To think my universal credit feels generous.

[MoonBaby1]

I got to my early 40s without ever needing to claim but circumstances find me single and paying the lions share of child related outgoings.

I work full time on£31,000 and have found out this year thanks to applying that I get on average about £800 from UC. It has been an absolute life changer and will hopefully be able to afford a modest uk holiday actually during the summer holidays and pay the school back some debt im in for after school care.

So many benefits bashing threads so I just wanted to present another side that as a cash strapped mum of two who works full time, UC is making a positive difference to our life. I didn't even think id qualify!

@Pickledonion1999its because this government (and previous but this one in particular which has quite surprised me I have to say..) has a great dislike of disabled people, why that is I don’t know. The Tories were more compassionate, they said themselves they wouldn’t touch welfare cuts for disabled people. Sadly I fell for all the lies and voted Labour, never again.

Depends entirely on your outgoings.

Hmm. I suspect OP’s diamond shoes are too tight as well.

I don't know, never having claimed one.

Does it? Massive areas of the country mean full time work or starve!
But, if you choose to work part time, for no other reason than, you want to work part time, then you don’t get a full days pay. It’s not rocket science.

She said she was going to spend it on a holiday. You said you were happy to help. I have nothing against the OP but I think it is a depressing state of affairs and not something to be happy about.

In-work benefits propped up the housing market and now we are left with high rent/house prices and state dependency. I'm sure OP would be love to be able to spend her own money without judgement from others instead of getting handouts.

This.

Someone I know purposely resigned from work at the end of the last tax year, purposely spending savings over the £16k UC threshold.

She now receives enough money to eat out every weekend and has booked another 2 overseas trips for her family of 5.

I’m not going into the finer details for obvious reasons.

In work benefits didn't cause the high cost of renting. Thatcher selling off social housing did.

why does everyone assume Amazon pays minimum wage? I’m on nearly £14.60 on the NE and there will be a pay rise in September

Probably because it's nonsense.

I get about 30k including a small uc top up and currently sat in the airport with my teen waiting to fly away for two weeks in the sun...Things are tight but my bills are paid and I run a car so I'm struggling to understand how you cant manage a cheap holiday if your salary is 45 k a year ? ..The cost of living has risen for all of us but we all make different decisions on how we spend our money but 45k pa is a decent income.

I think that a modest uk holiday is the bare minimum people working full time should be able to have. I’m just cross that the money has to be made up by UC and salaries are inadequate.

This I hate it when people bang on about any sort of family holidays being an unnecessary luxury, like what’s the bloody point of life then?

I had to claim UC for a couple of months when ex stopped paying maintenance pending divorce. Obviously my carers allowance was deducted pound for pound and I received basic adult amount as ds2 was at uni (but living at home) so my monthly income was the princely sum of around £650 per month (including Ca) as I was not in rented accommodation. Didn’t even cover monthly bills.

Yes it is but I was left with a lot of debt from my divorce, and had to buy a car unexpectedly. If I didn’t have debt I would be ok. As it is, I’m fucked.

I don’t spend money on anything except bills, food, and petrol. Most months I don’t so much as go out for a drink. 🤷‍♀️

Enjoy your holiday 😊

Did you miss the part where I said I support working people getting the help?
To answer your question, no I didn’t miss that part hence why I referenced it. It was more to highlight the fact you didn’t want a benefits bashing thread but then go on to mention things people will say benefits are not for… which then starts another benefits bashing thread

You say you’re trying to spread positivity but loads of people will never feel positively towards having to pay for other people to have holidays and get them out of debt when they can’t afford those things themselves.

I suspect this was a thread started just to wind people up.

Well it depends on your mortgage/rent costs and if you have childcare costs. Or high commute costs/costs to park at work etc

I'm not talking about subsidised housing. I'm talking about having a housing market that works for people on normal wages like quite a lot of countries have. MPs (across all parties) are 3 times more likely to own more than one residential property compared to the general public. That is probably one of the reasons they aren't that eager to do much about it. One Labour MP rents out 15 residential properties.

A full time minimum wage job is about £26,500, 31k isn't much above this so yes it's fairly low.

I wish.

She openly gloats to all who will listen. I move away now when the subject starts up.

Her live-in partner works.

I always think if you can claim it, do it. That’s what it’s there for and as you say it has helped you out

Different scenario here, my partner works and earns a similar amount to you, I’m a SAHP/carer to a teen and pre teen - both have SEN and get DLA. We get around £700 UC each month and very grateful as it helps us out massively.

Outrageous!

Ofcourse it does but the poster i was referring to had teens so no childcare,if people rent then they get help towards that but I still manage fine with a mortgage and paying to park at work ...pleading poverty and saying you could never afford to take your kids on holiday whilst earning 45k appears to be more a case of choosing to spend it on different things rather than it being a case of 'just scraping by'.

She is entitled to it, what do you expect her to do say no thanks I don't deserve it?