Whats happened to "no family on beneits will be better off than a working family"!?!?

[Rhi_Rhi1]

agreed 100 % ^^

 

[bump_wanted]

yeah i agree, but i cant understand how anyone can live comfortably on benefits i mean we have been there and its a struggle thankfully now DH is back at work and im at home we are only about £100 better off but for us it was about working for what we have as cheesey as that may sound i think a lot of people (not talking about OP) have lost the want to work to provide for their family xx

 

[cuteboots]

I work in a government council that pays Housing benefit, ive worked in homeless, I know how it quickly a families life can change from being one where the family is working to one where a family can be effected by the job lose and can end up, losing their homes and having to claim benefit
Maybe its different here but you do not get all your rent paid unless you live in a council house and are a family and entitled to income support, other benefits don't qualify. Ive 3 children and wondered would I be better off not working, the answer is No, Id qualify for 126 a week child tax and 65 a week income support, even if I received housing benefit for some of my rent, this wouldn't cover my outgoings. So yes while it seems that some people are getting "tax payers money" (child tax, working tax and CB are also forms of this) I am greatful that I have a job even if I dont have money left over to spare. No one knows the day that they may have to claim benefits.

 

[angelic_one]

I work in a government council that pays Housing benefit, ive worked in homeless, I know how it quickly a families life can change from being one where the family is working to one where a family can be effected by the job lose and can end up, losing their homes and having to claim benefit
Maybe its different here but you do not get all your rent paid unless you live in a council house and are a family and entitled to income support, other benefits don't qualify. Ive 3 children and wondered would I be better off not working, the answer is No, Id qualify for 126 a week child tax and 65 a week income support, even if I received housing benefit for some of my rent, this wouldn't cover my outgoings. So yes while it seems that some people are getting "tax payers money" (child tax, working tax and CB are also forms of this) I am greatful that I have a job even if I dont have money left over to spare. No one knows the day that they may have to claim benefits.

I agree with this entirely. I've worked full or part time since I was 15, currently have a part time job, 8 hours a week while I'm at uni which would've been fine...when I got pregnant I planned to carry on my course which meant I'd have my loans & Wages to pay my rent and to get by on, and later on loans & MA. Then all of a sudden it became apparent that I couldn't carry on uni and had to drop out last minute...therefore, no loans....but a contract on a shared house that I couldn't get out of! So I had to get housing benefit for the last couple of months...well I'm supposed to be getting it but they still haven't sorted it out and I haven't seen a penny so far. I'm lucky to have such a lovely landlady, and that the uni have decided to look after me.. I'm sure most people would be out on the streets by now. You don't know what's going to happen.

As for being better off on benefits, yeah I'd have been roughly the same for the last few months but if I'd have been on benefits I wouldn't be entitled to MA, and i'm going to be MUCH better off when I am. And personally even though I was the same off...I was only doing 8 hours! If I was doing more, I'd have been better off! And most days I'd take those 8 hours over sitting at home on my ass any day!

Obviously there are people who take the piss. But the problem is nowhere near as big as people think it is, and the benefits should be there for people who need them, and they should be enough for them to be okay!

 

[swordsman]

Obviously there are people who take the piss. But the problem is nowhere near as big as people think it is, and the benefits should be there for people who need them, and they should be enough for them to be okay!

I'm sorry, but I just can't agree with that. As an example of how I believe it IS a big problem, over the last few years the bill for paying housing benefit alone has gone up from £10bn to £21bn!

I feel genuinely fortunate, privileged and thankful that myself and my OH are both in well paid careers and don't have financial worries, albeit after many years of study (I did 9 years of study AFTER normal school leaving age, including working 40hrs per week at the same time as doing an honours degree ). Even after taking the gruelling years of combined work and study into account and the fact that we both pay a large sum in tax/NI each month, I don't think that the unfairness of the welfare system bothers me anywhere near so much as it must for those who are working hard to provide for their loved ones, yet find themselves in a worse position than those who don't even try.

