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Original poster

Universal Credit problems for mums. Please sign my petitition

57 replies

cathy9898 · 11/01/2019 21:21

Hi everybody, Just wondered if you can take the time to sign my petition to scrap Universal credit. Please share with as many as you can on social media. Thanks in advance.
Cathy

OP posts:
OP posts:
Ta1kinPeace · 11/01/2019 21:45

UC is better than the old system
its the implementation that is crap

OnNaturesCourse · 11/01/2019 21:48

I'm on this and it's great.

One payment. One payment date. Much easier for bills etc BUT the process of claiming etc is shocking! The rates are shocking, and the fact you have to pay childcare upfront is ridiculous - and is keeping a lot of people out of work, or getting them into further debt.

Babyroobs · 11/01/2019 21:50

Totally agree with Talkinpeace - UC is a good idea in theory but poorly implemented. People forget how rubbish tax credits can be with huge overpayments because it is calculated over the year. They are identifying the problems with Uc and trying to deal with them. I know it is causing difficulties in the meantime. A lot of the problems are that dwp staff don't seem to be very well trained and are giving wrong advice. Millions of pounds have been spent on UC, new staff trained etc. they are not going to scrap it now. Hopefully changes will be made swiftly where needed.

Babyroobs · 11/01/2019 21:51

And yes lots of people are better off on it and lots claim it without any problems but funnily enough you don't get to hear about them.

Babyroobs · 11/01/2019 21:52

The childcare issue is a huge problem,, having to pay money upfront and numerous problems reclaiming it. This does need to be urgently looked at as it isn't making work pay for an awful lot of people !

Ta1kinPeace · 11/01/2019 22:07

Once UC moves to
6 month rolling average income
2 week payment delay
Housing benefit paid to landlords with tenants getting notice
it will work well for many people

the idea is effectively a UBI
the impementation is shit Tory austerity

OnNaturesCourse · 11/01/2019 22:11

Are those changes happening, or suggestions? Not sure how I'd feel about the 6 month average..

PlumpSyrianHamster · 11/01/2019 22:13

The minimum 5 week wait is also a huge problem.

Ta1kinPeace · 11/01/2019 22:16

natures
they are ideas ... but they will come
Syrian
yup, the 5 week wait is dumb

Original poster
cathy9898 · 11/01/2019 22:18

I understand what you are saying about the implementation of it. It's very frightening to think of having no money for weeks and having children to feed. Forcing parents to find jobs and pay for childcare upfront. People are falling behind on rent payments. It does appear that there are a lot of problems, more than with the old system.

OP posts:
Babyroobs · 11/01/2019 22:23

Forcing parents to find jobs ? from what I've seen of UC it's a very low monthly amount that they ask you to earn and then they tend to leave you alone. pretty much no different to tax credits ! The sanctions on UC are awful though and this needs addressing.

TheBigBangRocks · 13/01/2019 18:10

Forcing parents to find jobs - they shouldn't need to be forced. They should be automatically doing it to provide for their child. If they won't then of course there should be systems in place to ensure they do.

The childcare paying upfront likely saves a lot. I'd imagine it's stopped all of those who under tax credits used extra childcare even though they didn't need those hours for working just because the costs were covered by someone else. When they have to pay themselves it's likely to be different.

Original poster
cathy9898 · 13/01/2019 21:27

It's not the forcing of jobs, but forcing too many hours on parents with young children. The tax payer funds the childcare whilst the parent works, so ultimately the tax payer pays whether a single parent works or is on benefit. Some single parents do not earn enough to provide for their child/children no matter how much they work. Some still need assistance. Obviously two people's wage covers a lot more. My point is by forcing parents into working a lot of hours, there is no chance or opportunity for them to study and better themselves, enabling them to get a better paid job. They become trapped in low paid work. Single parents used to work 16 hours a week, and now they are being forced to do 25 hrs and some 35 hrs. If parents got the opportunity to study, then they could get better jobs and rely less on the taxpayer.

OP posts:
PlumpSyrianHamster · 13/01/2019 21:34

My point is by forcing parents into working a lot of hours, there is no chance or opportunity for them to study and better themselves, enabling them to get a better paid job. They become trapped in low paid work.

But that's true of anyone who is in a low-income job. Why should lone parents be more special and more entitled to benefits help so they can 'get better jobs' and 'retrain' than anyone else? It's simply not possible for everyone to be a high-earner, but the problem with the 16-hours thing in the past so that they could all 'better themselves' on the taxpayer is that it's patently unfair for those adults who are also working all the hours they can in low-paid jobs but refrained from having children because they couldn't afford it. They got no assistance to 'retrain' so the 16-hour rule in a way rewarded people who weren't as responsible. And though I don't agree with UC, I can see why it got support.

TheBigBangRocks · 13/01/2019 21:39

The time for studying is pre children though surely. That way the person is equipped from the start to support the child they chose to have.

