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.

Yeah theyve a cheek charging at all really

We know this but some people on UC particularly single people struggle. It's not a race to the bottom

Thank you.

'As of late 2025/early 2026, approximately 32% to 37% of Universal Credit (UC) claimants in Great Britain are in employment.'

So my original point still stands.

For what it's worth. I'm actually not against concession rates for some people. I just think it should be accessible to anyone on a low income, whether they receive UC or not. It's a joke that you can work hard for the same money as some people receive for no work (whether they can work or not) and STILL not be eligible for the same support, even with comparable incomes. This blanket 'available to UC claimants* massively disadvantages families whose children are affected by both low incomes AND time-poor full time working parents .

Its 20%.

A 20% discount off anything is significant, yes.

What would you rather the offer was?

Who was saying anything about single people. ?

If you think someone's standard of living wouldn't be worse on UC I suggest you go and live on 400 pounds a month as a single person and then get back to me

I was

I have nothing to say to you. I don't talk to people who dislike poor people

I never mentioned single people.

Indeed

Don’t forget that £400 has to pay for everything other than rent, so, electric/gas, water, council tax, internet, food etc.

Well I was replying to this

flagpolesitta · Today 23:00
Me and my DH both work and money is very tight each month but I’m not naive enough to believe we’d suddenly be better off claiming UC, or that benefits claimants are to blame for us finding the cost of living difficult in the current climate. Lots of posters say things like ‘we have no money at the end of month’ when it’s often because they are lucky enough to own a nice home and mortgage payments are high, have a car payment etc, The reality is they still have a standard of living that UC wouldn’t provide.

So not the slightest hint of anything to do with single people is it

I dont hate poor people at all.

I hate entitlement

Enjoy your vacuum chamber

If their wages are that low they will be entitled to uc

I did

Yes because someone living on 400 pounds a month is entitled

It isn't entitlement to simply get discounted tickets that a zoo or wherever has made available to you because you receive UC.

Exactly. Some people don't get it. I have had people tell me that that 400 pounds was "spending money"

Really doesn't work like that. As I pointed out before they could be very margi ally above the threshold for their situation. If they earned£10 less they could qualify example. .

Doesn't make them any better off

Except that you have cherry picked.

What I said was (paraphrased) "people in work or people unable to work due to illness, disability or caring issues" in response the "majority" comment about people not working when they could but are choosing not to.

Of those people is it circa 75% when added together, which leaves 25% who are not working and not excused from jobseeking.

Now I am all over the BLC 😂 Bring on my discounts peeps!

I don't even get these. I live in the West of Scotland and and there are no discounts available to me in my area because I'm on Uc. I get more discounts as a student. Apparently me getting a fiver off my gym membership when I'm on a low income makes me entitled

That's the very last thing I am.

Well you can get that as a consultant surgeon earning 200k a year lol

But it's about more than just money. There's social stigma. There's more likely to be complex needs within the family. More likely to be trauma within the family. More likely to struggle at school or engage with criminality.

These are issues that aren't just about money, they are often generational challenges that are hard to break. So they need additional support to counteract that. Which is why it's not about being equal it's about being equitable. Many kids growing up in uc claiming homes will also be unofficially acting as young carers for example.

Again there will be some homes where parents both work hard receive top up due to low wages and push kids hard to do well but I know for me, as a lone parent working full time with a kid preparing to go to school I already worry about homework and when that will get done because I'm not home until 6pm. I don't have the same amount of time as my parents did where one could sit and do a homework while the other sorted dinner etc or one went to work early to get away early to do these things while the other did school run. These small things all make a difference to overall outcomes for kids.

This is MN. It’s Schroedinger’s Poverty. Having to exist on £400 a month benefits is considered living the high life, but having £400 a month “fun money” for coffees, meals out, gym, hair, after all the bills are paid, food shopping is done, children’s expensive hobbies are paid for etc is “not very much at all”.

I actually get warm home discount now - but I didn't for decades until in Scotland they opened up the broader group and I had to have mental health heath issues to qualify. I should thank the two breakdowns I have had in the last 6 years

Being poor does not make someone entitled. I can't be bothered.