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

[Rhi_Rhi1]

buses on my street are every 10 mins i might not get to live near a beach BUT i can get the bus every ten minutes..
it is true tho ure buses are shit!

 

[toffee87]

It'd be a much better world if they provided low cost childcare, and people would be able to afford to work. The system is very messed up!

 

[Jody R]

Ju_bubbs I hope you are okay

I think I understood your point in your OP, you are frustrated that the government are making these statements that sound good on TV but don't fit your reality.

It is hard for families and I think we are discussing an issue that has many levels, when really all you wanted to do was vent your frustrations about your own situation.

I can see how galling it must be to know that your family is going to be adversely affected while someone whose family earns hundreds of thousands of pounds goes on TV to say how we are all struggling together and working people are better off when you know it's not true.

This situation about benefits/work and who is better off will always be controversial and sadly so many people seem to fall into a gap inbetween and struggle no matter what they do.

I agree with those who have said affordable childcare for all needs to be a government priority because that could make all the difference to getting a family back to work.

 

[beckibee]

Your figures show you will be better off with your partner working- by £100 per month. It won't cost you £100 extra per month to feed your OH and a baby, and I can't imagine your electric/ gas going up by much if any either seeing as you have to heat the house anyway for the 4 of you. Prescriptions are free for everyone now are they not? (In Northern Ireland anyway.) Dental you will get free for a year and the kids are free. So not exactly a massive saving if you did get it all free.

I also think £900 is a huge amount of money to have left over after bills.

Agreed! £900 is a hell of alot of money to able to play around with! We have £50 maybe a little more after bills, we cant go out, cant afford petrol, once the food has run out thats it!!! I dont want to offend but it makes me quite mad when people complain when they basically are living almost in luxury compared to some! xxx

 

[beckibee]

Oh and i for got to add that my OH works full time, pays the mortgage, council tax, water, electric......

 

[rubixcyoob.]

I think people love bashing those of benefits.

This post was not for the OP to flaunt what she has. To flaunt what she will have.

It is to show how our government is saying one thing about benefits and work whereas in reality everything is exceptionally different.

Stop being mean, stop bashing etc. Its uncalled for.

 

[luckdragon]

I don't think this thread was made for anyone to bash anyone. Simply to highlight how people are better off on benefits than they are working, most of the time.

The fact it has turned nasty when it wasn't needed is just sad. If anything we should be complaining to the government about this, reducing benefits drastically for everyone and stopping cuts in the private sector, instead encouraging more jobs.

No one on benefits should be better off than someone working like a slave all week. Yet, sadly, that doesn't seem to be the case. Something is seriously effed up here.

totaly agreed so please mr osbourne do not cut childcare costs becasue i was very good at the job i had before i had my baby and would like to go back there and not end up £30 a week less off

 

[luckdragon]

Well.. this thread wasn't meant to yet another debate about how bad the benefits system was!

To all the poeple saying I'll have loads of money coz you manage find with 500 left over with your 1 or 2 kids in cheap places of the country.. I'm jealous! Try living in Cornwall, with 6 people to provide for.

Also, I've been a single parent working. The help with childcare that the government shout about itsn't quite what it seems.. again, brilliant if you have 1,2 children, but when it comes to 3 or 4 children, its a whole different story. I had to give up work and go back on benefits because the child care alone was more than my wages WITH the government childcare help!

2 cars is also not a luxury when you live in remote areas of Cornwall with work and school 55 miles in opposite directions. Unlike some bigger towns and cities in the UK, we're lucky to get 3 buses a DAY not an hour like upcountry, and none of those buses go anywhere near the childrens school, or OH's work, especially not at 4.30 in the morning when OH starts work!

