To think I should work less and claim Universal Credit?

[Tiredandgrumpymum]

After a difficult divorce I find myself supporting my 2 children on my own. Ex-husband pays the bare minimum.

I work full time on about minimum wage, all my shopping is done at Asda usually yellow-stickered where ever possible. This year managed to take my 2 kids away for a weeks break by the seaside in a caravan. We had a lovely time but did it as cheaply as possible. Bought ice cream and put in the freezer in the caravan so when kids asked for an ice cream out I said wait till we get home.

No eating out except for takeaway chips etc. No expensive days out.

Just bought all the school uniforms as cheaply as possible from the supermarket and the school shoes which I've had to put on my credit card.

My SIL popped round for a coffee earlier on her way back from the hairdressers having treated herself to a new cut and colour at a posh salon and she was just on the way to get her nails done. She's just returned from a 2 week all inclusive in Turkey with her 4 kids. Her kids get the best school uniforms and school shoes and she pays for them to do various activities I can only dream about. All this and she works 3 mornings a week and gets topped up on UC. She goes to the gym everyday as she can afford it and has the time to so looks fabulous.
I'm sorry I sound so bitter but I really am.

This is exactly why benefits (tax payer sourced handouts) should be cut.
Such a waste.
Why am "I" working so you and your SIL can effectively piss it up the wall on hair and nails and holidays?

This is an abuse of the system. Welfare is not there to support lifestyle options.

You hit a very raw nerve, OP. 😡

If you are working full time how come you were in when she popped round?

I am on benefits, and after my bills are paid, I have some left over. Am I allowed to spend it on nice things, or do you think I should somehow pay it back?

Do whatever works best for you and your family OP x

You should legally claim what you can from the system in order to secure best advantage for yourself. I see this as no different than people earning over 100K who drop their hours or practise salary sacrifice as a tax planning measure. Or those who run a business who claim for the use of their home and every last paperclip as a business expense. The system is set up with loopholes which people exploit.

UC is capped at 2 kids so she's not claiming for all 4. Does she get child maintenance? She might have exceptional credit and be putting everything on credit cards 🤷🏻‍♀️ she might be Klarna-ing the F out of everything for now.

UC does not just 'let' all parents not work. After the youngest has turned 3, they are expected to be looking for and available for work, or else they are sanctioned. There are weekly appointments, stipulations set, and they must be met or else you're basically fucked.

UC doesn't help with childcare costs unless you have a job offer or are working.

You are always better off working, however when you're a single parent you're actually working two jobs, and to be honest the margin could be fairly slim for being 'better off' when you're on minimum wage.

Depending on the job you do, the length of the commute, and how all that takes away from being able to do all the tasks that give your children a good home life (aka nutritious meals, hygienic house, opportunity for enough genuine connection aka emotional bandwidth) then to be honest having an extra £100 a month I'm not sure is entirely worth sacrificing that.

It doesn't sound like you are sacrificing anything, though. You're just possibly misinformed that being on UC = £££

Unless you earn £60k+ per person in your household, you're not actually supporting anyone.

You're not in entirely the same boat, but you're both in high tax payer dinghies. If you're a single parent to 1 child you need to be on £120k+ to be a net contributor.

If you are going to make statements like the one I have quoted above, then you also need to explain that you have lived for a long time in very similar circumstances to @Tiredandgrumpymum, and that at that time you were so ground down by life, that you couldn't see any way out of it.

But why would handing cash to someone with ADHD make the blindest bit of difference to their condition???

That is not how PIP works, and in any case, you should do your own research and not expect disabled people to justify things to you.

Thanks for proving my point. No cash handouts are needed for ADHD.

You should work less and claim universal credit.

It's not you that's at fault. It's the feckless, irresponsible men, and the system that enables them.

This.

Put a bit more effort on next time OP lol

Nonsense.

You cant possibly claim that unless you've met everyone in the country who has ADHD and how it impacts them.

There has been a huge increase in benefit claims by young people with the rise in diagnoses of ADHD.

No wonder this country is screwed economically - that's insane!

@WunTooThree
I recommend you save it, wisely, for a rainy day. Nice things are luxuries which none of us are entitled to, especially if living hand to mouth.

@DonnyBurrito
I do.

"Bloody hell! You’re minted! Working hard is really not the way to go is it?"

Some one with two severely disabled children is working hard. Probably working harder than you.

My own severely disabled son is now an adult in supported living with 3:1 care so when he lived full time with me I was doing the work of three people.

UC isn’t capped if you get a disability benefit for a child, so she could be claiming for 4.

I don't think that's accurate on a per household basis.

A household with two adults working would need to earn £41k each.

A one adult worker household would need to earn £65k.

https://copilot.microsoft.com/shares/cF4PpfiW2Ng7HhGu4kL27

If we're calculate it based purely upon working aged adults, somebody needs to earn £45k to be a net contributor.

I think you get the disability element but not the child element?

Only that's bollocks but people fall for it.

Impressive she saved that much whilst on benefits.