£25,000 benefits cap

[Xenia]

Average family has £26,000 to live on including housing. So from 2013 the most benefits available for one family will be £26,000 including housing benefit. Sounds like a sensible plan. Well done George Osborne. How did we ever get to a contrary position in the first place?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11463435

Won't let us into the us either I know I looked had chance of a job out there ft including accomindation anddecent salary

but ds3 was considered that he be a drain on there already tight budgets

Even with my hb which yes is high my income does not come near anything like 44k a year

I know, it's a bit of a joke when you are working and trying to live on less than 16k a year, when others are moaning about struggling on 44k!!

As for the 26k thing, well, I think it depends. Are they talking about 26k per family, regardless of size, location etc?? Would that just encourage people to send their kids into care when they are older to accomodate younger siblings?

I mean, in other countries where there is little or no state help, that is what ends up happening. Children are left in orphanages when their parents can no longer afford them, or worse, sold off into slavery. I'm not saying it would get that bad here, but I do think that it will be the children that suffer in the end.

Yep that's it no matter where you live ,now if could get council housing here that bring my costs down a lot to just over £400 a month instead of £1200 but LA admit they have nothing available suitable for ds3 not even if they were to look at making adjustments in a property

Im roping my rent up already and will need to do so more when the cap comes in

Don't think excess children is all about money either. Let's face it, we are approaching 7 billion population....

'Accidents happen and there needs to be a basic level of welfare to support families. I struggled but I managed to get through university while working full time on an income of around GBP10,500 per year'

Thing is, me too; at elast, I did uni whiolst caring for 3 kids, 2 with ASD, and being pregnant- in my finals I ahd a five week old and got an A.

I worked for some of the time too (not as long hours, though DH did, but I think the ASD kids balance that).

nd yes, I agree that rents should be regulated; but relaity is, so few landlords will tkae HB often due to the payment system itself being shite that there is so little choice.

I am just glad we're not in the system in that way; we woudn't receive far more, it's abour self respect and not feeling constantly judged.

Hi, just joined and am surprised at the vehemence from some members!
26K per year is not a lot, however, I believe that this is the net income.
We used our initiative a few years ago when nobody would give my hubby a job. He set up a business, and put our house as collateral!
Still fighting to keep.

Buisness failed, econimic crisis.
6 people struggling to live on 7K ctc and 240 a month of unemployment benefit, that's just 3120 per year. so 11120 per year. CT benefit- we still had to pay at a reduced rate. We did get school dinners and prescriptions, but no discount for dental or prescription glasses.

Add on the CB of 3120 per year... a grand total of 14240 per year. That's 1186 pcm. Which is actually more than I now take home working three days a week!

Thing is, we also had to pay a mortgage of 800 pcm, no credit cards, no overdrafts.
We managed, food was cheaper and some economy brands are better than others.

Its important not to judge others, if our benefits totalled 26K a year then I doubt my dh would have spent the last few years working 50 - 70 hours a week driving lorries at night for 20K a year.
Unless you have lived it, it is impossible for others to make judgements and I think we should all be understanding. If you have been made redundant the last thing you want is to be out of work and increasing benefits will only make it harder to get a better paid job.... to net 26 K you need to earn approx 35K a year.

'how can it help the country to have high unemployment , and not help people who are unemployed?

capitalist model.

If there are a hundred people who want your job on minimum pay, tehy can offer you lowest possible wage and treat you as bad as you like ebcuase you have no options.

It's the opposite of the Proletariat taking back the emans of production, if you like.

I looked at a job yesterday, at a Spar: 650 people had gone for it. That's a lot of people!

I actually don;t oppose it being set at minimum wage level the way it has been, but I think that it should be done as a wider scheme- LA housing etc, and with a leeway for the most costlya reas where people already are established. What's teh good of mobving people out of areas wholesale? What happens when you break up societies- the state ebars the cost of care (both elderly and childcare); a huge cost, state care costs around £2k a week (a very blanket average taken from an essay of ASD I did last year and covering the care plan element).

Isolated people develop greater MH issues, struggle more during family break ups. Things in turn likely to make them less employable, no?

people with an SN are more liekly to be in LA houisng becuase theya r emore likely to be poor: chidlren settled in SNU or MS schools with provision and who will probably end up being satte funded for transport abck to that school.