25 or even 35 hours is still less than full time, much less a career job. It's not a huge amount of time given children are in school for at least 30 hours and manage.

Workers who don't claim manage to study on top of their job, it's why so many units and colleges offer home study now. Plus I'd imagine the number that want to study is very low so you can't expect the state to acceot a token number of hours work just in case.

MoreNougatThanCougar · 13/01/2019 21:39

The way it fails to accommodate fluctuations in income is awful. Self employed people don't always have regular income and don't always get paid when they actually do the work! For example I have a spike in sales in the run up to Christmas, so I put aside some money to see me through the summer holidays when I cant work at all (child with SN so no suitable childcare to be found). UC will penalise me for this twice - in December because I earn 'extra' so will get a lower award, and again in August because I won't earn enough to qualify!

WrongKindOfFace · 13/01/2019 21:46

I don’t know why people think paying for childcare upfront is something new, it was the same on tax credits - you paid your childcare and (if entitled) you got some back in tax credits. It’s never been paid in advance.

Let’s be realistic, they’re not going to revert to the old system. For one thing the old computer system is absolutely ancient. That’s not to say you can’t campaign for change, but be realistic about it.

Original poster
cathy9898 · 13/01/2019 22:49

You can study pre children, but it is possible that the job you are trained to do doesn't enable you to work hours which fit in with your children. Having children, does take a lot from your time, as does caring for any person. Finishing work and then caring for children until they go to bed, leaves little time for study. If you have no family support and the father is an abuser or an absent father, then you also have no time at the weekend for study. I agree about the study before having children, but not all single parents knew that they would end up in that situation. Maybe a low paid job was sufficient for them at that time. People can become widowed, or be in an abusive relationship. It is much easier for a single person to study, even with a full time job, since they don't have children to take care of and only themselves to support. Even families where there are two parents will find it easier to study as there is another parent to help with the childcare. Single parents get stuck in a trap, trying to afford childcare, trying to find work which fits in with their children. Not all single parents want to claim money, they don't have a choice because they are on a low wage, and the opportunities available after having children are somewhat more difficult to access.

OP posts:
Original poster
cathy9898 · 13/01/2019 22:53

Before children I did a full time college course as well as working full time. I used to take home £700 a month only and I used to just get by. Now There is no way I could do that, simply because of time. It isn't a fair system for self employed people either. Such people are trying to better themselves and are being penalised for doing so.

OP posts:
PlumpSyrianHamster · 13/01/2019 22:55

It is much easier for a single person to study, even with a full time job, since they don't have children to take care of and only themselves to support.

How do you come to that generalisation? No wonder the sheeple got up in arms about the old system. It's really not up to the taxpayer to pay for you to study so you can get a better paying job courtesy of someone else who's stuck in a low-wage dead end job but didn't reproduce. They don't stay little forever. And at any rate, the old system is gone. Single parents will have to study the hard way just like everyone else.

Original poster
cathy9898 · 13/01/2019 23:15

I used to be able to work eight until eight, four until eleven or even a night shift. I can't do any of this now, due to childcare issues. If you work longer days, you work less days, meaning more time for study. The point that I am making is, that if a single parent stays on a low income through a low paid job, the tax payer will pay for them to increase their income, the taxpayer will pay for their childcare. This will continue for years as the single parent is stuck in a trap. If the parent studies, gets a better job, then after a few years, they fully support themselves, the tax payer no longer pays for them. They are not more entitled than anybody else, but it breaks the cycle of single parents relying on the tax payer

OP posts:
PlumpSyrianHamster · 13/01/2019 23:28

If you work longer days, you work less days, meaning more time for study.

Not at all true. Plenty of people work a load of hours without working fewer days. And the single parents' children grow up, so sooner or later they no longer need childcare.

Babyroobs · 13/01/2019 23:35

UC doesn't seem to be forcing parents into working loads of hours, they seem to leave you alone if earning a minimal amount from what I have read. Just the same as on tax credits where a lone parent could work 16 hours right up until their 'child' left education at 18, or a couple could work just 24 hours between them and be topped up by working tax credits.

Absentwomen · 14/01/2019 09:41

OP,

I'm not sure what your point is.

Having looked at the petition you've raised it doesn't explain anything in detail.

The recent win by the four mothers, was about fluctuations in payments because they were working part-time and overall, they were out of pocket. There's a significant point of law that the High Court found the DWP to be in breach of.

What you're asking for will be lost in a sea of change.org petitions that are out there.

UC is a good scheme. As others up thread have stated, the implementation is not without its problems.

Waiting for weeks without money - most people qualify for an advance from their first appointment providing all documentation has been provided.

I'd suggest you read the judgement on the High Court case and get behind these mothers that have won so far. The DWP will appeal and it could a couple of years before we see anything from this.

As for studying - that's nothing to do with UC.

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