The recession, benefits, the safety net, and the learning curve

ceridwen

Still pondering on that £15 per week for food - I couldnt do it....even if I were prepared to give up the only coffee I like (ie the "real" stuff) and save myself the estimated £5 per week that costs me - but, INTRW, I'd keep buying the coffee and would only have about £10 per week for food. INTRW I'd never be able to get to supermarkets at their cheapie reduction time (as I'd be in the middle of my "evening" by then - ensconced in a meeting of one of my groups or well into reading a book) and anyway supermarkets rarely have basic vegetarian food reduced to pennies ever.....we've apparently got more money than most (cant say I'd noticed:rolleyes:).

So - we then go on to "having a life". My social life is very cheap - it doesnt cost much to have half a pint of lager at a meeting if push comes to shove - and most of them these days are teetotal (but I then have to put in my contribution towards the cost of room hire - as I dont believe in "riding on the back of others" and so I pay my way). One does need to "have a life" obviously - otherwise whats the point? (NB: Feet VERY firmly dug into the floor at doing endless tv watching - I dont watch tv programmes from one week to the next normally - so am certainly not going to sit doing so endlessly to "let the government off the hook" about giving the unemployed enough to live on.)

How do you "have a life" on that money Max?

SingleSue

I used to think that way too ceridwen.....the upshot of it is you have a life but it is different.

My social life is zip, no nights out with the girls, no visits to the pub, only very occasional cinema visits during school holidays to give the children something to do (can't take them out to places like the zoo etc as it is way way to expensive), no meals out with friends...basically, anything that costs money goes out the window unless it is a special treat or a one off (as in once per year!)

So what do I do? Well I don't really watch television but I have found the time not socialising is very good for studying and general knowledge gathering. In the summer, I take the children to the beach, costs nothing as I live just outside a seaside town and my parents live in a house right on the sea front so they will bring the occasional cup of tea onto the beach for me.

It is the same with holidays...yes I still have one but not expensive ones, I either borrow my parents static caravan ( the rent of which is repaid via odd jobs for my parents, PC upkeep, computer training, general advice, letter writer etc) or as this year, one of their friends ones which my parents have managed to come to an agreement with but there is no expensive nights out at the club house or days out, we spend all day by the swimming pool or go to the beach and for drinks, get free water from the swimming pool bar or take bottled (tap) water with us to the beach.

For the club house at night, the children are given 50p each to get a cordial and I have the free jugs of water given out at the bar.

I have become a master at having no official spending money on holiday but just having our normal food and fuel money to use....and our holidays are the best they have been for years. I now wonder how we ever managed to get through the money we used to on holiday, £30 a night was not unusual at the club and our whole spending money budget was a whopping £600+ for the fortnight (and didn't even include the fuel cost of getting there or even food!)...now it is about £80-100 for everything for two weeks.

PasturesNew

As a single person IN work I found things a struggle. A holiday for one can cost as much as a holiday for 2-4 because the accommodation cost is fixed. Travel in a car is the same for one or four.

As for socialising, when you go out people want to buy rounds or split the cost of meals - and if you can't afford to do that then you're picked on as being "mean"; you're not asking them to pay for you, but if you try to opt for "the £6 mail course only and a jug of water" while others are on starters, king prawn mains, bottle of wine and some beers" then want to split the meal when their cost has come to £30 it's not fair ... so you stop going. You can afford your £6, but not the £18 'split the meal' cost. If you can grip half a cider all night you're called all sorts of names as others want/expect rounds to be bought (expensively and frequently). So you quickly withdraw.

As for making friends when you go out - you don't because others have a family at home and coming out is just one thing they do before rushing back to their family. Others might be planning going somewhere, that you can't afford. And nobody ever wants to "do nothing, for free, just hang out".

Those with families have that contact. Singles don't. Singles aren't all 20-something with loads of friends in the area - once they've got kids/family your paths no longer cross as they mix with people just like them.

Max_Headroom_3

SingleSue wrote: »

Blimey, she gets more maintenance for one child (the lowest amount you quoted) than I get for 3!

Sue, clearly the lesson here is that if you're going to do these things properly, you must be very careful who you get "accidentally" pregnant by!