How much would be saved in reality I wonder?

4boys- whyw ouldn;'t he?

Our DH's were in a similar field: pree-redundancy DH was a night transport manager.

He hated it, the GP told him to stop working nights (Dh ahs a poor health history)- he still did it because he didn;t want to be unemployed.

Why isn;t that enough? To want to support your family?

if you hadn;t had your house and been in rented you would ahve recieved a lot more- and ultiamtely whilst it must have been ahrd to manage the house is an asset. I agree with paying interesta s they do now, but not sure i think the state should pay for mortgages when people get the benefit long term themselves.

Yep if I was to move would need try find another landlord willing to take hb and single parent with 4 dv one with Sn you can almost see the no barriers s going up

let alone having to find the months rent up front plus 6 weeks deposit also chances finding anywhere suitable for ds3

Then he will need transpry back to his unit and no way willi move him was long fight to get him into there .Then there's the strain and upset for mg other dc of moving schools again especially now ds2 starting Gcses

.Add in right now I get no support from ss as my mums near by to help when juggling appoinments and kids take that away I'm going to need help with ds3 and that will cost let along the cost to my MH

All the able bodied? Or are carers automatically giving something in return?

Youn know the funny thing about all this you must give back alrk? Aprt fro the likely reduction in job availability (heck, I am old, I remember YTS) is that I ahve beena ctively looking for flexible voluntary work adn cannot even find that.

Ho hum!

Am not opposed to the idea btw just cant see how it would work

RTB4 - if your child has SN this cap won't affect you.

No one has an issue supporting people who need help. The problem is that some people, such as myself, don't consider a school girl who gets pregnant as requiring as much help as the true needy. The child does but she doesn't necessarily qualify (unless there is abuse etc). If there is a member of the household who is disabled then there shouldn't be a cap on the benefits paid.

so how are you going to distinguish etween the "school gates girl who gets pregnant" and the woman in her 30's who has escaped an abusive relationship?

The VAST majority of money that comes in benefits for a single woman (or even a couple) with children is linked to the children.

CTC - £143 a week for 3 children
IS/JSA - £65 for the adult
Housing benefit - the LHA rates are worked out on how many rooms you qualify for - a couple/single person is only going to have a small LHA rate as they will only need a 1 bedroom house/flat. The bigger amount comes into play because the children need a room to sleep in. (well 2 children need 1 room according to the calculator - so someone with 3 children qualifies for the 3 bedroom house rate).

If I were a single adult on benefits now with no dependants I would qualify for around £120 a week in benefits - that's council tax benefit, housing benefit and IS/JSA for bills. So around £520 a month with the housing costs in this area.

The extra money only comes into play when there are children involved.

I'm curious. As a few posters have pointed out, the largest benefits paid out are for HB. SO if they are going to create a cap on benefits, where are they going to cut it from?

Because if it is housing benefit, the amount given is already tied (loosely) to the market rate for rent in the local area (IME, it is usually way under), so cutting it would mean people not being able to afford housing? Surely? Is this a good thing?

I think the limit should be 17.5k plus housing and council tax benefit on top. Not sure what that would work out to altogether.

nappy addict - that would work out to a LOT more than the majority of people get now. I think you'd have to have quite a lot of children to get 17.5k in benefits excluding housing and council tax benefit

presuming that you're talking about people out of work?

For people in full time low income work with children WTC and CTC can easily be more than that.

Kaloki - in the main they won't have to cut anything as most people won't be getting as mush as the cap anyway.

so they Coalition - which benefits are they taking into account?

You want to know how people on benefits can get that amount...I'll explain how much DP and I would get if he were to give up work...
£5,720 JSA. £10,800 HB. £7,488 CTC. £2,405 CB. £1,080 Free school meals. That's for 3 dc. That adds up to £27,493 pa. He works though. Doesn't seem quite right that a couple in our area can sit at home scratching their arses for £27.5K now does it?

The £10,800 HB is for a 3-bed property.

OH I forgot the council tax benefit, which for a couple in a 3-bed would work out at £1,700 pa as well, so up that total to almost £28K.