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.

But she won't be able to pass that 'forever home' to her kids as the taxman will automatically take 40% when she dies.....even if you work all yr life and pay off the mortgage, you only really own 60% of yr house....

Just looked at the first attraction on the list and its London Zoo which is receives no state funding. So you clearly are being unreasonable when you demand the government bans them from offering discounts to groups they want to encourage

Yes but why should there be? Money.for.free

We can't really go on holidays but thankyou maybe one day

"The middle are squeezed as always"

Just out of interest, what is your understanding of who "the middle" are, exactly?

If you’re seeing families who do not work bringing in over £4000 a month then that is because they’re on disability benefits.

You’re saying you’re jealous of parents with disabled children.

You do realise that most people who claim UC are the ones working FT.
So the argument that only those that are working without claiming UC are struggling is BS because UC is there to top up low wages - so they’re either getting UC top ups or earn too much to qualify.

Aim your vitriol at the deadbeat dad.

There’s a lot of misogyny at the heart of these posts. Sad

The point is clearly that they aren't free.

I have 2 kids under 4, i work and get top up UC. I dont have my rent paid and i most definitely dont get free childcare. Why should kids miss out on days out because you dont like the fact their parents are on benefits

You know what, OP, life is hard for eveyone but is it definitely harder on benefits. Also you don’t necessarily get your rent paid. Where I live, the rent payment ceiling for a single adult is just over £1000 but the rent for a one bedroom flat is arround £1500.

This 100%.

The PP seemsd to think it was free.

No one says they should stay inside.

They can go anywhere they like but they can pay fur themselves, like the dwindling number of us who are paying for everything.

I don't agree with you that it is a privilege. If you have done the study and the work to earn more than shelf-stacking wages while becoming a professional, then I applaud your ambition and drive. Frankly, we need more of you.

Also with Tower of London if you get in on the discounted membership you get 50% off in the cafe. If the kids eat free deal is running (which it does most of the time there) they actually do 50% of adult meals and kids eat free in combo.

A social tariff is things like how BT do cheaper broadband for those on UC

Its a privilege to have an education remember that

@happybug1234 free school meals for all children in households who receive UC from Sept 2026 too just in case you want to be annoyed about something else.

I mean why would you want to make such a job your entire life? Not just a period of your life, but make it the entirety of it.

Inequality is a pernicious evil that disadvantages everybody.

You only need to look at Soviet East Germany to see where equality leads. Pay grafters and non grafters the same and the grafters either become non grafters or leave and that's exactly where we are. Dwindling numbers of tax payers funding more and more unproductive people and that spiral is difficult or impossible to undo. I'd say we're past the point of no return in the UK. Voters on the take outnumber voters paying in and that means no government will ever get elected to fix it. The only options for people willing to support themselves are quit work with anxiety and join in or leave the UK.

For a large portion of my career, I worked in reward. In 20 years, only 1 employee declined to participate in salary sacrifice because they felt taxation was used for the good of society and so denying the government the full tax on their salary was morally wrong. Are you as moral as that person OP, or do you take advantage of the benefits you're entitled to?

• Did you receive SMP? (If you were lucky enough to be working for an employer long enough for the employer to pay you maternity pay, do you resent others getting paid Maternity Allowance by the State?)
• Did you take advantage of free dental care and prescriptions when you were pregnant?
• Do you take your children for free dental and eye checkups? Do you visit the GP or use the NHS in any way?
• Do you claim child benefit? Should people who choose not to have children be angry that some people get this free monthly handout just because they chose to have kids, yet others don't?

If one of your children was diagnosed with a devastating disease and you subseqently lost your job because you needed to care for them full time, would you just think, oh well, life's dealt me a shit hand, I guess I'll lose my home and pop down to the food bank in between hospital visits, or would you claim benefits? If you/your husband/your children became disabled, would you claim DLA or PIP, or would you just solider on?

Is it just low paid and unemployed parents you object to, or you do you detest those pesky front line workers getting blue light card discounts as well? What about employers who subsidise rent deposits for their lowest paid employees? Is that terrible too, as not everyone works for an employer who does that?

As others have said, (a) some private organisations choose to offer discounts to specific groups - this has nothing to do with the Government (btw, everyone who lives in my borough gets £1 access to at least one big central London attraction - should that be stopped too, or is it ok, because it's location rather than poverty related?); (b) we should be seeking to raise standards for everyone, not knocking each other down.

Fortunately we live in a country where education is free to access

So it’s ok to be able to choose how many hours you work so you can get UC and all the benefits that come with it rather than working full time to get the annual leave, sick pay, weekends etc…?

If it’s that easy to claim UC then what incentive is there to go back to full time work?!!

I know somebody who is massively, massively taking the piss. This is a turnaround for me as I believe in Socialist ideas.

She doesn't work, has never worked, will not work. She has 4 kids by 4 fathers. Every thing is paid for. They have autism (?) but get to the head of the queue at theme parks, onto a plane first, into a museum free. It's madness.

It’s worth checking periodically as different places add their discounts at different times.

Generally they are on at the quietest periods for the places (as they’re not actually doing the discounts out the goodness of their hearts - they’re to attract in people who wouldn’t otherwise go and tick some boxes for their charitable status) outwith London.