Playing the system!!

[Bell501]

Are people really better off on benefits than working?
I hear of people going through hard times. To me they can afford more than me..
Rent paid. Rates paid. free school meals for children. Dentist paid. Free Eye tests.
I could be totally blind to it.. has anyone got thoughts on it

I would say the sweetest spot is earning an excellent income full stop!

If course child maintenance affects the overall amount of income available to a person. Those who receive it are better off than their compatriots in exactly the same position, benefits -wise, who receive nothing in child maintenance.
Benefits are the same regardless of child maintenance payments.

@Bell501

I've worked since I was 21, mostly in the civil service, apart from a two year self funded career break when I was 40, when I was temping so I could go traveling, and a year adoption leave when I was 46.

I am educated with a solid career behind me, own my home, have access to credit. I will have a decent pension when I am 67. My current situation is very short term and I will be OK.

But I really don't know how single people are expected to manage in the medium to longer term if they find themselves in something similar to my situation, maybe with health issues.
Although I have a job, there is no income at the moment, but to get my UC I will have to go through the charade of spending 30 hours a week job searching. It will be interesting to see if anyone will offer a 59 year old woman a job with an income I could live in.
When I was 40 and took my career break, getting back into permanent work was very hard, employers were obsessed with my previous salary and job and didn't think I would stay, entirely missing the point that it was 2years since I had earned that salary and needed a proper job.

I've encountered folks who do very well with the system - usually due to having obtained council housing so lower rent costs and/or have later purchased said housing with right to buy.

And I've encountered folks who have really struggled on benefits.

I will always say one is better off in work. Especially as we get older when benefits reduce (as with having kids.)

To get a full university grant, you don't need benefits, you need a Time Machine.

Yup, £393.45 is the Standard Allowance - money to keep oneself fed, warm clothed etc - for a calendar month. Out of that you'll probably need to pay 20-25% of your Council Tax liability and maybe top up rent as well.

Awful isn't it. I have no idea how people survive on this.

Single people without children on benefits often live in really dreadful circumstances. Headlines of children living in poverty grab attention. I know children live in poverty but single folk are really overlooked.

If your children are going to University in theory they should earn 250k more over a lifetime. Those figures are probably now outdated but it was a fact given to us on recruitment days to trot out and there was a time a degree was a very special qualification to have. They are commonplace now and very much less special. When you go from 10% to getting close to 40% of the workforce having a degree you have to ask yourself are there suddenly 40% more graduate level professional jobs?

That’s my point though - the Op started a thread saying that people on benefits are better off.

CM is of course not a benefit - it’s earned income from the child’s other parent. And this is what I mean when I say that you can’t possibly know how and where someone gets their money from unless you can see their bank account. And people shouldn’t assume that benefits afford a luxurious lifestyle because they most certainly do not.

Dentist paid?
I don't think so, there are no NHS dentists, if we weren't able to pay for Private Dental we would just be in pain with awful teeth

When I was on benefits as a single mum-no

But, people on disability benefit appear to have a similar income to a working family. My mum is on PIP, had to take early leave from work due to a health condition and she is slightly better off now on benefits than working.

Yeah, of course I agree that CM isn't a benefit. I guess what I am really pointing out is that CM does distort the appearance of some people being better / worse off than others and definitely contributes to a perception of some women on benefits being financially comfortable.

@Bell501 university fees are free in Scotland.

We're really not better off. Being disabled is expensive

Do they now? It is not working out that way for myself.

When I moved from just being on UC, to working and still getting some UC, I was £700 a month better off. And I wasn't eligible for council tax relief, free school meals, free prescriptions even when solely on UC.

Some people will be better off on benefits but it is usually those with health conditions meaning that they can't work or have disabled children or are caring instead of being in paid employment. And therefore, need more help from the benefits system

Surely it depends on your income.

Also it's worth remembering many working people receive benefits.

Possibly a single person (or couple) with children, who is working full-time on minimum wage would be better off (or not a lot worse off) not working at all.

I think if you don't have children, and you earn more than minimum wage, then you're massively better off working. The rate of universal credit for a single person is something like £80 per week, and the amount of rent they pay (local housing allowance) is tiny and often below what you can practically rent for in that area. Many landlords do not accept tenants who receive benefits, limiting where you can live.

I don't know about benefits, but if you earn something around £50k in the UK it's certainly worth looking at salary sacrifices (cars, pensions etc) to keep yourself out of the higher tax bracket, especially depending on other family circumstances. It seems likely labour will change pension tax breaks to favour those in lower tax bands. Same at around the £100k mark where taxes rise very sharply. It's not just about benefits- our system has so many cut off points that unless you earn a lot more it makes sense to keep your income below a certain level

Not working out that way here either.
I get pip and esa. I am hundreds short a month on what I was getting in my job. I worked full time on minimum wage. We own our home so nothing from universal credit etc. As I get contribution based esa I have to buy my own glasses and pay for the dentist.

That's good for the young people