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.

Ah so get £800 UC and you use all that on rent?
Am I correct?
so how do you pay food and bills?

My housing element is £800. I also get the adult element (about £368) and the child element for 1 child (£315)

Ah OK that makes more sense than just £800 a month.
£1483 is more in line with a full time wage which is what you expect from benefits.

Yes.
Of course if I worked full time and earnt that much I'd get about £900 pcm in UC on top of my wage.

So although I get roughly the same as someone on min. wage they would still have a higher income (assuming we paid the same rent and had the same number of DC)

And I'm not saying they shouldn't be better off btw. Just making it clear that they would be.

I don't choose to be on benefits. I wish I was well enough not to be.

I am about to give up work (redundancy from a very flexible job and struggling to find something that can accommodate my needs). I have a severely disabled 16 year old who needs 24/7 care and a child with high functioning autism, depression and anxiety. I have been working until now but I am burned out and ill from the stress. My older child needs looking after every single second they are not in school, there is no wrap around childcare and no holiday club. I do not have wider family to help. My younger one spent a lot if time out of school recently due to mental health issues. Is that a good enough excuse for you, OP?

I would love to work though, preferably full time. Where can I find childcare for a teen with complex needs. Would appreciate if you can point me into the right direction!

I'm working super part time (1.5 shifts) at a supermarket because I spend most of my time home educating my SEN son.
I get DLA, Carers Allowance, Child Benefit, Tax Credits and (because I'm in Scotland) Scottish Child Payment.
The Carers Allowance has a maximum your allowed to earn, which I'm just under.
So, the reason I'm not working more is that it's not worth it, to me, to lose the Carers Allowance.
Next year DS will be at special school and I'll have been moved over to UC (which has different earning rules).
So I plan to pick up more shifts and start looking for more interesting, better paid work.

I'm
Working two jobs totaling about 50 hrs per week. I'm not entitled to benefits, my husband has a great job but we are trying to get work done to the house so I needed to get extra work to afford it. I do get irritated when I see people on benefits getting holidays abroad and doing things that I can't afford but that's the way it is . They are allowed to claim so I suppose it's not their fault that the system is flawed. I just wish there was more of a reward for hard working people that take on the extra load, even when it doesn't t really suit

Oh come on. I work full time and have my entire life, I have 2 kids and my husband left me unexpectedly last year so now I work full time whilst being a single parent and as a result im eligible for universal credit. I work every bit as hard as you do and always have, the system has thankfully helped me at a time when I needed it. It’s not a ‘reward’ and you aren’t better than me. Judging everyone on the basis of being eligible for benefits is very short sighted. You never no when you might end up down on your luck and here waiting for this ‘reward’. Plenty of people are hard working but unfortunately still eligible for benefits.

You are making a choice though. That choice is to put an extra effort into your house.

Other people are making other choices. It might be going away on hols. Again it’s their choice.

What is unlikely to happen is said UC claimants who will be able to buy a house because it would saving for a deposit and you can’t have more than £6k savings to receive full UC (unless they already had bought the house of course). So on that one you are really lucky to not have the uncertainty coming with renting. (and the value if the house etc etc)

So bring jealous of other people because they’ve made a different choice than you in where to spend their money is weird to me tbh

I'm not working now (unpaid mat leave) but I am living off savings and the mortgage charter has changed my mortgage to interest only. I have always been a big saver because of rainy days- it's a rainy day now. My savings mean that I can't get universal credit sadly!

About 40% of UC claimants are in employment; that’s not most. Most (60%) UC claimants are not in employment. What other benefits do you include in your “most” for claimants?
https://lginform.local.gov.uk/reports/lgastandard?mod-metric=13382&mod-area=E92000001&mod-group=AllRegions_England&mod-type=namedComparisonGroup

Is it correct that recipients do not pay tax on their UC,- does this mean that their earnings (excluding UC) can be taxable (including NI) if above the personal allowance.

Say someone earns £15000 per year and receives £8000 in UC payments. They pay no tax on the £8000 as some of it is expenses like rent and childcare.

Do they get taxed and NI'd as normal on the £2300 above their personal allowance. It has never been clear how it works.