Why people choose not to work and how are people coping with the COL crisis?

[MsMH]

I hope this doesn't come across as judgemental but I'm genuinely curious.
What are people's reasons for not working and being on universal credit instead? Is it even a choice and how are they coping with the cost of living crisis?
I'm not well off myself and work part time 3 days a week. My partner works full time at a university and we have a little boy who goes to nursery 2 days a week. We're only just making enough to stay afloat but struggling to save anything. I don't know how we would cope if one of us loses our jobs.

Well, what reasons do you think there could be?

most people on benefits are working

You really can't just claim UC because you don't want to work.
As an adult of working age if you you aren't working you would have to be seeking work to receive the money (what used to be called Job Seekers Allowance) or have a long term disability or illness that stops you working (which is often very difficult to be able to be able to claim for).
You can't just think "oh I will quit my job and live off benefits" 🙄

I think many people are NOT coping with CoL increases.

Sometimes work doesn’t really end up contributing much to the family’s net income and feels impossible - depending where you live, it might be a long unreliable bus journey to get to a badly paid part time job. Or you end up putting young children in long days with a childminder or wrap-around from 7.30am to 6pm. Having to take unpaid time off work when child is randomly unwell and can’t be at school or nursery, having a job which involves shifts that don’t fit with regular childcare hours and so on.

There are millions of reasons aren’t there.

I work 6 days per week and it's still not enough to pay the bills. I could work 7 and it still wouldn't be enough. Utterly utterly rubbish. Granted I am single parent.

Let's not bash UC claimants.

I think there is a fundamental misunderstanding here, OP.

Thanks for all your replies and for helping me understand. I have some friends who don't work and they're on universal credit but they've never said their reasons for it and I've never asked in case it's a sensitive topic. I thought I'd ask here and try to learn a bit more about it.

Sorry, I'm not trying to bash anyone. Just trying to understand.

I don't work as I have an autoimmune disease which causes aneurysms. These are liable to dissect and kill me. Any exertion inc simple things such as walking or getting up from a chair or going to the loo exhaust me.

It's not a choice. HTH.

Oh and starting a post with 'I hope this doesn't come across as judgemental but' is clearly going to goady.

I'm a graduate in a good (medium grade) job working fulltime in the public sector, I'm also a single mum of a child with a disability and I get UC

If the people you know are not working and receive it then they will have physical or mental health issues or have caring responsibilities. You can't just decide you don't feel like working and the govt will pay your way, there are far more people with difficulties than let on to their acquaintances or even friends and family.

I study part time and don't work, but don't claim universal credit either. One income family through choice. We can manage on one wage as we are not materialistic people. I have children with additional needs and need to be around.

I’m going back to work after exactly 2 years of not working. I stopped as my job was full time, my employer was really crappy and wouldn’t offer any sort of flexibility and neither me nor my daughter was coping with it.

I was able to not work as my husbands earns well. Not paying for full time nursery and work related costs anymore also meant that we were more or less in the same financial position. Also very very lucky in that we locked our energy bill before the rise.
I have not claimed any benefits as I’m not entitled and we’ve been very fortunate in that we’ve been okay.

I know this might get some stick but I work in housing and homelessness so work directly with all kinds of people.

Most are not working due to ill health or disabilities which make it too difficult to find a suitable and maybe flexible job.

Some people I find it's a family culture where none of them have ever really worked. They sometimes don't even consider working as an option because if they have kids they know they have enough to get by one (I live in a cheaper part of the country).

Some people find themselves unemployed for reasons beyond their control and then get trapped.

I work full time and I'm a single lone parent to 4 children. There have been many many times I've thought about jacking work in and getting all my rent paid for and just cutting back on expenses and stress levels. Child care round here is a nightmare which excludes a lot of people, especially those who don't drive. Constant stress over school holidays and what if I run late to pick the kids up etc is hard to deal with sometimes.

I don’t work I’m a lone parent with a severely disabled child. I don’t have any work commitment (on UC) because I’m a carer.

I do t work because I’m too unwell with long Covid even though Covid isn’t a thing anymore.

Well that is exactly what my neighbour has done.

He stopped working in June 2022 and was originally getting job seekers. Then in January he went to his GP and said he was depressed and suffering anxiety and panic attacks so badly he could rarely leave the house.

I too have suffered depression, anxiety and panic attacks so would feel sympathy for him except he works between 3 and 5 days a week cash in hand.

I know this for sure because he has told us.

Life makes it difficult for people (ok women) to work.

If I didn't have such a flexible job I wouldn't be able to work as I'd have no childcare during holidays. There are no clubs here and I couldn't afford a childminder. So I plod along and wfh during school holidays. If I lost my job I'd be fucked.

I'm a single mum with four kids, three are disabled. I didn't want to give up work but it became impossible to manage. I didn't want to be a single parent but after 8 years in an abusive relationship I had to call it a day, his violence towards us was increasing. I would like to go back to work and am currently doing some volunteer work, it would be challenging to work in a paid position though as I'm generally called to collect one of my disabled children from school at least twice a week. I am still trying to have the correct support put into place for him. I honestly do think anyone lives on benefits as an easy option. It may have been in the past but it certainly isn't now.

• I honestly DON'T think! Not do!

1- UC is mainly used by people who work
2- unless you have young children, you have no other choice but to look fir a job, prove you have looked fir a job etc etc
3- one exception when people don’t work and don’t need to look fur work is when you are ill. The criteria to get into the ‘low work capability’ are on par with PIP aka we are talking about people who are seriously ill.

So if you can work 3 days a week (Aka more than 16 hours a week), you won’t qualify for example.

I don’t know who those people who are happy to live on UC are but they are not going to be people who have made the lifestyle choice if living in £800 a month.

As for how do they manage.
They don’t. That’s why the number if people who are destitute is skyrocketing.

Isn't it true you can earn far more than the living wage by claiming benefits though? There doesn't seem any incentive if you can simply claim and stay at home.

£800 a month

Is that more than the living wage nowadays??

No, it isn't true.

Do you actually understand how UC works OP?

@uhtredsonofuhtred1 if you work with people receiving UC etc… then you’ll know that ‘to have your rent paid’ isn’t quite representing the truth.

Its hard to get a council house.
If you dint, you need to find a private rent. Which is very hard because a lot if them don’t accept UC and the housing element as a good enough ‘wage’.
Rents have also exploded so whatever you receive often doesn’t cover said rent.
And that’s when you have children. If you don’t… situation is even more dire.