not enough money to live on

[Marney]

On the news today a man spending i think they said a quarter of his income on gas electric water rates tv licence whats the fuss i and a lot of other people have to lose a bigger percentage of our income than that every week.The amount a single person is believed to need per week is only 67 pounds per week .My daughter started at university september i work more than 16 hours a week earn more than 100 pounds but my rent is 80 pounds so unless i can guarantee 30 hours a week im not entitled to working tax credit you have to have 30 hours to get working tax credit .So im allowed 67 pounds and 50 pence per week and the rest has to go on my rent

You get working tax credits for working over 16 hours.

Its horrid isnt it I had to leave work because I couldn't afford my rent, it was a choice between losing my house or losing my job.

only if you have dc under a certain age i think fabby not sure if you would be eligable with a dc in uni.

have you tried a benefits checker?

Not that this helps but £80 a week is cheap. What region are you in?

Can you not work more than 16 hours a week?

I get working tax credits, I have a son in Uni, it is based on my income I don't have any children at home.

Working tax credits only apply AFAIK if you are responsible for children and you work 16 hours or more a week,
If you are not responsible for children, but you are 25 or over and you do paid work of at least 30 hours a week,
If you have a disability and are over 16 years old and work 16 or more hours a week,
If you are 50 or over and are coming off of benefits to go back to work, and are doing paid work of at least 16 hours a week (this only applies if you are coming off of income support or JSA)
If you are 60 or over and work at least 16 hours a week.

To claim working tax credit, you also need to expect your job to continue for at least 4 weeks.

OP, can you increase your hours to 30, or is that not possible?

Fabby Are you classed as disabled? Or do you work at least 30 hours a week?

I work 40 hours a week and do get DLA.

I also take home over £250 a week.

So im watching what small amount t have in the bank dwindle and eventually ill be broke i could apparently go on job seekers which is the same amount for 6 months and then do over 16 hours a week and be entitle to working tax credit again but i cant guarantee id have work to go back to and why do you have to go out of a job first .The most i can ever hope to earn is the minimum wage and 80 pound will be coming out of that to begin with I am trying to manage without heating as much as poss but my daughter still needs washing doing when she comes for a weekend wants food when she comes expects a small amount of help from me shes never had a lot never having had anything from her dad anyway the point is 67 pounds 50 is not enough for a single adult living on their own Water rates are 400 per year

That explains why you get WTC then...you meet the requirements by working over 30 hrs a week and you are disabled.
OP is in a different situation.

My son goes to Uni he manages just fine on his student loan and grant, it's plenty. He lives on more than I do £190 a week less rent which is £85.00.

Why can;t your daughter feed herself when she comes home, my son will be paying for his own food when he comes home at Christmas.

I presume her father has paid CS throughout her life, if I'm right in thinking you're a "single adult"? Can't you change jobs to get more hours?

Do you pay full rent OP?
Can you apply for housing benefit/council tax benefit?

I do agree that £67.50 a week is not enough to live on btw. I think pensioners get a raw deal, but they are on double that aren't they?

I don't know how anyone lives on £67.50 a week, I really don't.

I'd like to know how it can be done though.

I ve checked it all out and to get working tax credit i have to be working 30 hours none for 16 to 29

Can you increase your hrs OP?

Times are tough for a lot of people.
However, I do think the way 'the op comes across, typifies one of the big problems these days. People seem to approach their work life these days from an 'entitlement' viewpoint - 'how do I play the system to get maximum advantage for minimum input'. To many of us whose working lives started well before tax credits existed, and who have always paid our rent/mortgage/ council tax/ bills in full with no subsidies, it seems quite alien.

As far as I'm concerned, you work the number of hours necessary to live on. 16 hours is only a couple of days a week; even 30 hours is not full time, it equates to 6 hour a day- far less than many people work.

I don't know your personal circumstances op, but I do find this attitude as a general thing quite strange. Yes, the cost of living is very high, times are tough for many of us, but it seems odd to approach this from an attitude of 'how can I work the minimum and receive the maximum .'

N o it was never anything from her dad we were married then divorced it was accepted that a man diagnosed personality disorder was not goingto pay and that threatening to kill if he was expected to pay anything was to big of a risk to take he never saw her after we left our home

Jobs above 16 hours are like hens teeth around here, mainly I think because the employers know the government will pick up the tab......which they do if you have young kids.

It's utter madness, we had a new business open recently, they offered 7 new positions, 6 of those were 16 hours, the only full time position was for the managing role ! And another place I know of chops bits of their staffs hours off whenever the government puts the minimum wage up

Ii dont just work 16 hours a week i work nearer to 30 i just dont earn much per hour people dont all have the same abilities and id love to be able to earn enough per hour not to need to claim 80 pounds for rent But just think if i could earn 10pounds an hour i would be rich working 30 i could pay my rent gas water rates and 40 hours at 10 pouns wow i should be so lucky Istill want to help my daughter out but no i cant her books have cost 140 so far shes paid that yes im feeding her when she visits and not much more

Why aren't you entitled to housing benefit? Or is the £80 a week the amount you pay on top?

OP, Can you increase your hours to 30 + a week?

She actually doesnt need books, they have libraries at university which are open 24 hours a day. Sorry but you need to be considering yourself, children really do get anough to live on at Uni if in receipt of the full wack, like I said my son gets £190 a week far more than I get to live on after his rent he is left with £105, no bills, just food.