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

To be fair, in this case we don’t know if she’s getting a load of cash off the father/s because OP won’t say.

I assume that because the OP won’t answer the question about child maintenance, she must receive it.

Not RTFT but am I right in thinking someone has said they’d rather have epilepsy and have the UC? Sick

It would be easier to comprehend the incredible sums of money you are recieving from the state if we knew the life circumstances that ended up with you in this predicament.

It doesn't sound like the father or fathers of your children are contributing towards their care, which would imply he or they are unable to contribute sigificantly at the present time.

At what point in time after deciding to have a fourth child, at least 1 of which was disabled, did it become clear you would be unable to independently financially support your family?

I agree with you in regards to Right to Buy properties. The EA have ‘unofficially’ told me that the Landlord is considering increasing the rent to £1650 at the end of the year. Because I have an extra bedroom allowance due to one child’s disability, this will still be covered in full by UC.

My neighbour who lives on top of me has the exact same property layout and her rent is £425 as it’s a council property. I would have NO issue paying £425 for my rent and that would come out of my own wages!

I think it is deliberate faux naivety. She knows what she is doing.

Crazy. Completely unfair. What’s the point of working like a fucking dog every day?

Can't believe the responses on here.
OP is caring for two disabled children, disability can come with with high cost, lots of disabilities are for life. It's not fun money, is it!
As much as you think it's unfair you work full time and don't get that much, isn't it more unfair if by a stroke of fate, you have a child with disabilities who needs care, therefore potentially limiting your life and learning potential as a parent, as you now flare needed to care for them. Why is everyone ignoring the fact she's a carer? How much do you think it costs to provide care to people with disabilities if its all down to the state - carers save us absolutely bloody billions as a country.

Why can't they build more social houses?

It would save a lot of money off the benefit bill.

Why are people derailing this thread to talk about men not paying maintenance? It would not affect the OP's benefits if they did, she would still get the same amount.

It just seems wrong to me that so many things - COL payments, cheaper internet and energy (with some suppliers) etc are available to people on UC, when, as this thread shows, some are by no means on the breadline.

It I’m not saying different.

A poster asked if I’d take her illness for 2.5k. I said yes. I’m not healthy anyway and the extra £800 a month would be significant to help my daughters. I’m not going to be one of those people who live long anyway as I’m in hospital twice a year with asthma and also been admitted into a HDU before, so in the meantime, an extra £800 would be nice for my kids.

Don’t want to break it to you but most parents would do quite a lot for their kids.

If you was as poor as me, maybe you would go to such lengths for an extra £800 too.

Quite. Pre budget, whenever someone complained about losing their child benefit once their salary rose above £50k, posters would line up to tear shreds off them for being greedy.

I read somewhere recently that for a family of 4, you’re better off on benefits and part time work until you earn more than £60k.

A friend with one toddler has recently split up with her husband and was fully prepared to go back to work full time, but has discovered to her amazement that she will bring in more if she works part time and claims benefits.

Feels like people who work full time who get absolutely no help from the government whatsoever are not allowed to feel resentful. Everyone has struggles in their lives. No life is plain sailing.

It depends what. If her children were (for example) both in wheelchairs, needing physical therapy every day, oxygen therapy at night and numerous medications administered every day, I could see how their expenses would be this high.

If it’s for fidget toys and branded food as is often the case, not so much.

I wouldn’t feel bad. What would be the point in that? Benefits are a safety net for the exact purpose of a situation where you are totally stuck not being able to work much as a single parent with disabled dc and huge rent. If you just decided to up and leave the dc it would cost the government a lot more.

I received some benefits when ds was little as I was a single parent and had a friend who liked to mention that she and her Dh would get “loads of benefits” if they split. They had 3 kids, a big detached house and a dog. Oh and a happy marriage. Things I could only dream of at the time, it felt so ridiculous that she was basically jealous of my benefits when she wouldn’t have wanted all the stuff that came with it!

I don't think anyone is disputing that she's entitled to support, it's the total amount being paid out that's shocked people. I assumed, naively I suppose, that UC was capped. I didn't realise that cap could be as high as 63K a year.

Ask them? They might prefer their mum being around than lots of money. In what way would it be life changing? Holidays? More food?

Yet she chose to have a second child… (with a feckless loser apparently)

My senses say she is.

Most of it is your rent I guess but it is really is a lot of money and way more than most full time working people take home. However it's your entitlement and you are working where you can.

It is capped for people without disabilities or children with disabilities

They should cap the amount any one household can receive at 30k, in my opinion. And even that is generous tbh

I thought OP only had 2 children. Is it 4 children in total with 2 that are disabled?

She deserves a medal doing this on her own!

Exactly. The benefit system needs a complete overhaul.

I'm on universal credit to top me up.
But wow I'm quite shocked at that amount that you get