What is your household income, how much is benefits, and how are you coping?

[Gabrilla]

Genuinely curious after so many threads on here about benefit changes. Please feel free to name change!

I’ll start:

Salaries for both of us total 90k. Only benefits are £102 month child benefit, though we also get tax-free childcare and 15hrs free at nursery.

Total income is about 6k a month, mortgage and bills 3k, nursery 1k, commuting costs £500, groceries cost £500, husband pays CMS and other bits to his children totalling about £500 leaving us about £500 for everything else.

Feels like we’re constantly penny-pinching.

She’s Scottish. Same sort of thing but with a Scottish name, and much, much higher. Cause the SNP hope they can buy the votes of disabled people.

ADP isn't much higher than PIP. It's the exact same.

And ESA is the same im Scotland as it is in England too as far as I'm aware.

LCWRA on Universal Credit is also the same.

Income 24K. Mortgage £600. DH gives me £500 per month (varies as he’s self employed). Then it’s just the usual bills plus DTs phones. Car was bought outright (£400) tax £30 a year and insurance £35 a month. Holidays are a rarity but we go and stay with family. I do occasionally go on a solo trip when DH takes DC to his country. We generally buy second hand clothes (always have done). I am a good, frugal cook, spend around £400 a month for 4 of us. I can afford the odd meal out with friends but can’t afford for the 4 of us to dine out. Kids have a bursary from college so their travel is covered. They both work so fund their own social activities.
I do have a second job which is very ad hoc plus have dabbled in reselling on Vinted.
I would like more disposable income but I live within my means and enjoy bargain hunting.

Anyone can feel squeezed if they don’t manage their money well 🤷‍♀️

You can be on a six figure salary but choose to max out and have a HUGE mortgage plus two very expensive vehicles on finance.

Then it’s hardly surprising when you have the same disposable income as lower earners.

So many people jump on the fact OP must be living in a luxury mansion. Property prices in the south east are insane, I get £1000 per month from universal credit as the housing element as a single parent. Rent is actually £1400 and that is below average for around here. People are comparing apples and bananas.

Also £500 CMS is low. I wouldn’t want to be the ex. I get £1000 CMS for two kids and I am still struggling despite working and the universal credit.

But there’s £400 each month extra benefit because you have children and are on benefits.

Single parent of 2 children, one is disabled child in receipt of DLA. I work part time, which is all I can manage whilst also meeting my sons needs.
My montly income, made up of salary, UC, child maintenance and child benefit is just over £4k. My outgoings are approx £1100, that includes my relatively low mortgage and all bills. I spend a fair amount on food shopping, my children have a lot of sensory issues around food. I manage to run a car, albeit nothing flashy and it's 10 years old, we have a lot of short breaks each year and normally have 1 holiday abroad. I don't go out frequently, maybe once every few months.

I don't feel well off, but we don't struggle either.

Yes for Scottish Child Payment but you were talking about the Scottish equivalent of PIP which is ADP and is the same amount.

Edited to add actually it was ESA which was mentioned in the previous post not PIP but that still has nothing to do with Scottish Child Payment.

But it is a luxury to have just one person working. And if this were the case then there wouldn’t be any childcare bill.. an 80k, one stay at home parent household shouldn’t get child benefit..

Seems like you have a very high mortgage and nursery fees. Hopefully things will improve as you reduce your mortgage and don’t have to pay nursery.

It is not only how much is the income but also the expenses. I have a friend that has a very nice lifestyle with a TA salary; married, not mortgage, not children, not car, and very organised with her money.

It’s because I recently came out of an abusive marriage. I was married for nearly 20 years so didn’t work full time as I didn’t need to. I put mine and my child’s wellbeing before money. I have an interview tomorrow actually for a much better paid full time job so I am not just sitting about gloating about having benefits topping me up. Please don’t judge everyone so harshly when everyone has their own circumstances.

It’s per household

This seems a lot of income. I’m a high earner but after tax I don’t get much more than this and I am single parent two children. One with send and I work full time and am knackered.so this seems quite a big top up to me.

I'm self employed and earn £12 000. My husband earns £12 000 self employed. Vehicle costs mostly through his business. My childcare hours have just been taken away this term for not earning enough even though I draw the same wage every month for the last 3 years! I only buy new clothes for my kids.

I cannot believe some of these incomes and not feeling like you have ‘much’?!
I earn £15.50 ish an hour as a nurse, 22 hours a week roughly £18k a year, CMS £750, £200 UC top up. Roughly £30k.
Solo parent to 2 children, mortgage is £280 but ex and I overpaid throughout and I overpay now I’m on my own.
Bills £800 a month
Dance fees £220 a month 🥴
Car is owned outright
Food bill is roughly £500 a month
House is 4 bed, 4 bath in SW. Council is £270 for single adult.
I feel very lucky.
I couldn’t pay £1800 a month for mortgage, but I know friends do 😱

I don’t think the op is wrong in pointing out that their family income, whatever it is, is not going as far as she might have expected. We all have different households incomes and outgoings but surely we can all agree that in the last few years our standard of living has plummeted snd we all find ourselves worse off?

£4K? So you work part time and the state is topping you up to the same take home pay as someone who earns + £80K a year?

I recently calculated that we would be £1500 per year better off with me going down to 90% hours due to childcare costs. The system doesn't really encourage people to maximise their employment productivity!

Similarly, a few years ago I got a 20k bonus and it all went on tax.

So now my plan is to take work easy, go down to 90% hours and enjoy more time with my DD.

[Since you asked, current household income is 128k and we get tax free childcare. We pay 1k mortgage, 1.5k nursery, 1.5k other bills and save 1.8k per month. We feel comfortable and fortunate but not minted by any stretch]

The children's Dad is a high earner, so there's a big chuck of child maintenance for 2 children in that, along with DLA at high rate and UC with a disabled child element, again at high rate. Once my son is older and hopefully requires less support I will increase my working hours. In the meantime it's a juggling act of working and meeting my sons needs.

How does this work? Do you pay no tax? That’s below the tax threshold? Surely this is part time work?

I mean I agree with your point but it’s more like £65k not £80.

You seem quite resentful….

I think that is what it boils down to. You are not poor with a household income 60k as single adult or 90k as a family but you definitely are not able to live lifestyle you expected (and others expect you to) be able to with that salary. And with the increasing cost of living and below inflation pay rises you may have actually seen your standard of living drop.

Pre tax household income of £320,000 incl bonus
Mortgage just over £3000
Childcare just under £2000
Other household bills approx £1000
Food approx £500