AIBU to be surprised someone on £34,000 receives Universal Credit?

[Balicious]

I was listening to BBC Radio 5 Live at work yesterday morning. They were discussing the Conservatives’ proposal to stop people spending benefits on alcohol, cigarettes, etc.—but that isn’t what my question is about.
One caller said she earns £34,000 a year as a trainee social worker and receives an additional £500 a month in Universal Credit. She didn’t mention having children, paying rent or having a disability—she simply said she struggles to live on £34,000 and needs Universal Credit to top up her wages.
What is going on? That’s more than I earn! Could I apply for a top-up too? Has anyone else heard of someone working full-time and earning well above minimum wage having their salary topped up by Universal Credit? I just couldn't get over what I was hearing!

But wages haven't risen at anywhere near the same rate as housing costs. The proportions/percentages are way out of proportion compared with the 70s and 80s.

She didn’t mention having children, paying rent or having a disability—she simply said she struggles to live on £34,000 and needs Universal Credit to top up her wages.

Nonsense, as someone else listening pointed out the OP was missing this vital information.

I earn that’ amount with 1 child and was told I don’t qualify??

By whom?

Take ownership of your situation and input in to a benefits calculator

By UC

Yeah they grew then and now they stagnate

Average London FT wage

80s - 7-8k
Now - 40k

@Boomer55 the name is apt I guess…

And yet it’s the only you mentioned!

Two in two days.

You applied for UC
and DWP responded that you were entitled to zero as a single mother on £34k with a dependent?

Yeah I’m not an idiot . If I had qualified I would be getting it

Mass immigration has driven property prices up and wages down.

They take all your circumstances into account, like savings, rent and service charges. Every case will be slightly different.

Well then the devil is in the detail.

You have savings. Because you would be entitled to UC.

No savings under the threshold. Why don’t you call them on my behalf as you seem adamant I’m wrong

In 1975, the average house price was 4 times the median salary. Today it is 6.9 times.

Also in 1975, the average deposit was 13% of two people's annual salary, where today it's 78%.

It's not a lot though is it. I work part time and earn £30,000, take home is £1900 a month. Renting a 3 bed house here is £1300 a month, council tax £250, gas and electric £300. That's would be all my pay gone. That's without internet, phone, TV, food, fuel, any days out! I have two degrees and work, if I was a single parent I couldn't afford to house my 2 children in a standard 3 bed house.

@FriendlyMedusa facts fall on deaf ears

🤷‍♀️ they’ll be a reason. They won’t be saying no just to spite you

I've just left the WB advice sector, this being one of the reasons. So many just don't understand the system and they certainly don't see the cases of desperation especially for LT sick and disabled. I've moved into a different area of charitable work, even though I loved my prevuous job in many ways.

Do you have a mortgage or do you rent?

Yep.

The biggest lesson I learned in 25 years of doing welfare rights work is that people chat a load of shit about benefits, and other people often believe them.

Not me! I don’t believe them. I always think… well there is clearly more to this!

I did, as an addition to a list already provided by a PP. I didn't set out to provide a full analysis, this being a chat forum and not an economics seminar, but here are some others, in no particular order and with some muddling of genus and species: 1. inflation 2. demand for housing outstripping supply 3. public housing sold off to private individuals 4. low levels of home-building 5. home-building targets not met by successive governments 6. home-building targets set too low to meet demand 7. population increase 8. increase in single-person households 9. sustained periods of low interest rates so borrowing cheap 10. increasingly restrictive planning regulations 11. changes in building regulations discouraging home-building 12. financial deregulation 13. incursion into the property market of foreign HNW individuals driving up prices at the top end of the market.

Typo

i mean it worked out better for me to temporarily cut my hours for a little while so I could take care of picking my child up and dropping her off and then now she’s in reception. Dropping my hours meant I wasn’t claiming the 85% back anymore. Child
is now in school and can attend breakfast club and after school and have requested to increase my hours at the current place so it all works out. I might add. Once all bills rent council tax I’m left with about £300 UC which covers car insurance and petrol so it doesn’t go very far lol