Do you feel bad for receiving a ‘high amount’ of UC?

[AnotherNameChange1233]

Last week I went to my local Children’s Centre and attended a Citizen’s Advice group that runs once a week.

As long as you’re registered to the Children Centre, you can turn up for any advice needed. Some people want privacy so they go into a side room with the advisor and some parents may help other parents if they’ve been in a similar situation/can offer the correct advice. It’s also like a social group for parents, hopefully you get the jist of it.

On the table I was sitting on, one parent was trying to get her head around UC as she didn’t quite understand LHA rates, how DLA impacts UC and what elements she would be entitled too. Anyway, I started speaking about my experience with DLA, UC and offered to log into my UC account if it was easier for her to look at the breakdown visually (instead of me talking and complicating things). I also got her postcode to explain how the LHA rates work and etc.

Another parent suddenly spoke up and said, ‘don’t you feel bad for claiming that much money?’ She wasn’t argumentative or anything and we had an interesting conversation but it made me think, are people like me supposed to feel bad when receiving a certain amount?

She also said something like (I’m paraphrasing here as I can’t remember it exactly word for word) if people can’t afford their rent then they should move to a more affordable area. I raised the point of Landlords purchasing properties as part of the Right to Buy scheme, charging extortionate rent which taxpayers then pay through UC. Surely, it’s more a problem that there isn’t affordable rental properties in many areas.

For full transparency, I’m going to mention all of my UC amounts and wonder if people that claim similar, feel bad?

• 292 single person allowance
• 1450 private rent
• 539 for 2 children
• 293 for 2 disabled children
• 589 childcare costs
• 189 carer

£216 is deducted from my entitlement due to my wages. That means my UC amount is £3133. My wages is £771. I receive two amounts of MRC through DLA which is £580 all together.

Now that I’ve written it down, it seems like a whole lot of money but the costs that come with raising one of my disabled children (the other still costs a lot, but not as much as the other) is through the roof due to their issues

Why ask that?
Any child maintenance payments you receive will not affect your Universal Credit payments.

If its a dig at being single parent, then give your head a wobble..

Have you actually checked that you’re not entitled to anything at all due to your circumstance? I really think you should double check on EntitledTo. Have you applied for DLA for either children?

I initially thought this. I think (if it’s real) it’s pretty tone deaf.

Only 2 children, I can see how my post was slightly confusing when explaining the elements of my claim

Basically the tories did it to make loads of money, and shed loads of responsibility at the same time. They did it under the cunning guise of helping people onto the property ladder - we all know they were actually helping themselves. Bingo for the tories! I lifted these two excerpts from the internet:

Wiki:
The Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher introduced Right to Buy in 1979, with the millionth council house being sold within seven years. In time, the transfer of public housing stock to private ownership reached the point where councils had to rent back their own houses to house the homeless.

House of Lords Library:
The Chartered Institute of Housing's UK housing review 2021 found the Treasury had made £47bn from right to buy receipts since the policy was introduced.

peoples life’s must be very good that they don’t get what having a disabled child is like . I work and earn the same as the op working full time . I also have a severely disabled now young adult son . I would never ever resent a parent that is also a carer . People have no idea on the work it entails , how draining it is and what would the alternative be ? Do you even realise how much carers cost ? If you think she is getting a lot paying full time wages to someone 24 h a day would be a lot more .
You need to realise those kids will need constant care , different diets , that’s what lots take for granted the op probably never has like rest , a day off , stress free holidays or days out .
Do you really want to have a disabled child to get money ? Are you that sad ?

That's still not adding up as that's about £72 a week and there are two children apparently receiving the benefit. If she was on HRM it would be even more. I can't work out why the disability benefit and carers isn't more, but maybe it's different if you're not in England.

And just for an idea - my DC get middle rate care and he can't walk, talk, change his own clothes, has personal care needs, suffers greatly with bowl movements, has global development delay, self harms and harms other children etc the list goes on but because he has no night time needs he isn't entitled to HRC but is entitled to HRM which doesn't show on UC as it's not counted so we don't know the extent of OPs children's disabilities.

Oh yes, the poor landlords.

What drivel. 1450 a month in rent, soon to be increased by another 200?!

Here's a novel idea - don't be a private landlord if you're struggling to pay the overheads on THAT amount of money coming in each month from a single part time working mother.

How exactly would she pay that working full-time, supporting her two kids?

There's not a brain between half of the likeminded commenters on this thread, I swear.

@Creamandtan my Mum died because of epilepsy. Suddenly. When she was 28 and I was 8.

Still want it now?

What a fucking crass statement to make. Fucking hell.

Reality is even if the OP increased her employment to full time she would still receive a high amount of UC due to childcare cost, rent cost and two children with additional needs.

@Vampirelovebite sorry I've just seen your comment now.

UC is different to DLA - she'll be getting a different amount for DLA but on UC you get a disabled child element depending whether you're on MRC or HRC.

DLA is awarded based on care needs and not a diagnosis. If you believe your child has care needs higher than those of a child the same age, you should apply. DLA is also reviewed. Some can get longer awards than others (and it depends on the Decision Maker) but it certainly is reviewed

Op has disabled children and private rents in London, of course she will receive a lot of help: why shouldn't she?
What would happen to her children if she didn't?

There are plenty of things the country can't afford but the benefits bill is not one of them.
So much goes unclaimed.

The Tory government love spouting this disgusting narrative and pitting people against each other rather than look at what they waste our tax on.

It's not comparable to say "oh I only earn £35k why do I bother to work, I'll be better off in OP's position " because you wouldn't.

Op doesn't have the opportunity to work more hours and further her earning power.

The government could force deadbeat dads to pay for their kids for a start.
Stop blaming women and each other

@Creamandtan my mum had 3 seizures a week. Broke a leg having g a seizure as she went down the stairs in church. Regularly lost control of her bladder when she had a seizure. Ripped her eyelid open on a kitchen counter. Fell on top of the hot iron.

Was stepped over by people in the street

Really?? Fucking really? You'd take the epilepsy????!

You need your head looked at.

You are obviously fortunate to have reliable childcare that your boys are OK with and/or they are settled at school. That is not the situation for all parents of autistic children and young people.

I'm not disputing that the OP is getting too much disability payment actually - I just can't work out how it's so low. Even putting together any combination of LRC/MRC for two children and mobility for one or both doesn't add up to the stated amount, and carers allowance is quite a bit more.

Maybe you need too read up on UC rules, rather than attacking people.

That’s more money than I get on a £50k professional salary!! I don’t understand how that is permitted at all.

You are looking after two disabled children, if for some reason you were unable to do so and those children had to go into care then the cost of their care would be astronomical, so in those terms you are actually saving the country many many many hundreds of thousands of pounds. If people start to think of it in those terms they will start to realise how much parents like you are actually worth to the nation and what very good value you are!

@berksandbeyond I completely agree that the position of the childrens' father(s) is important. He (they) need to step up before the tax payer. And I also totally think that the welfare state should support people who need it, but that is the last resort. So yes, what about the fathers?

Oh I see! So the disability amount stated is just part of UC and there will also be somewhere from £400 - £800 in Disability Living Allowance on top of that? I didn't realise that was two separate things. What a weird system - how does anyone even navigate this stuff.

And if I don’t, it’s ‘well why am I paying for your disabled children when their own father doesn’t.’ Yeah, no thanks. I’ll let people think whatever they want too, no reason for me to give more information to talk crap about

@Vampirelovebite sorry I posted before you asked your second question.

The amount on UC is the disabled element which is different to DLA so OP will be getting more for her disabled children than what she's said here as she's only discussing UC.