I really don't begrudge people receiving the benefits they need to survive until they are at a better place in their lives/careers and it truly saddens and upsets me to read how some are really struggling to provide for themselves and their children, despite doing their best to work etc. (I admit to being a big softie where the welfare and happiness of little ones is concerned.)

I would love for everyone in the country to be able to have a decent standard of living and all the happiness and dignity that goes with it, but seriously, even if you don't think there's a problem at the moment, where do you think the money will come from to pay for it all?

 

[swordsman]

Sorry to cuteboots for making a mess of the quoting in my previous post. Somehow I've managed to end up with the wrong person named as the original poster of the comment!

 

[AnnaHughes]

after all esential bills are paid each month we will be left with £900 each month for groceries etc.

Well that says it all really - £900 per month TO SPEND?????? - ridiculous, i work, so does DH, and we have around £300 per month after all bills/direct debits paid, and that £300 has to feed/clothe/take us out etc

It is entierly wrong that when i go out to work, and get paid, my salary goes towards utilities,mortgage, council tax etc, leaving me with just a few hundred a month, when pple like you get all those things paid for, and a heck of a lot of disposable income

Some pple really do need those benefits, and David Cameron is wholly right to say that NO family who doesnt work should earn more that those that do.

That statement is not saying that those that work will get paid more, its that those who are 'enjoying' those benefits now, soon wont be, so make the most of them, they are rightly so, being cut

 

[AnnaHughes]

Oh, and, once LO arrives, we will also bee needing to move to a bigger house as there is absolutely no where I can fit a baby in once she has to move into her cot (ive squeezed a moses basket into my bedroom, and my other childrens bedrooms dont even have wardrobes in them coz theres only room for their beds!)
Which means the rent bill will be going up, but.. we wont be entitled to any extra housing benefit!

If i want to move, to get a bigger house, i have to save up (so eating into my £300 per month disposable income), to put a substantial deposit towards a bigger house, and then get a bigger mortgage, simple - no little fairy in my house will be magically paying for things for me - so please dont moan that your benefit wont increase! at least you get some of it paid!!!!

 

[Mrs-C]

I think people miss the point when they talk about benefits. It's not that people who are on them should be any worse off. It's that people who work should be MUCH BETTER off than they are! Specifically working families. And a major part of this is how ridiculously expensive childcare is in this country. If the government tried to tackle this properly it'd be a bloody good start!

I agree about the childcare - it's almost my whole wage, and I'm not near minimum wage! After our bills etc we have little left for ourselves. We'll have less when bubs arrives. I have to work overtime to pay for luxuries like trips out and to help with Chirstmas etc.

Childcare costs need to be controlled. Our local nurseries charge £50 a day for a young child. That's £1000 a month - more than minimum wage!

That someone can afford 4 kids and have £800 of 'free' money upsets me. We have nothing like that for ourselves, and we work hard, full time every week.

Working families should be better off than those who have to claim - otherwise, where is the incentive for people to go back to work?

 

[Abz1982]

You have about £800 left after bills? Holy crap! That is more than we have most months by about £400!! And thats us both working 40 hour weeks . IF we want to have more OH has ot work more hours - he was doing 56 hour weeks for 5 weeks so that we could pay of stuff.

We also are in a council property...... We want to move to a better property, but that will cost us about £700+ a month in rent for a 2 bed, which means deffo no more kids as we would need my wage.

As for child care - yes it is expensive. We are £40 a day - but you get a 10% discount if you are in 5 days a week. But that's for 10 hours........so £4 an hour. Which if it was a child minder is UNDER minimum wage....still it is half my hourly wage. I don't really see how they can make it cheaper unless they give ALL childcare places a subsidy - as the nursery Emma is at has about what, 8 kids and 6 staff.......I doubt they make a profit, and probably only break even after rates and insurance is paid.


Just to ad..........I do see what OP is on about. It is crap that if she was to go to work she would be worse off.
However..........if she had less children she wouldn't be.

