Irritated that families on UC get heavily discounted entry

[happybug1234]

feel very aggrieved this afternoon to find out that people on UC get heavily discounted entry to popular attractions:

London Zoo
London transport museum
science museum wonderlab
Cutty Sark
kew Gardens
St Paul’s cathedral

As a mum with a professional career, with both husband and I working full time, paying a mortgage, paying a fortune in childcare for 2 under 4’s I seriously despair! From experience of people I see around me, families on UC seem to have more disposable income than us as their rent is paid, have no childcare costs and all their costs subsidised on social tariffs etc.

why is the government getting away with this and why are more middle class/income people not up in arms about it! At the moment I can’t see how us working hard and being self sufficient has benefited us as a family.

I earn an average-good wage, but once I’ve paid for my car and fuel so that I can commute, topped up childcare and paid everything else out I have £60 at the end of the month for “fun money” I don’t have any savings and a day out to any of those places would cost more than £60, my child gets very little in terms of opportunities like that. But then a relative who is 6 months older than me has never worked more than a week a year manages to take their children away twice a year to places such as London or butlins. The school also runs extra experiences for students from low income families so they do things there too, I don’t think my child will qualify for that either (mines not started school yet). My child has never had a holiday because I just can’t afford it.

Only read the OPs posts, but you know you've not highlighted that royalty give UC claimants £1 entry.

I can hear your gnashing teeth OP 🤣

https://www.rct.uk/one-pound-tickets

You sound hateful.

I’m sure your almost word for word repetition of Jenrick’s posts from this morning is nothing more than a coincidence and you’re not just being obtuse.

I know exactly how much it is.

What on earth am I reading?!

two sets of parents can be in the same financial situation at the emd of the month, one on UC, one not"

WHAT?!

To qualify for UC you have to be earning not very much. When I had a top up it didnt cover the other adults wage I lost when he left. I had a mortgage. Got no help towards that.

Two adults, both working, earning over the UC threshold are so much better off than two adults on a poorly paid job getting a UC top up 🤦‍♀️

OP. I would encourage you to look at who is actually taking YOUR money and why you feel so stretched (and therefore agrieved about discounts for families on lower incomes).
Private equity firms own a huge amount of our nurseries and care homes etc. With no accountability and interest in anything other than profit they are absolutely fleecing us all!!!

Be cross at these guys, they are the bad guys - not institutions making experiences accessible for everyone or families enriching their kids lives.

How much do I get in uc then since you know?

Meh. Take it up with the attractions in question. Write to each of them personally and tell them they've got their sums wrong. It's the only way to do it because this isn't a national strategy. Each of these attractions has decided, off its own bat, to offer this particular discount. And other discounts too. For pensioners, students, train travellers, people in a particular postcode, all manner of things. It's not a government sponsored discount, it doesn't come out of tax. So there's no point in appealing to any government body. You need to deal with the people who make the decisions ie the people running the attractions.

And is that the fault of children whose families receive UC? I got less than 3% rise and can’t afford to take my children to all the places I’d like to and still don’t begrudge other children going. Because they are children.

That’s exactly what is happening, and one major reason why we have a declining birth rate.

Totally agree with you OP, I was only saying the same thing to my DIL yesterday. They are working parents doing the right thing and supporting the family that they have chosen to have, yet they can’t afforded the fun things that others we know who have numerous benefit hand outs manage.
People on benefits often have more disposable income than those flogging themselves working for a living, it reallymakes you wonder if it’s worth it.

Sensible use on inheritance. Now no longer having to pay her rent through UC. Why is that so difficult to understand?

This

That's so useful. I'll give to my awful grabby daughter who is a single mother of 3 (as her partner walked out on them and refuses to work so he doesn't have to give her any money) so when she has rare time off from the medical degree she's doing to make their lives better, which has necessitated a small amount of Universal credit top up, she'll have more fun things to do with them - despite doing everything she possibly can to give my grandchildren an amzing life

to be fair, while there may be ways to get slightly cheaper access, buy 1 get 1 free when tickets are £32 (so still £64 for 4 people, for, say, Hampton Court Palace or London Zoo) is still nowhere near as affordable as getting tickets for a whole family for £4 total.

While you can get into cathedrals for free if you go to a service, in my experience they've got wise to this as a way of bypassing paying and literally escort you straight in and back out again. It's still a nice way to very quickly see the architecture but is in no way the same as the experience of a paid visit - wandering around, taking your time, getting a close up view of the windows or other art, reading the plaques, sitting in the pews, looking in the undercroft etc.

Please tell me how much you think I get then. Feel free to ask questions about my circumstances.

You haven't seen all the posts on here by people on UC who also work?

I agree. Of course I want underprivileged kids to have these experiences. But yet again, the middle class can afford it, those on benefits get it paid for, and it’s the hardworking family who can’t afford any extras like these days out but also don’t qualify for help, who are going without to pay for others. The whole system is unfair & tbh, nobody comes out of it very well.
it’s also stuff like this that makes it harder to get off benefits. Bc you’d need a job paying quite a bit to be able to afford your true market rate rent on your house, council tax, these nice days out etc x

Exactly. If anything, these schemes should be expanded, not removed as some kind of punitive measure for not being as productive as the OP thinks people should.

no because this way the public purse never needs to pay her rent again, which is more cost effective than paying it all again after she’s sunk £284k until she dies

I hope something there is useful.

are med students entitled to a blue light card? If so they also often have deals on access to places so worth her checking

Not everyone goes in to a care home, plenty of people live in their own homes until the day they die. And if you have to go in to a care home you’ll be in a lovely home that charges a fortune and you get daily activities and nice food, whereas the people who have no assets will be in the type of care home where they’re told that no one is free to take them for a wee and that’s what their pad is for.

When you have no child care costs your disposable income will be great. But people on benefits in a cycle of poverty will always be living hand to mouth. So if you think you will have a similar lifestyle if you both purposely get yourselves sacked so you can claim benefits the do it. You can spend every day in London zoo. Remember to take your hot water flask with hotdogs in though as your probably won’t be able to afford the kids lunches on your benefits!

The Universal Credit (reduced-price) tickets for London Zoo are funded and offered directly by ZSL (Zoological Society of London), a conservation charity, rather than by a government grant. These discounted tickets (currently £3) are part of their effort to make the zoo accessible to everyone.

Why does it matter? The tax payer isn’t funding it.