Anyway, I'm going to leave this thread now, coz to be quite honest some of the comments are quite upsetting and come across as tho I've sat on benefits living the life of luxury all my life and proud of it, or something.

same chick. hugs. xxxxxx

 

[MrsBandEgglet]

Ju_bubbs, I have virtually no understanding of the benefits system at all, it really confuses me We received CTC based on my SMP but from what I can gather now I'm back to work (part time) that is going to dramatically decrease. I got the impression from your post you're not somebody taking advantage of the system in any way at all, but when I first read that you had £800 left after all your main bills I was lost for words Then you broke it all down and mentioned about living in Cornwall and it stands to reason your living expenses are gonna be a lot, lot higher. I used to live in Cornwall (Falmouth) and we had to leave because we just couldn't afford it, it was horrendous. We rented a teeny tinny bedsit at £350 a month (one room and a miniscule bathroom), it was smaller than my sitting room now and we paid £120 a month CT on that too which was just scandalous. There were 8 bedsits like that in the property so Carrick council was getting nearly a grand in council tax alone from that one property It's such an expensive place to live, even to the point where food seemed cheaper when we moved back up north. Public transport was sporadic and overpriced and jobs were sparce outside the summer months. It's beautiful but we would never ever have been able to afford to have a family whilst living there
Still, we now just about manage to save between £200-£300 a month after everything including food, because we know we can't rely on benefits and I don't actually want to. I seriously think the govt will announce more and more cuts and the benefits system will take a huge hit from it and so I'd rather work a bit more and not think I have the money coming through CTC or WTC etc etc because I think inevitably it won't be there indefinately. I wish I didn't have to work as much as I do and I could be at home with my son but as proud and happy as he makes me, bringing home a paycheck that will help feed and clothe him gives me a surprising amount of happiness and pride too.

 

[MrsBop]

I haven't had time to read all the replies but surely if you are with your baby's father living together or not, you are not a single parent but part of a couple and he should be supporting you and your baby. Your other childrens father/s should be supporting them!

 

[bloodbinds]

I am currently working part-time at the moment, and i would be much better off if i just quit my job! It's ridiculous!!

 

[N1kki]

i give up with this government,they say your better off but depends on your job and the wage your gona earn!

 

[hotpinkangel]

My ex left me and my daughter and walked out, I had no choice but to claim income support and I hated it. 6 months I was on it, and although I was very grateful, some weeks I could hardly afford to feed myself, I just made sure my DD had everything she needed. Now I am a SAHM and my DF works full time to support us all, I'd have loved to have worked but childcare for 2 children for 20 hours a week would cost more than I'd earn, so we'd be around 200 worse off with me working. It's not right. X

 

[Mandy_2009]

Well.. this thread wasn't meant to yet another debate about how bad the benefits system was!

To all the poeple saying I'll have loads of money coz you manage find with 500 left over with your 1 or 2 kids in cheap places of the country.. I'm jealous! Try living in Cornwall, with 6 people to provide for.

Also, I've been a single parent working. The help with childcare that the government shout about itsn't quite what it seems.. again, brilliant if you have 1,2 children, but when it comes to 3 or 4 children, its a whole different story. I had to give up work and go back on benefits because the child care alone was more than my wages WITH the government childcare help!

2 cars is also not a luxury when you live in remote areas of Cornwall with work and school 55 miles in opposite directions. Unlike some bigger towns and cities in the UK, we're lucky to get 3 buses a DAY not an hour like upcountry, and none of those buses go anywhere near the childrens school, or OH's work, especially not at 4.30 in the morning when OH starts work!

Anyway, I'm going to leave this thread now, coz to be quite honest some of the comments are quite upsetting and come across as tho I've sat on benefits living the life of luxury all my life and proud of it, or something.

Ok so i've just read up to this quote above and well - it's ur issue that u have 6 people to provide for. and why are u explaining about where u live? IT IS A LUXURY TO HAVE TWO CARS ON BENEFITS especially when people who work can't even afford one car.

Wouldn't u thought about moving somewhere else ages ago to get of the benefits and feel better about urself?

 

[Kimboowee]

Excuse me ladies, I just need to rant about this!!!

The title is obviously a statement that was made my er.. I assume it was david cameron (im useless with politics) last week or the week before while I was sat watching the latest announcements of cuts and what not.

Now I can not understand how he can stand there and say, with a straight face, that no family on benefits will be better off than a working family!!!

Atm I live on my own with 3 children, I'm on income support, get child tax credit, and all of my rent/council tax paid. After all the esential bills are paid, leccy, gas, water, phone etc... I have just under 800 a month left over for groceries and anything else I need/want.[/QUOTE]

My OH earns £800 a month and we have to pay all of those with that (We get tax credits too)

 

[rubixcyoob.]