 

[angelic_one]

Obviously there are people who take the piss. But the problem is nowhere near as big as people think it is, and the benefits should be there for people who need them, and they should be enough for them to be okay!

I would love for everyone in the country to be able to have a decent standard of living and all the happiness and dignity that goes with it, but seriously, even if you don't think there's a problem at the moment, where do you think the money will come from to pay for it all?

Well, the goverment just saved billions of pounds without barely having to touch the benefit system... Mostly by getting rid of ridiculous wasteful 'projects' not by taking money from every day people who may need it to get by... And they're trying to make it more difficult for people to just spend all their lives on benefits while not taking money from people who need it, which is not a simple thing to do. So yeah, people taking the piss on benefits were a slight problem, blown out of proportion by the media and in the process of being fixed..

The price of childcare is a much worse issue and is one of the main reasons it's more affordable not to work. I read an article in a pregnancy magazine the other day, unfortunately i cant find it to quote it now, but we have one of the highest childcare bills in the world! By a long way!

I understand where people are coming from, as i used to have a massive problem with benefits. But after witnessing such ridiculous government waste of money in other areas first hand, i've totally changed my opinion. The thousands of levels of management in the nhs, the ridiculous quangos which should never have been set up... Just one example of waste, my best mate works for aimhigher and gets paid like £9 an hour to talk to some kids about maybe going to uni. They have like 6 aimhigher staff per class. Sometimes she does 4 hours and gets paid 8, "just because". Oh and we still pay for her lunches. Aimhigher is getting scrapped next year and even she just says it's a good thing, that they do some good but it's a waste of money. I personally would rather my tax money go to someone whose just lost their job and is most likely having a crap time of it!

 

[MikaylasMummy]

aw thats horrible!it makes it so hard for people and also on the government!!do they not understand theyr making it harder on themselves??they should reward people who become working families with small benefits and then more people will be inclined to do so meaning the government needs to give out less money as the people are working but the people who work also dont miss out!see what i mean??
me and oh together will earn about $95,000 this financial year(our estimate given to centrelink..social services.) and still recieve $137 a fortnight family tax benefit for one child!i find that a bit crazy that we STILL get some money from the government even though we earn quite a bit more than the average family!and that will probably go up another $100 a fortnight when bub #2 comes along..i think our system here in aus is pretty fair..you only get rent ASSISTANCE if u are a single parent and that is only a portion of your rent..most single mothers i know have jobs also and their childcare is subsidised a fair bit and fair enough..i know my single friends working and on benefits are certainly not better off than me and oh with me quitting work for good in 2 weeks time.
i hope ur government gets a bit fairer with that sort of thing and hands the money out in a way that benefits everyone!

 

[gemabee]

just gonna put my 2 pence in... i'm goin to be a single mum very soon (dependin on how lazy this little man is gonna be!)... i used all the calculators on the web nd found out that due to childcare costs... i'll be no better off workin that i will be workin.
BUT i have pride... i will be goin back to work... i was brought up to think that if i wanted somethin, i was to go out nd get it myself... so thats what i'm gonna do.

 

[Harveysmum369]

Bloody hell!£800 after bills???My husband was on JSA for a year and we were lucky if we had any money after bills-I am a stay at home mum,but I'm looking for a job as we ARE better off working...no doubt about that.You would still get some help with your rent/council tax anyway if you were working.x

 

[Ju_bubbs]

Just to clarify to the few people who seem to be thinking when OH moves in we will be left with 900 each month to do with as we please, I am not. That 900 is after direct debits/rent etc have gone out my bank. Yes, it sounds like a lot, but still leaving things to pay for such as...

enough food to feed us all (I already make everything from scratch so its cheaper, not like I'm going out buying extravagant food stuffs)

replacing kids worn out school uniforms/clothes/shoes (that cost me over £300 this september due to their school requiring very specific items)

other clothes/toiletries/household cleaning products (all of which I use tesco value)

fuel to school/work, we both run diesel cars but it still comes to a LOT considering OH would be traveling 100 miles a day to work and 200 miles on sundays due to split shifts (which is 700 miles a week costing £100 a week putting our monthly budget down to £500),

tax and mot for 2 cars since neither school or work are within walking distance or bus routes,

bday/xmas presents, hair cuts etc.

