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!

Is that an extra £800 per month? Or year? If it’s per month then I’m not surprised people get annoyed by it. Obviously not your fault at all as you have applied and are entitled but £800 per month on top of your wages each month is just 😮. If it’s per year then obviously much more reasonable.

£800 per month.

It seems like a significant amount of money to me; I'm curious to know her circumstances.

2, but both in receipt of DLA.

Breakdown

Single adult 25+
2 children both pre 2017
1 disabled child element
1 severely disabled child element
housing element
Carers element

Then £1005 4 weekly for DLA and £179 4 weekly got child benefit. Effectively it works out at about 5k a month.

My FTE salary is £33k, about to go up to 35k with a new job, but I can only work 0.5 because of said children currently. However, keeping myself employed is important.

I will say I don't need that much money, I do need the flexibility to only work 0.5

To get that flexibility I need to to have the DLA to turn off commitments to work full time with UC.

That's very insightful.

I appreciate your honesty!

So you dont have a dependent to clothe , feed and house. What's your point?

not vs the true value that companies should pay

I have posted this upthread and no one answered. Of the 8.4 million people who claim UC, less than 370 thousand, or around 4.4% work more than 30 hours per week. So, is this really a problem of people working flat out and not being paid enough? Happy to be wrong, but I’d like to actually know?

in many companies when you research what the role value should be vs what a company pays for that role, in many cases yes the employee is undervalued and not being paid what they should be paid

https://www.thehrworld.co.uk/pay-benefits/only-41-of-workers-think-theyre-paid-what-they-are-worth-survey-shows/

Ok. But how does that tally with the benefits being paid? Genuinely? Less than 40% of people in receipt of UC are in any kind of work. The average hours worked by claimants is 21. And only 4.4% work more than 30 hours.
I own a business. I don’t pay anyone minimum wage or living wage because I don’t think it’s enough. But many, many people post on here that the big problem is businesses not paying people enough. But, if people aren’t working full time, how will they ever earn enough?

And actually, how do you do that? The link you posted showed that people do not think they are paid enough. But how do you calculate their “value”? I do it by looking at the industry average per job and making sure I pay at least 15% more. But people thinking they deserve more has no reflection of the actual “value” in monetary terms to a business?

This person works for the NHS as a nurse as is on £31k whereas newly qualified nurses start on £32k. And if someone has been a nurse for nearly 2 decades you think they'd be on more

What was the point of this thread?

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/daviniamcgann_are-you-charging-enough-free-uk-freelance-activity-7429608400277155842-oZLj

That is about freelancers, not employees?

https://www.michaelpage.co.uk/salary-comparison-tool

https://www.morganmckinley.com/uk/salary-guide

That was a bad tool that has no nuance as to what the employer is, the hours, and how far in your career you are.

Right ok and like I said, I do that and act accordingly. But if only 4.4% of people claiming are working more than 30 hours, then salaries aren’t the problem? Hours worked are? Or am I missing it?

or a case of a worker knowing their worth and that they believe they should be paid more than nmw

true but its a good starting point

i got the wrong one there

I should think so!