Working couples who claim universal credit

[Pinkponyclub123]

This is a question for anyone in a couple claiming universal credit, where you are both working.
If one of you worked full time, and the other worked part time to save on childcare costs and do school runs ect, is it fair for the part time worker to use all of the universal credit money to pay for things needed for the household (eg kids clothes, school trips, ect) once they've paid the bills from their wages? Or should they transfer half of it to the full time worker because it's a joint claim? Bearing in mind part time workers wages are less than half of the full time workers.

We claimed universal credit for a time (don't any more since husband got a promotion at work) but we claimed what we were entitled to. All our money goes into one pot then and now.

We don't have one person going short and over burdened financially.

That would be up to the individual couple to sort out how the benefit should be used.

It is to use fairly so the family have enough money for day to day living costs. Your OP reads like one adult is trying to access the money and squirrel it away. You might want to read up on financial abuse and see if it feels like that.

In my house everything goes into one pot si.this wouldn't be an issue
But if they using the UC,to benefit everyone why should they equally have half each?
Maybe they need a joint account for bills etc,o which the UC, can be paid into.

All the UC goes on bills etc and then any additional money needed is paid proportionately by the couple. Eg full time worker adds £400 to the pot, part time worker adds £250. Obviously depending on the actual wages.

All our money just went in one pot

Husband and I both work and claim UC. It all goes into one pot, as does our wages. We don't have 'his' and 'my' money, it's all family money.

One pot for all income, from this pot all expenses including child related expenses. Any thing left gets divided between the parents, equally for their personal use, and some should be saved for emergencies.
if not this, then there is no need to claim UC as there is obviously enough income coming in to the household, and you don’t need UC

I was the part time worker in that scenario. The Tax Credits as it was back then paid money onto gas and electric meter, water payment and baby milk from the clinic, as well as things like nappies and wipes. My wages paid for the majority of the food. The full time wage paid for mortgage and any other expenses including his drink and cigarettes. ( I wasn’t allowed personal spending money so had to hide/lie about any tips I had from work.)

In your case if your wage and UC is about the same as the full time wage and you’re both paying about the same in bills/utilities, then no, the full timer doesn’t get a cut of the UC!

Not the point of the thread but wouldn’t it be better if we were paid proper wages so we didn’t need universal credit.

edit: just seen you’re part time apologies

If you are claiming as a couple then surely you share finances as a couple?

Both partners should have equal free time and equal spending money. Start from there.

Work out how much total money you have coming in (eg £1000)
Work out what all the bills, kids clothes, birthday presents, car maintenance and school dinners cost (eg £900)
Split the rest so each adult has £50 each.

Thanks for everyone's replies. It seems like it's the norm to put it all in one pot and divide up after expenses which surprises me as its something we've never done but it does sound like a good idea I think. Not that there's a lot left to divide up at the end!

This only works if both people will share equally. If it is in a joint pot and one person keeps dipping in it won't work.

We both use it as it goes in the joint account. Is he complaining that you are using it for the kids?

Wouldn't the full time worker still have to use it for the same household expenses anyway? I'm confused!

As a general rule, if you've joint finances (and I don't understand how you can't with a joint UC claim) then all one pot and equal spending money. Some room for maneouvre on that if eg one party does much less/more than the other as a lifestyle choice. But that's not going to apply when you have young DC.

It’s not either of you money, it’s your households money, and should be treated as such, it goes into a household pot. Even if you don’t have joint finances usually your UC money has to be because it is not either of yours it is genuinely “ours”

Our universal credit goes in my bank, my husband works, I don't. I decide what happens to it

I thought it had to be a joint account?

Pretty much everything spent is 'household expenses', things like kids clothes, birthdays, Christmas, breakfast/afterschool club, it certainly isn't one person's money to go on things for themself

For a bit of clarity, full time worker pays the rent, part time worker pays for everything else, bills, food shops, things for the kids ect. Overall full time worker has more going into their bank account every month than part time worker even with uc included

Ok well with that and your other update I don't understand the FT workers point. If they want it to go into their account, I guess that's ok but are they also going to sort all of the stuff the PT worker does and uses the money for, or do they just envisage transferring it? Basically, if £50 is needed for kids shoes, presumably the PT worker now sorts it. Is the FT worker going to take over, or just transfer? The latter seems a waste of everyone's time.

How much does each person have left over?

Yep this.

If you don’t want to put it all into one pot then the fairest way is to sit down and work out what you are both left with after paying everything that needs to be paid.

We put everything into one pot and give ourselves equal spending money each month - dh works and I don’t (disabilities etc, I get PIP, that does into the joint account too, everything all in and then we transfer an equal and set amount to our own accounts for personal spending). We make sure we leave extra in the joint account for days out, family stuff etc.

In these circumstances it should go into the joint pot.