Page 28 | Irritated that families on UC get heavily discounted entry

happybug1234 · 2026-04-09T16:54:46+00:00

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.

Conkersinautumn · 09/04/2026 21:04

DannyDeever · 09/04/2026 20:54

Royals cost us £132.1 million.

Welfare costs £250 billion.

If we didn't have Royals we'd have to replace them with some kind of other ceremonial people which would still cost. If we replaced people on welfare with workers our economy would go through the ceiling and everyone would be better off.

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So a handful,.maybe 10 of royals cost that much.

'Welfare' what and who are you including? (Ignoring the fact it includes NHS, Education as most people use those systems and never pay the same in tax as they will use in their lifetime)
Child benefit
Pension payments
UC.
Fuel.subsidies

I am guessing more than 10 people there.

DannyDeever · 09/04/2026 21:04

JoiseeeEileennnn · 09/04/2026 20:58

Where do you think the cut off should be?

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I don't know but giving people with the equivalent income to £113k a year free entry on the basis they are "poor" is a bit mental.

How about, anyone who is the equivalent of a higher rate tax payer or above doesn't get free entry?

Nimonion · 09/04/2026 21:05

Sillycake · 09/04/2026 21:02

what about tax breaks for the rich ? how does that help the economy

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Encourages the rich to relocate to the UK or stay in the UK if currently here. Income tax from the average wages worker is peanuts. Income tax from the rich is vast in comparison.

SpryTaupeTurtle · 09/04/2026 21:05

ChefsKisser · 09/04/2026 21:01

I agree OP. Most of those things you listed would be a once a year big treat and saved for. The fact that people on UC can attend for a few pounds is really depressing. We are relocating abroad partly because we are sick of subsidising what feels like everyone while struggling ourselves. Another high earner and NHS worker out of the system, I’m glad I won’t be there when it all implodes.

When I was was on UC I lived on 400 pounds a month. You? Bye then. Don't let the door hit your backside on the way out

BlueRedCat · 09/04/2026 21:05

SpryTaupeTurtle · 09/04/2026 21:04

Very unlikely they will have the exact amount of a family topped up by UC. Like how dare people on benefits get a discount on anything? If someone's income is low - there are discounts they can get without being on UC

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But that is provably false. These days it is actually quite common for that to be the case. That is the point of this thread. The people upset are mainly not high income earners but the people struggling themselves and can’t afford these days out and get no help at all

SpryTaupeTurtle · 09/04/2026 21:06

BlueRedCat · 09/04/2026 21:05

But that is provably false. These days it is actually quite common for that to be the case. That is the point of this thread. The people upset are mainly not high income earners but the people struggling themselves and can’t afford these days out and get no help at all

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No. It's just another mumsnet bash people on benefits thread. Let's not call it anything else

JoiseeeEileennnn · 09/04/2026 21:07

DannyDeever · 09/04/2026 21:04

I don't know but giving people with the equivalent income to £113k a year free entry on the basis they are "poor" is a bit mental.

How about, anyone who is the equivalent of a higher rate tax payer or above doesn't get free entry?

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i think the £113k example does not represent a majority of the UC demographic.

If anyone under the higher rate bracket got free entry then a majority of attractions would close.

Plus would that be anyone in the household in that tax bracket or the household income or if two adults earned that?

BlueRedCat · 09/04/2026 21:07

JoiseeeEileennnn · 09/04/2026 21:04

Yes, they do but where does is end and who is responsible for means testing who gets a free day at the zoo?

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No idea but essentially by not finding a solution we are effectively saying some children are deserving and others aren’t and it doesn’t sit right with me.

Kirbert2 · 09/04/2026 21:08

Coffeeandbooks88 · 09/04/2026 20:53

I am really excited to use my free tickets at the Yorkshire Museum soon. 😃😃

We went to Chester zoo over the Christmas holidays when they briefly did £1 UC tickets. I actually found out about it due to a thread like this and made sure to thank the OP. 😂

Wingingit73 · 09/04/2026 21:09

I agree. The poor shouldn't be allowed out in public at all. What is wrong with you?

DannyDeever · 09/04/2026 21:09

SpryTaupeTurtle · 09/04/2026 21:05

When I was was on UC I lived on 400 pounds a month. You? Bye then. Don't let the door hit your backside on the way out

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Unlikely. I bet your rent alone was more than £400 a month.

BlueRedCat · 09/04/2026 21:09

SpryTaupeTurtle · 09/04/2026 21:06

No. It's just another mumsnet bash people on benefits thread. Let's not call it anything else

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Well I think all children are deserving of day out but a lot of people on here don’t agree. Just because your parents earn just above the UC line doesn’t mean they are less deserving than children whose parents earn just below

JoiseeeEileennnn · 09/04/2026 21:09

BlueRedCat · 09/04/2026 21:07

No idea but essentially by not finding a solution we are effectively saying some children are deserving and others aren’t and it doesn’t sit right with me.

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So you would rather deny all children.

Children in higher income families are lucky in other ways, fair and equal are not the same thing.

