Is it worth working on universal credit?

[boymama82]

We receive UC as my partners wage is classed as low. We own our own home outright and receive approximately £400 a month from them. I'm looking to get back into work on Saturdays Sundays and Mondays when my fiancé is off work as we have an 18 month old and a 2 and a half year old. We don't need the money but I want to get back into work, will my UC be reduced siginificantly?

benefits-calculator.turn2us.org.uk/

Thankyou but we've done this and are already in receipt of universal credit. My partner earns £330 a week after tax and we get around £450 a month in UC. What I'm asking is does our us go down loads if i work too? I'm interviewing for a job that pays £11ph but I've heard that UC take 55p out of every £1 you earn so I'd be working for £5ph approx?

You're always better off working, UC will take 55p off your UC payment for each pound you earned in your wages. But you'll still get your full wages from your employer, so you'll get your wages plus the 45p in the pound leftover - if that makes sense.

UC don't take money off your physical wages, it's just a taper rate as of course you can't work and get full benefits

Wow that's confusing and I've got baby brain so I can't understand it! Is it basically that if I earn £100 then UC take £55 off me?

Well they reduce UC by £55 for every £100 you take home in pay.

The Universal Credit earnings taper rate is currently 55%. This means that for every £1 you earn over your work allowance (if you are eligible for one) your Universal Credit will be reduced by 55p. this amount will be deducted automatically from your Universal Credit payment.

The monthly work allowances are set at:

£344
If you are getting housing costs as part of your Universal Credit award, or housing costs from the Local Authority because you are in temporary accommodation
£573
If you do not receive housing support
If you have earnings but you (or your partner) are not responsible for a child or do not have limited capability for work you will not be eligible for a work allowance.

They will reduce UC by 55p per £ after your work allowance is deducted from your wages.
if you use ofsted registered childcare they will pay up to 85% which will increase your overall UC entitlement.

enter the hypothetical figures from your new wages and your partner’s wages into the benefits calculator to get an idea of it.

mostly you will always be better off working as that’s what UC is designed for

Wow so as long as my earnings are before £573 a month I get to keep it all?!! Result! We don't have housing costs we bought outright so are in a good position

Pretty sure that's a combined amount for both of you...

www.entitledto.co.uk/

Once you've completed the questionnaire and it tells you what you're getting, there is a calculator at the bottom that says, How much better off if I worked?

You fill in the hours you're considering and the pay. It then breaks down in detail how much would be taken off universal credit and what your income would be either way. Most of the time, you are better off working

If you earn £100 pm, you lose £55 of UC, so your current £400 UC becomes £345.

You earn £200, you lose £100 - £400 -110 leaves £290 UC and so on...

If you have an idea of how much you'll be earning, add it to your partner's income and run it through the calculator as @MockneyReject suggested. That'll give you a better estimate of how much more/less you will have each month.

No, you won't keep any of it before deductions, because your partner has already used up the £573 on his earnings. You will get any tax, National insurance and Pension deducted, then 55% of the actual amount you receive will be deducted from your Universal Credit, and you get to keep the remaining 45%.

Don't forget that they only reduce according to your take home. So what you earn less tax, NI and, crucially, pension.

A lot of people don't realise this but especially for a second income it is really important.

Presumably you're managing on what you've got now, right? So with your earnings you'll have even more, even with your UC being reduced.

However if you choose to pay extra into your pension - which every workplace has - then UC takes that into account. So present You doesn't lose as much as you might while future You has extra put away for a happy retirement.

It is always worth working.

The allowance is for both of you not each.
the benefits calculator will help you

I'm on UC and by the time I factor in the costs of travelling to work etc I'm not any better off by working, some months I'm worse off. I still work though because I'm not going to sit on my backside and let others work to pay for my UC income.

If you don't need the money then it makes sense to go to work from a security perspective. If your DP had an accident or illness and couldn't work at least you'd be able to support your current standard of living.

'It's always worth working'
Hmm, sometimes I wonder.
After tax, NI, U/C, petrol, lease of a work car and a babysitter, I don't even break even some days.
I'm sore, and knackered, and my child has been miserable all weekend, for the sake of 'a stamp'.and £1 in my pension pot.

Your attitude is everything that is wrong with people in this country.

You own your home outright. You don't work because you don't need the money. Yet you are bleeding money that you don't need from the state.

Am I the only person that is thinking you own your home outright, “you don’t need the money” as you yourself has just admitted - are you taking the mick? And you are concerned if you do work how much UC will you lose?

just because you can , doesn’t mean you should!!

I don't work because we have 2 babies!

You bought outright yet still want to claim universal credit?! This is all kinds of wrong!!!

So do lots of people but we still go to work!!!

This.

Absolutely this!!!

How does UC work if people are able to buy their house outright?