Not to mention the fact that our rent will be increasing by another 150 a month atleast just so we have somewhere to put the baby. So thats our 900 straight down to 350 a month after OH's fuel to work and rent!

So, to clarify thats £87.50 a week left for everything else listed above.

I'm not at all saying I'm proud of currently being 'better off' on benefits, I was simply ranting that we're going to be worse off working 50 hours a week. That figure means we're gunna have to eat beans on toast most the month just so we all have food everyday!... thats the kind of thing I'd expect and be happy to have to do on benfits, NOT as a working family!

As for the people talking about having to save up for mortgages etc, I dont have a problem with having to save for things, the problem I've got is we're going to have to save up when we need a new tube of toothpaste, let alone a mortgage!

 

[natty1985]

Erm one word ..... PRIDE ..

Why not make your kids proud of their mum and Dad?

Im sorry but we live off £300 a month to buy food etc , we have a nice house and a nice quality of life ,, i know we could have a better car, home , clothes etc going on benefits and OH quiiting work, and i understand what your saying but when all is said and done, the world goes around by people going out to work every day and id prefer to have a run down car i pay for myself and my kids know we have worked hard for it than a brand new car because i sit on my bum!!

 

[Ju_bubbs]

Excuse me? Please dont be so rude.. have I said once that OH is going to quit work before moving in so we can both be on benefits and have more money?

My kids are proud of me, proud of me for having to struggle on benefits while raising them alone for a few years and going without so they can have things, proud of me running my own business for a couple of years, and are proud of their dad (not my OH) for running his own business for several years.

I'm not sure if you have even read what this thread is actually about, but I am sure they will now be proud that we are now coming off benefits again, even tho it's going to be one hell of a struggle.

 

[Rhi_Rhi1]

wow .. we cant afford to run two cars :/ (jealous! lol) we have about 100 pounds spare a month.. and i have to buy everything like you do ... toiletries clothes petrol nursery costs etc ... i would say tbh 900 is alot to alot of people! might not seem alot to you! but its do-able! but i suppose people could argue and say that i should turn my net off... or my phone line.. or get rid of my car ... well psssh to them lol .. my oh works hard for our money and people are always telling us to go without! so annoying! .. yet people on benefits can afford it all no problem! (mostly)

 

[Ju_bubbs]

Well, we cant afford to run 2 cars either but really have no other choice unless we either dont send the kids to school or OH quits work lol!

And yes, I'm sure peolple would also say to me, oh you dont need a phone line, or internet etc.. but like you... OH will be working bloody hard, why should we have to give up things that I could afford on benefits!? Tho I think the landline and internet will be having to go as soon as the contracts are up, especially when I go back to work too!

EDIT: I suppose it could easily be sorted by moving out of cornwall 2nd to some parts of London, Cornwall has the highest living cost, and lowest wages unfortunately!

 

[Rhi_Rhi1]

Well, we cant afford to run 2 cars either but really have no other choice unless we either dont send the kids to school or OH quits work lol!

And yes, I'm sure peolple would also say to me, oh you dont need a phone line, or internet etc.. but like you... OH will be working bloody hard, why should we have to give up things that I could afford on benefits!? Tho I think the landline and internet will be having to go as soon as the contracts are up, especially when I go back to work too!

EDIT: I suppose it could easily be sorted by moving out of cornwall 2nd to some parts of London, Cornwall has the highest living cost, and lowest wages unfortunately!

oh where abouts in cornwall are you from !? me and my oh want to move there, but living costs are far to high (like u say) ! we looked at renting but omg! priceyyyyy! lol x