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

Thank you for acknowledging/recognising the life of carers and children with disabilities. I did try and explain the additional costs that are involved with my children but I could tell that she thought I was just making it up (or didn’t actually care!).

I’m very rarely bothered about people’s opinions so I don’t know why this has been on my mind for so long

Holy shit, that’s way more than I earn and I have three kids to support. I hope you appreciate just how much help you’re really getting.

Anyone receiving that amount is renting and will likely always have to rent with the taxpayer funding the landlord building equity and profit.

Also often having a disabled child means they will be dependent and live with you forever.

People need to check their realty of their envy!

Take away the rent and childcare and it isn't that much for your 24/7 responsibility of a disabled child.

The rent is a lot and that’s nothing to do with you. It’s about the lack of regulation/low taxation of private landlords and a huge gap in social/affordable housing. It not just about the lack of investment from the government and their refusal to regulating the rental market, it’s about policies like Right to Buy that sold off social housing.

I live in a private property which was previously a council flat that was bought by the tenant that lived here. He’s now my Landlord so the rent that I receive through UC goes to him. He recently increased the rent by nearly £400 and wants to increase it again at the end of this year.

I much rather live here as a council tenant with a much lower rent that I’d be able to pay for out of my own pocket

It’s not envy, it’s shock that people are getting the equivalent of a £60k salary in benefits. Can we afford that as a country?

Is dad paying anything?

I’m glad the benefits system is hopefully going to get overhauled.
Its not your fault, and it’s what you are entitled to so you shouldn’t feel bad at all.
It is a ridiculous amount though and soul destroying to read for the people who are struggling right now working full time and earning a lot less.

I’m also shattered due to work, weekly medical appointments and living on barely any sleep. I also pay tax too, it may not be as much as you pay but I do contribute towards tax

No I don't feel bad, I'm not getting as much as I only have one child who has a disability and my rent is only 500 a month

I can't imagine working part time and also caring for 2 children with disabilities , 1 is hard enough

Do you get money from the father of your children?

I understand this. I'm exhausted after another shitty and long day. I have a disability myself and so does my DD, so sometimes it's hard to read when someone is given so much more than I make as a teacher.

You're not doing anything wrong, just taking what you are entitled to, it just sticks in the craw a bit I guess.

I receive an extra bedroom allowance due to one of my children’s disability. If I didn’t, then my rent would be capped and I’d have to top it up by £200 or so

It’s different for those with disabled dc as they aren’t subject to the benefit cap - for good reason. Would you rather have disabled dc??

I haven't seen anyone expressing envy? I certainly don't feel any.

But plenty of people don't get benefits and still have to rent despite working up the career ladder to quite responsible jobs (I can think of many tough jobs where the salary is far less than £50k)

I claimed benefits (tax credits) for just a few months when I left my abusive ex and that alone was enough to make me never envy anyone on benefits. I am glad I have always managed to still work (despite my own life long and at times devastating disability- I don't claim benefits because I have enough money without them) because it has enabled me to buy a house and have a decent pension.

But I can sympathise with someone working long hours and still unable to buy who struggled to see the amount op gets (even though a huge chunk of it goes to private landlords in reality)

I have no hard feelings with op but think her example shows why we need much more social housing.

It’s the rent and childcare - yet people will say it’s unfair that OP gets that much when she is t getting that money !!! It’s going to the landlord and the childcare provider

Are you going to answer about the children's father?

I am shocked. I support benefits but not giving people on them twice the average household income.

You didn't count child benefit in that which you also presumably claim so you can add nearly another £200 a month to those figures - £3900. Plus your wages - £4671. Plus whatever your ex pays towards your children, if he does.

You're working while raising two disabled children as a single parent?

You deserve every single penny of what you get.

Between UC and PIP I get just over £2.6k a month.

I’d quite happily give someone my uncontrolled epilepsy so I can go back to work or even leave the house without having a seizure! Any takers?

Yes I agree and I have 1 child and a disability and get no help at all. Work 34 hours a week and always tired and trying to catch up with housework etc. I can see why someone would be envious. I am.

Yes I think people forget that plenty of people with disabilities or chronic health conditions don't claim benefits either due to the complex and sometimes inconsistent rules or just because (eg in my case) even though they could they don't feel they should.

It isn't a case that those who claim benefits have disabilities and those who work are all vigorously healthy

Try working a 10 hour day on 3 hours sleep, coming home and caring for a child with disabilities knowing you'll probably get the same amount of sleep tonight (if your lucky) and then doing the same tomorrow

Oh, and that's after having no sleep Monday night and working 8.5 hours Tuesday

I wouldn't feel bad about it but I don't think I would have shown anyone else. I don't get anywhere near that as I only have one child, a mortgage and no childcare costs plus I lose more due to my earnings. However, if I was entitled to those things I wouldn't hesitate to claim them.

I mean, that's an income many people could only dream about. But, you're entitled to it & you have disabled children. I wonder what happens once they are adults though, and benefits for them paid to you stop?