Eugh people need to stop ripping apart the OP. Ffs she isn't flaunting anything. She is highlighting how effed our system is.

Why not take all your negative comments and fire them off at them instead of those on benefits? Hit the enablers not the people who are just playing by the rules.

 

[MrsBop]

Eugh people need to stop ripping apart the OP. Ffs she isn't flaunting anything. She is highlighting how effed our system is.

Why not take all your negative comments and fire them off at them instead of those on benefits? Hit the enablers not the people who are just playing by the rules.

Unfortunately any benefit thread always gets like this, it rubs people up the wrong way when people come on here pregnant again planned or not and brag about the money they get and the money they'd loose if FOB moved in It shouldn't be about that IMO it should be about providing a stable environment for your children and if you are with the FOB he should live with you Different if your a single parent but it's just wrong that OP is part of a couple yet taxpayers are going to pick up the bill for another child because they'd only get an extra £100 a month for luxuries !

 

[Penfelyn]

Wow - £800 a month TO SPEND?! My DH currently works full time, and once our mortgage and direct debits are paid we have around £150 a month to spend... this goes on groceries, petrol etc. We've also had all the baby stuff to buy out of that. We're fortunate as we've managed to get everything second hand (apart from the cot mattress and breast pump, which we got in half price sales) or given to us.
It maddens me that people are better off on benefits. I'm a student at the moment (having given up my well-paid career to retrain as a Doctor), and fell pregnant unexpectedly at the end of my first year. I'm taking a year out to have the baby then going back to study. We're struggling like crazy. We try to live a debt-free life. As in, if we can't afford it... we don't buy it. We've worked really hard to slowly pay our overdrafts off and close accounts etc, which is really difficult with £150 a month spare to pay for food/necessities for the two of us (soon to be 3 of us!).

As a student I don't get SMP, MA or any kind of income support and so our household income has plummeted as I no longer receive student finance either for the year (as I've withdrawn to have the baby).

Having said all this, I'm proud that my husband has a career and that, even though we struggle, we try to live as debt-free and 'hand out' free as possible. When I graduate in 4 years, we'll have a large combined income so it'll all be worth the struggle and hard work. And I hope my child can be proud that her parents struggled in order to provide her with a better life in the long run. I'm sure she'll be happier with parents in successful, fulfilling careers than to have us sat at home watching daytime TV everyday!

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

I think it depends itf people have more children whilst on benefits and then complain x

 

[Ju_bubbs]

Well.. this thread wasn't meant to yet another debate about how bad the benefits system was!

To all the poeple saying I'll have loads of money coz you manage find with 500 left over with your 1 or 2 kids in cheap places of the country.. I'm jealous! Try living in Cornwall, with 6 people to provide for.

Also, I've been a single parent working. The help with childcare that the government shout about itsn't quite what it seems.. again, brilliant if you have 1,2 children, but when it comes to 3 or 4 children, its a whole different story. I had to give up work and go back on benefits because the child care alone was more than my wages WITH the government childcare help!

2 cars is also not a luxury when you live in remote areas of Cornwall with work and school 55 miles in opposite directions. Unlike some bigger towns and cities in the UK, we're lucky to get 3 buses a DAY not an hour like upcountry, and none of those buses go anywhere near the childrens school, or OH's work, especially not at 4.30 in the morning when OH starts work!

Anyway, I'm going to leave this thread now, coz to be quite honest some of the comments are quite upsetting and come across as tho I've sat on benefits living the life of luxury all my life and proud of it, or something.

Ok so i've just read up to this quote above and well - it's ur issue that u have 6 people to provide for. and why are u explaining about where u live? IT IS A LUXURY TO HAVE TWO CARS ON BENEFITS especially when people who work can't even afford one car.

Wouldn't u thought about moving somewhere else ages ago to get of the benefits and feel better about urself?

I dont have 2 cars on benefits. We WILL have 2 cars when we come off benefits as Ive already said, due to OH working 50 miles in one direction and the children going to scool 10 miles in the other direction.

Why should I have to leave the place I was born and raised in, where all my family and friends are just so we can afford to work!? I'd be even worse off then coz there would be no one to help out!

I'm going to request that this thread be closed now.