dependent on the state to feed their kids

If you are both working full time and able to pay into a pension, you would be well over the threshold for UC even if you are on the minimum wage.

If you only work a few hours a week to qualify for UC, then you don’t need to have holidays covered and free food etc.

Surely you can’t be expecting to work so little, with a school aged child, and receive so many benefits for free? How is this country supposed to function?

Meals aren’t “free” - taxpayers are paying for that. Same for holiday care and UC benefits.

I agree - pay less into your pension. Pay nothing in if the alternative is not being able to feed your child.

Me neither and I was one of those kids in the 80s.

I save my fury for the corporate tax dodgers over Joe blogs getting a free lunch for their child in the summer tbh.

Why is the cut off so low though, I'm sure it was much higher than that.

There is no ‘max’. Go and talk to your employer and discuss additional contributions.