A Rant about unfairness of benefits!!

[Milliways]

My DH has a chequered employment history. For about 15 straight years he was a fully employed, fully tax paying member of society.

Then the fun started and periods of unemployment, self employment, employment, unemployment started.

Whilst Self employed we really struggled. When we tried to claim ANYTHING was asked "how much did you earn last year?" Ooh, too high to qualify, Bye! When next tax year arrived he decided to accept a job, so earnings comimg in & no way of claiming for last year as now employed. Anyway, we survived so no real problem (just no savings).

ABout 2 years ago, again newly unemployed. This time we discover Job Seekers allowance - why did no-one tell us this was available - but no, you can't backdate your claim, and NO as one months NI was underpaid whilst Self Employed other benefits disallowed????

Again, new job, money starts again.

Daughter wants EMA - all her friends with single parents get it, and money of the absent Dad etc etc (her story). As we are both earning we don't get it,but can't afford to give her £30 pw.

DH now unemployed again. He HAS applied for JSA this time, and should get it (fingers crossed), but I phone EMA & told NO, you earned too much last year. Apply next year? She will be going to Uni so will not be eligible, but NO you cannot back claim if he doesn't get a job & NO you can't apply now.

SAme with other stuff.

Is it just me, or is something wrong. I Won't claim anything /will stop claiming when he gets another job but WHY can't they pay something in the meantime???????

Rant over, let's pray he gets a job soon!

no you are right. What you earned last year shouldn't mean you can't claim benefits if your income has dropped this year.

Don't know about EMA but tax credits are a mess.

And yes, it is unfair when you are being penalised.

I hope he finds a job soon.

Yep, it's shit.
We get minimal tax credits, the £40 per month, child allowance and that's it. Hubby is self emplyed builder....... snot looking good.

EMA stinks (I just wrote the same thing on another thread actually!!)
It's just plain unfair.
I know quite a few kids in fee paying schools who qualify for it legally because their parents are split, and the kid lives with mum, who very conveniently has a nice little part time job to avoid earning enough to take her over the threshold. Meanwhile, daddy along the road is paying school fees and giving handouts as well.
And couples who stay together and both work their fecking arses off get sod all.

I also agree about the 'middle income' trap, where you earn just enough to not qualify for any benefits, free prescriptions etc but not enough to live on decently.
I know hordes of people, often with young families, stuck in this position. It must be tempting sometimes to say, fuck it, lets split up, or give up work, or cut down hours, and then we'll be better off!

The government needs to start rewarding honest hard working people.

Thanks - glad it's not just me feeling all "hard done by".

When he was refused last time because of a previous NI blip, I asked, what about the other 15 hyears he DID pay for? If he had only worked 2 years he would have been paid it!

I need a "Support Thread for ne Newly Poor" to post tips on claiming what you can, saving money etc etc.

He DID have 2 interviews today though - so still some hope out there

Good luck to your dh with his job hunting, milliways.

see, I don't get this 'better off if you split'
If dh left me then he could go to work full time. So the CSA would take a chunk of his money to give to me. So he'd be worse off.
And I wouldn't gain cos I'd get less benefits.

As for CTC, we got it raised straight away when dh left work to be a carer.

Thanks CheshireKitty.

Needmorecoffee: I too don't understand people splitting for cash! At least we are broke together, and we will get through this - just feeling the pressure sometimes.

Mumsnet is a good place to rant though

I wouldn't split for cash but if he leaves the toewls in a heap again thats IT!

I've been there too.In 24 years I have had 1 week of being unemployed and so always paid taxes/NI.But when my mat leave ended,it was the end of December.My work is mostly seasonal,so I delayed going back for 5 weeks,until the weather improved and I could work again.I didn't try and claim anything for those weeks,as I wasn't unemployed technically.

3 years later,I'm off sick for a week and am refused sick pay,because I missed those 5 payments and didn't claim benefits for those weeks either.I was livid-all those years of paying in and when I needed help,it was denied.

I hope things improve for you and your family.

That's terrible! So for you!

At the risk of being jumped on from a great height-seems to me that those who have always claimed benefits are fine. They know all the ins & outs and what they are entitled to. People who have worked & paid taxes (to enable these benefits to be paid) are penalised and can claim jack s**t when they need it.

Milliways - that sounds like the story of our lives. DH lost out on NI contributions for a while and since then has been eligible for diddly squat during his periods of unemployment. He's never been able to get back the full 2 years of contributions and I earn too much (ha-ha) to be eligible for him to be eligible for means-tested JSA.

I would like my own mini rant on behalf of those of us who fall just outside eligibility for working tax credit and therefore everything else that the benefit system offers. I get a little peed off that people on supposedly less money than us are actually getting big chunks of their rent & council tax paid, plus loads of other stuff for free. In the meantime we can't afford to go to the dentist, DH can bearly afford his prescriptions, I need glasses for work but can't afford them, etc. etc.

"He's never been able to get back the full 2 years of contributions and I earn too much (ha-ha) to be eligible for him to be eligible for means-tested JSA." What the hell? Sorry for that garbled load of rubbish. Hopefully you worked it out.

Perfectly understandable

What I don't get is Tax Credits (who does) we get the standard £40 a month (well we would do but don't right now long story) it's the same for one child as for three???

Sweetkitty - the point at which the sliding scale reaches the bottom does get higher with each child. It's just that you're still too far above it.

Oh right sorry I thought it was like that for everyone i.e. didn't matter how many DC you had.

That makes a bit of sense now.

I still don't know how they work it out though they keep sending me different award letters, one months they are giving me £100 a month next month I owe them money.

Totally agree, benefits system is adequate once you are in it, but it takes so long to claim, but if you have no income suddenly you need help. DH has been made redundant recently, can't see him getting a job before christmas... Last time he was out of work we moved back in with parents because we couldn't afford our rent, but the job centre were saying we couldn't get benefit because we had moved! CTC and WTC are just a joke, they are always messing up and half the people you speak to don't know what they are doing. I can understand why when people are on benefits and in a council house they are reluctant to give either up, because if it does go wrong and you loose your job its so difficult to claim and you are really vunerable while they sort it all out.