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

It's not that difficult. People on benefits aren't all in the same circumstances.

Official data shows that very worst off are single childless people (that's also the case, I believe, for non claimants too).

Type of housing makes a difference too. Families in social homes will obviously be receiving less than those in private renting, but the private renting families aren't benefiting from the extra money. Their landlords are.

A PP suggested over 4 million people are receiving disability benefits. To avoid confusion I think it's important to point out that figure includes children and retired people (Attendance Allowance). It's about 2 million working age disability claimants and that includes those working who need help with the extra disability related costs, in order to stay in work.

I think the OP does work like a dog every day.

I’m not bitter, we have a higher household income than this thankfully. I do however resent how we are constantly told in the media how much people are struggling on benefits when some people clearly rake in money, it doesn’t seem at all fair. And for the people on this thread who are clearly just about hanging in there, working all the hours and half killing themselves with stress for a third of the money. They’ll be wondering why they bother and I don’t blame them for wondering!

If OP wasn’t caring for her disabled children it would cost thousands a week to care for them. OP isn’t building a career or a pension pot or paying off a mortgage. She has a different set of hardships to what others are facing. I am glad that there is a safety net for single parents of extremely disabled children.

She’d have to spend the 10k a month because if she had more than 16k UC would stop.

Very well said.

She’s lucky the state supports her kids in this way, not the other way round. I’m lucky the state provides the medication I need to stay alive, they’re not lucky that I refuse to take it and make myself even more sick.

You shouldn't feel bad. But we should ALL feel bad that much of that- way too much of it- is going to a private landlord. The system is so broken. It's time for urgent housing reform in this country as apposed to benefit reform.

It's not that difficult. People on benefits aren't all in the same circumstances.

Official data shows that very worst off are single childless people (that's also the case, I believe, for non claimants too).

Very true.

I think it's crazy amount yes but most of it is rent and going straight to the landlord so it' s not like you see it all. A single person living at home with their parents would get a pittance, it's only the rent and disability elements making it so high.

She doesn’t need a pension pot or paid off house, the state will continue to provide those things. It isn’t how it used to be. They’re no longer the gold plated assets they were

Your argument is mute. We are all lucky to have residency in the UK.

Imagine how enraged you’d feel to know about all the people pretending to be in this country, and receiving benefits who don’t even live here. Multiple national insurance numbers all at the same address, UC make no checks! It’s a free for all.

Yes the OP receives higher rates of benefit, because her children are disabled- she can’t work as she needs to provide care. She won’t be anywhere near as ‘well off’ when the children grow up.

It’s obviously going to upset people working 12 hours shift who get nowhere near as much though, who struggle and feel exhausted.

I never said he paid. I never said he didn’t pay. That’s a question I won’t be answering because either way I answer, some posters will find a way to jump on me. I thought posting on Money Matters would attract less people than elsewhere on MN, I guess I was wrong!

I have seen people given an absolute hammering for saying they are struggling to make ends meet on salaries far smaller than the op gets in benefits.
From my financially comfortable (albeit disabled, but I work through it) life I can have sympathy with op. But I can also have sympathy with those working phenomenally hard for less than half that money, quite possibly with battles and health problems of their own

I wondered that, too

Why doesn’t she need a pension pot? We’re all entitled to state pension via national insurance credits but build a private pension pot to go alongside that.

It depends how you define struggling. I’d say it was a struggle with disabled children. You sound like a typical Tory “I’m all right Jack” and pull up the ladder.

@Firkinhavinalaugh maintenance is disregarded in full I believe.

Agreed

Because no doubt she will end up getting the state pension and pension credit, plus all the add ons that go with it. And the state will fund her care if she ends up in a home.

🤷🏼‍♀️

Part of the reason for collecting benefits together under one new label- universal credit - was efficiency. Part of the reason was that it allowed a whole load of people to be lumped into the category of ‘undeserving poor.’

Right so we need to reduce the number of disabled people ?! Not sure how 🤔 otherwise it could keep hurting the taxpayers who aren’t disabled or haven’t got disabled dcs feelings !

Maybe just make them disappear? Or just take their benefits away then they’ll disappear?! Or the government could keep changing the criteria and gaslight them all to tell them ‘you’re not disabled as far as our health assessors are concerned!’

Yes that will work.

I just think as a country we can't afford this and that there has to be a better way. Day centres where children can be cared for while the parents work, for example.

To answer the question honestly, I would feel bad if I were on any form of benefits long term, let alone the amount you're taking in. However I don't begrudge you being able to support your children. I do think if you're receiving maintenance on top of this it's absolutely ludicrous it isn't taken into account.

And I think as a general rule, people shouldn't have children if they can't afford to take care of them. However circumstances change, and you couldn't have known your children would be disabled.

Yup it will go on and on