Bunniemalone · 09/04/2026 21:10

A lot of people on UC do work hard, sometimes for little pay & have mortgages etc to pay, but need a little extra help, circumstances change, beyond people's control. I do not begrudge them been able to take the kids out a bit cheaper, they may just have odd days out, rather than an actual holiday.
However there are always some people that do seem to work the 'system' which is what I think infuriates people. But it is not the norm. I have a cousin who works 16hrs a week, his wife hasn't really worked in at least last 10 years. 2 children aged 10 & 12. Yet they have managed to go to Disney Florida for 2 weeks every year during school holidays last 6 years. Staying in Disney hotels. Live in rented property & have a fairly new car. Always seem to be in the coffee shop/ eating out. I have no idea how they do it.

ASimpleLampoon · 09/04/2026 21:10

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Jamontoastandtea · 09/04/2026 21:10

Lancrelady80 · 09/04/2026 21:00

I don't think anyone is actually cross with people taking advantage of the opportunities offered to them. It's more symptomatic of the massive problem the country and economy is in. We've somehow (Brexit, Covid, Ukraine, Iran, consecutive governments who have been either inept, corrupt or simply not fussed) got to a position where the cost of living for everyone has become so appalling that the number of people / families earning only slightly over UC eligibility has massively increased. Theresa (spelling?) May spoke about the "squeezed middle" and the "Just About Managing" a decade ago and things have only got worse. The proportion of people close to the UC line but eligible for nothing is now much larger. Those on benefits have, quite rightly, been protected a bit, but it's galling to then see more and more going to them when things are really tight to many, many people with no help at all. Those cheap tickets (and I know these are business decisions by companies, not the government) are being subsidised by more expensive tickets for everyone else, pushing more and more people out, like the pp mentioning an exhibition she and her dd can't afford to go to. A pp mentioned even giving out tickets to go bowling in the holidays...guess what we haven't done for the last 8 years due to £££! We've had to prioritise other things.

We seem to always be using the crude marker of UC eligibilty for everything, and everyone else gets nothing.

The support over oil prices is a great example - yes, UC claimants etc should not have to go without heating. They should get support. But we are all struggling, all in need of support to cope with excessive price rises, especially in rural areas where driving and oil heating are the only options. And profiteering is absolutely happening!!! Not only will we get zero help, we will be paying more to support others, even when skint ourselves. I read about an alternative way support is being rolled out in other countries, which seemed much fairer. Or HMRC could easily produce a list of households with income over eg £x thousand, which could be used to target support more fairly. Or companies could give the government a list of customers on oil and the government could chuck them a certain amount to deduct from those bills, with whatever limits.

Noone really minds the tickets, it's that all help only seems to go in one direction when we're all struggling, and that help is funded by us despite our own struggles. It's the perceived unfairness.Add it all together and it's no wonder there's a lot of resentment over £1 tickets etc.

I don't know what the answer is other than to somehow sort out the economy, get employers paying sensible wages and to get companies earning ££££££££ of profit to absorb some of the additional costs and be willing to only earn £££££ of profit for a while!

👏

C152 · 09/04/2026 21:12

Nimonion · 09/04/2026 20:41

But where does it end? All the things people ‘don’t begrudge’ them add up - all the freebies - and it disincentivises work. People forget how to be self reliant, they forget that being self reliant is a good thing and dependency on the state becomes ingrained. We’ve got to show there are benefits to working.

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The OP specifically posted that she is "aggrieved" by UC claimants being eligible for 'heavily discounted entry to popular attractions'. As these aren't government funded organisations, how exactly is the cost "adding up"? This has turned into a benefits bashing thread (which I suspect is what the disingenuously ignorant OP hoped) rather than a 'I object to private companies managing footfall, marketing and strategic aims as they see fit" thread.

As has been pointed out previously, many organisations factor a certain amount of goodwill/discount entry to their attractions because they meet their organisation aims/so they're eligible for grants or, shocker, they actually want to give something back.

What the OP also seems to have failed to realise, is that many of these private attractions offer discounts to anyone who cares to look for them.

2 for 1 entry on many attractions when travelling by rail
discounts for residents
discounts through Time Out
discounts for Blue Light card holders
discounts for those paying with Tesco clubcard vouchers
discounts for simply booking online in advance rather than paying on the day at the gate
discounts for using a specific mobile phone provider
discounts for people under 25
discounted annual tickets once you've visited once (and the cost of that visit is deducted from the annual fee)

Perhaps people like the OP would benefit from a little more research and a little less judgement of others?

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/cheap-days-out/

Coffeeandbooks88 · 09/04/2026 21:12

Kirbert2 · 09/04/2026 21:08

We went to Chester zoo over the Christmas holidays when they briefly did £1 UC tickets. I actually found out about it due to a thread like this and made sure to thank the OP. 😂

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🤣

We have done Marwell zoo twice using the UC tickets. Might do it again at some point!

