That a single parent having her salary topped up to over £6k shows how unaffordable family life now is

[Tryingtryingandtrying]

I was reading about a woman, take home pay if £2800 and topped up by UC to over 6k. This must be £100k or thereabouts equivalent before tax. How can this be fair when earning that much actually loses you child benefit and free childcare? As she has 3 kids she will now be even more better off, not sure what the answer is though.

Well no perhaps not but all the people I know in London who worked full time with multiple children in nursery every single day went on to do very well.

Confirmation bias. Most single mums never do very well.

Right back at you! Does it have to be either or. Currently she's either a CEO or she's got a bad back 😂😂

@Bellsbeachwaves exactly... and then who cleans the streets, empties the bins, drives the buses, looks after you in hospital...

Stop having so many children might help. There are two people. Claire Marie and Thea. It is Thea who lives in North London who seems to have three small children, who works full time and has outgoings of over £6000 a month.
And claims over £3342 a month from the taxpayer.
How on earth someone's outgoings are £6000 a month in terms of rent, food and childcare and so on I do not know.
From a tax perspective this, repeated across the nation is unsustainable.

what?! most? jesus wept. You are absolutely clueless.

Thousands of single mums out there holding down full time work, juggling childcare and extra curricular activities, medical appointments, hair cuts....and the rest on a daily basis. Many do it without any support from an ex or family. Some of us are even professionals. And manage others. And we're not all entitled to benefits.

Well no. Currently she's a single mum costing us thousands. It's not like she's young and just starting out.

I mean in our characterisation of her future. But nice deflection.

Is there any parents out there that can say i pay for my child or children without any benefits help.
(Not even child benefit because thats still a benefit).

Yes, probably a good few including my DC and their DP.
One DC of their own and never had a penny in child benefit....or any any others.

Sorry, I'm not trying to be rude or critical of all single mums. But statistically they don't usually do very well financially. Those that do are outliers (good for them!), and probably not the ones in 1 bedroom flats on average salaries at 40.

I look at actual information freely available from reputable sources like the government website etc.

You know red tops aren’t considered accurate enough to quote in an academic paper, theres a reason for that.

Only morons believe what they read in them.

Why would a) the government want to support people having children and b) pay for women to work when those children are young?

No people like Thea, an American who has contributed to those sorts of people being pushed out London.

Plugging 2800 per month into a net to gross salary calculator, assuming she pays the minimum into a pension but doesn't have a student loan, it looks like her gross pay is around 40k.

Being in work needs to pay. Not benefits.

@OneBookTooMany if I can just add in to this though there are plenty of the’we love Nigel, benefit claimants are all scroungers’ types out there who are more than happy to busily claim various things too - sone real hypocrisy going on - I give you a Telegraph reading very late 80s relative with delusions of colonial grandure - more than happy to live in a council house bought under right to buy and also have another council one he rents in a different area and uses for weekends- around a million in the bank but yes I agree there are plenty of piss takers who know how to play the system , for every shameless type family there’s a few Tamara or Tarquin types who are middle class but also play the system .

and yet you were both rude and critical and remain so in your response. Sweeping 'single mums...' generalisations are as helpful as saying 'mums...;

Loads of people out there doing their very best with the cards they were dealt. It's easy to judge when it's not you.

Do you think the government website might have its own agenda? Grab your smelling salts...it does!

Anyway, I can see that you are still unwilling to say what you think of this individual and that leads me, as someone with half a brain,to conclude that you have dangerously limited thought processes OR that you are-or are connected to-someone very like this individual.

All you have to say is:

I @TryingToBeHelpful267 do not believe this story but if it were true my reaction would be (and then pick from one of the following)

1. Good luck to her-it's obvious it's a disgrace but I support her choice.
2. I am uncomfortable with the amount of money being doled out to her but if she is entitled to claim it, then she must do so.
3. She is playing a productive role in society and she is earning this money-it is not being doled out to her, it is paid to her and rightly so.
4. It is an absolute disgrace and it's about time all this shite was stopped
5. I know it's wrong but I- or my Great Aunt Fanny- do the exact same thing so I can't really condemn it.
6. I-or my great aunt Fanny-do the exact same thing. It's a great life and I would like more so I won't condemn this because it's bloody brilliant.

Would you like to choose one-always bearing in mind that you don't believe the story anyway. Do it for fun, pretend you do believe it.

Of course you won't. So, for fun, I'll guess what your honest response would be.

I'm going to guess it would be option 6.

And just before I go to paid work, I'll repeat-because it is important for you to realise-the government website is not a well of unsullied and unbiased truth.

And childcare costs dont magically disappear once all your kids are in school. Yes, they reduce. But she'll still be claiming UC childcare element to pay for wraparound care for all the kids, because if she's working FT she definitely isn't going to be able to be there for drop off and pick ups.

Mine are both in school and the wraparound care bill is much less than nursery (we got no funded hours or tax free childcare) but its still a decent chunk of money per month.

I said "most", not all. And like it or not, it is true. You can take it as criticism if you want, but I was just commenting on the likelihood of her being a CEO. I wasn't judging anyone else, and I disagree that this particular woman is doing her best with the cards she's been dealt.

So the government has its own agenda but a news source doesn’t?

Bahahahaha alrightly keep drinking your koolaid. I’m sure you’ll be telling me the earth is flat next.

Also I understand you’re miserable and lonely but please stop replying to my post, I’ve answered your moronic question. I’m not here as unpaid educational help for fools.

Please redirect your questioning to people who are paid to respond to you. I’m genuinely too busy for your nonsense.

😂😂😂😂😂

I agree, you're certainly not an "educational help" for fools or indeed anyone.

@Monty34 you asked "How on earth someone's outgoings are £6000 a month in terms of rent, food and childcare and so on I do not know."

If you have a look at average nursery prices across the UK (it is higher in London), two kids in full time nursery alone will be over £2000 a month https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/family-and-care/becoming-a-parent/childcare-costs

So then stop questioning me? 😂

silly billy.