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!

It's about the children, not the parents. Are you honestly saying that a woman (or man) leaving an abusive partner should "factor in the costs" before leaving them?

So someone on £31k a year gets topped up to £45k. Thats admitting that £45k is the bare minimum needed to get by as a family. And yet that’s what most teachers/nurses/midwives earn after 20 years in the job. How is that fair?

If you keep saving it though it'll soon add up and your savings will go over the threshold

So you need to spend it

Yeah, it is madness someone working full time gets more in UC top ups than someone who is unable to work at all.
But UC is meant to mean work pays, and this seems to be the case.

Sorry for your loss X

Oh don’t worry. RR has made the economic conditions so unfavourable for private landlords that they are selling up. Which, in theory, is great. But, she hasn’t provided enough social housing for these displaced private renters to move to. So now, far more families are in totally unsuitable temporary accommodation. Which the government pays a fortune for, so costs the tax payer far more and families utterly fail to thrive in. Could you manage 3 children in a bedsit with no cooking or washing facilities? I couldn’t.

Not always the case at all !

Ex and I split and we had rhe kids 50/50 (therefore no maintenance paid to / by either of us )
My income was topped up a small amount by UC

Who said anywhere that either partner was “abusive”?

You could if you got paid properly for your time and labour.

With an extra ten grand tax free in her pocket, if she was just about surviving before, then she could go to the Maldives no problem and still have £5k to improve her lifestyle.

No, I couldn’t. And when did we start expecting to be paid a full wage for part time work??

So you only actually had them 50% of the time anyway so significantly less costs anyway in terms of food/ heating etc. Appreciate you still had to provide housing for the full week though.

And on the subject of the north, it is worth bearing in mind that jobs paying £30,000k p/a are not the norm; in fact, jobs are not the norm full stop. We have a massive problem with a lack of opportunity and poor or failing infrastructure.

Erm, are you sure about that @Frequency ?

It seems that the more you earn, (within reason obviously) the more UC you get, whereas I thought it was designed for people with a very limited income. I get that it encourages people to earn more and then sort of tapers off but it’s quite an unfair system. Also means most people can’t afford to do those very part time / zero hour contract roles, which would be beneficial to disabled people for example, looking to return to work but are too ill for full time work.

I lived and worked in “the north” for more than 40 years. Most of my friends and family still do. I attended a standard comp, with blue collar parents. All my friends and family did. She is wrong.

And totally agree that the system is completely backwards in terms of the limited capability for work element being halved (!) with virtually no push back from anyone, yet some folks do seem to do quite well out of UC.

Why would you need to if the benefits just sort you out anyway?

So you have Blue Light discounts, as well as NHS pension top-ups, as well as Council Tax discounts too?

Yes this halving will affect any new claimants who have conditions which may improve. This includes people having cancer treatments, severely mentally ill etc. People struggling to afford travel to hospital appointments and decent food and heating when ill. Yet someone else is getting £800 extra whilst earning a decent wage and an ex who could contribute .Nothing makes sense.

Because some people believe that cutting the money of unwell/disabled people cures them and they jump straight into a job.

A teacher doesn't earn £45k after 20 years. My son is in his fifth year and earns £54.5k.

That’s my salary and my monthly bills take every penny. I don’t have a pound left for emergencies, MOT, if any bill goes up, a holiday is simply unimaginable and that’s sad. My kids are teens and I will never be able to take them on holiday ever again.

The cost of living is horrific compared to a few years ago.

But the title of the thread is that it’s generous, that sounds like you think it’s too much. What you are saying in the the thread and the title are contradictory to each other

Then stop voting in Labour who aren’t working and aren’t getting the country to work!

The fact is - you don't know.