SpryTaupeTurtle · 09/04/2026 21:12

It's absolutely not false. This thread is just London centric anyway. Trying to think of the discounts I could access when I was on UC. Cheap glasses. That was it. People on low incomes could access them too

Oh and everyone's rent is paid - crap. People get the lha rate for the area and plenty of people on UC pay rent

And social tariffs. Don't make me laugh. Like the worst slowest Internet

And if some people think folk on UC have no childcare costs. Wrong again. This was posted by someone from reform on Facebook . Urgh. Just urgh

Folk claiming UC are the bottom of the pile according to folk on here, that's clear

Sillycake · 09/04/2026 21:13

Nimonion · 09/04/2026 21:05

Encourages the rich to relocate to the UK or stay in the UK if currently here. Income tax from the average wages worker is peanuts. Income tax from the rich is vast in comparison.

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ok you got me there,

WearyAuldWumman · 09/04/2026 21:14

Just to add that it does very much depend on individual organisations.

I recall that when I was a student in Glasgow, The Citizens' Theatre sold discounted tickets for students and gave complimentary tickets to those who were "unwaged". That was in the late '70s, early '80s.

JustAnotherWhinger · 09/04/2026 21:14

I’m wondering where the next “UC scroungers get a discount” thread will be about.

we had Chester zoo a while back. Now London zoo.

Dudley next? Edinburgh? Banham? Marwell?

Wont be Twycross as they only did it for a limited period (they find their free returns for 12 months brings more in).

Crikeyalmighty · 09/04/2026 21:15

Lancrelady80 · 09/04/2026 21:00

I don't think anyone is actually cross with people taking advantage of the opportunities offered to them. It's more symptomatic of the massive problem the country and economy is in. We've somehow (Brexit, Covid, Ukraine, Iran, consecutive governments who have been either inept, corrupt or simply not fussed) got to a position where the cost of living for everyone has become so appalling that the number of people / families earning only slightly over UC eligibility has massively increased. Theresa (spelling?) May spoke about the "squeezed middle" and the "Just About Managing" a decade ago and things have only got worse. The proportion of people close to the UC line but eligible for nothing is now much larger. Those on benefits have, quite rightly, been protected a bit, but it's galling to then see more and more going to them when things are really tight to many, many people with no help at all. Those cheap tickets (and I know these are business decisions by companies, not the government) are being subsidised by more expensive tickets for everyone else, pushing more and more people out, like the pp mentioning an exhibition she and her dd can't afford to go to. A pp mentioned even giving out tickets to go bowling in the holidays...guess what we haven't done for the last 8 years due to £££! We've had to prioritise other things.

We seem to always be using the crude marker of UC eligibilty for everything, and everyone else gets nothing.

The support over oil prices is a great example - yes, UC claimants etc should not have to go without heating. They should get support. But we are all struggling, all in need of support to cope with excessive price rises, especially in rural areas where driving and oil heating are the only options. And profiteering is absolutely happening!!! Not only will we get zero help, we will be paying more to support others, even when skint ourselves. I read about an alternative way support is being rolled out in other countries, which seemed much fairer. Or HMRC could easily produce a list of households with income over eg £x thousand, which could be used to target support more fairly. Or companies could give the government a list of customers on oil and the government could chuck them a certain amount to deduct from those bills, with whatever limits.

Noone really minds the tickets, it's that all help only seems to go in one direction when we're all struggling, and that help is funded by us despite our own struggles. It's the perceived unfairness.Add it all together and it's no wonder there's a lot of resentment over £1 tickets etc.

I don't know what the answer is other than to somehow sort out the economy, get employers paying sensible wages and to get companies earning ££££££££ of profit to absorb some of the additional costs and be willing to only earn £££££ of profit for a while!

im very social minded but seriously I think it would be a great idea to give every household that doesn’t get any kinds of benefits and pay at least 50% council tax a book of £200 of vouchers every year (single ) £400 ( couple/family)exchangeable for huge discounts ( like 60%) leisure and hospitality purposes and most business to participate - ID needed, non saleable, given to woman of the house!!!! would boost hospitality and leisure and give people a lift !! A bit like a giant eat out to help out !! Except include cultural stuff too- Probably cheaper as well than many initiatives and there would genuinely be plenty who simply wouldn’t use them , so gvt didn’t have to redeem them -

Nimonion · 09/04/2026 21:15

Where does subsidising people who earn less end? Should they get a subsidy when they buy a house / eat out / take a holiday? I suppose what sits badly with me is that I was brought up to believe that if you wanted nice things you worked hard at school etc, got a high paying job and earned them. This doesn’t seem to be the case any more.

What do we tell our kids? Do we tell them that if you work hard and get a good job you’ll earn nice things, or do we tell them that if you work hard you’ll get to subsidise others to have nice things when you can’t afford them? It’s a really confusing message.

Kirbert2 · 09/04/2026 21:16

JustAnotherWhinger · 09/04/2026 21:14

I’m wondering where the next “UC scroungers get a discount” thread will be about.

we had Chester zoo a while back. Now London zoo.

Dudley next? Edinburgh? Banham? Marwell?

Wont be Twycross as they only did it for a limited period (they find their free returns for 12 months brings more in).

Chester only did it for a limited period too. Set days over the Christmas holidays.