The bigger rate of maintenance apparently just wipes out most of her income support so were she only getting the one (lower) amount she'd be still getting pretty much the same anyway. :rolleyes:

Anyway, happy days, I'm off to get pregnant.

Oh wait, I've just realised a tiny flaw with that plan...

SingleSue

Lol Max...maybe that was my mistake, I didn't get pregnant accidentally and only with one man (who happened to be my husband)!

Actually having a second think about it, with that amount of maintenance, I am not sure she should be getting any income support as the amount exceed what she would get in IS (unless she was one of the old ones who got the child allowances as part of her IS instead of one of the newer claimants who get that as CTC, although I would assume everyone would have changed over by now).

Well at least I can't increase the pressure on the public purse from what I currently get...I also have a tiny flaw in being able to get pregnant again!

harryhound

How many 16 year olds realise that "The bAAbee" concept cannot be a life time career?

Has anyone else read "No Mean City", a description of "sink estate" unemployment in 30's Glasgow?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Mean_City.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yuo71H4m5is
In that book there is a discussion about the economics of improving your living conditions by getting up the duff.
I have a nasty feeling that the economy is going full circle, because unlike 75 years ago, there is a significant number of people that are unemployable in our high tech. world, certainly unemployable at current minimum pay rates..

Harry

PS
Sue, as a member of a household that used to be able to claim attendance allowance (AA); do I recall that your household qualifies for some sort of similar support?

PPS
IS instead of one of the newer claimants who get that as CTC,
I'm not very good at the TLA's. Am I right in guessing that "IS" is income support and "CTC" is child tax credit?
How do they differ technically and in method of payment?

PPPS
Sue, how would you manage if you had (say) emigrated and did not have your family network to help support you (given that everything else stayed the same)?

Max_Headroom_3

harryhound wrote: »

How many 16 year olds realise that "The bAAbee" concept cannot be a life time career?

How many 16 year olds going the "career pregnancy route" think that far ahead? Or at all in fact!

To be fair, I don't know that the girl in question genuinely falls into this category, or was just stupid/careless/whatever.

But the fact remains that she's able to carve out a perfectly comfortable life out of it, which is exactly what I said when we started all this.

And she's far from alone in doing so, I can think of three or four others that I know of personally, without thinking too hard about it.

PasturesNew

Max_Headroom wrote: »

How many 16 year olds going the "career pregnancy route" think that far ahead? Or at all in fact!

To be fair, I don't know that the girl in question genuinely falls into this category, or was just stupid/careless/whatever.

But the fact remains that she's able to carve out a perfectly comfortable life out of it, which is exactly what I said when we started all this.

And she's far from alone in doing so, I can think of three or four others that I know of personally, without thinking too hard about it.

If you keep your nose clean, you can foster - that pays oodles. Or adopt.

Max_Headroom_3

Hmmm... I wonder whether, as a single (and unemployed) male I would be able to?

I know someone who works with foster care, I'll see if I can find out (not that I'm planning to do it you understand, those that do do this must be seriously dedicated people I'm sure).

SingleSue

harryhound wrote: »

PS
Sue, as a member of a household that used to be able to claim attendance allowance (AA); do I recall that your household qualifies for some sort of similar support?

PPS
IS instead of one of the newer claimants who get that as CTC,
I'm not very good at the TLA's. Am I right in guessing that "IS" is income support and "CTC" is child tax credit?
How do they differ technically and in method of payment?

PPPS
Sue, how would you manage if you had (say) emigrated and did not have your family network to help support you (given that everything else stayed the same)?

On the first point, my youngest son receives DLA, my middle son although disabled, does not (long story). It is not extra money to be spent as we wish though as all the special foods, extra cleaning, fuel for therapy and the therapy itself takes all (plus more!) of the DLA. I get a carers allowance which helps to make up the shortfall in the costs left over after the DLA has run out.

IS is income support, CTC is child tax credit, DLA is disability living allowance.

The family support network is not as strong as others, my parents only look after the children on rare occasions and my brother and sister have their own children to look after. The children's father couldn't give two hoots for his children although he does say he loves them (the children think he has a funny way of showing it though) and has had them for the grand total equivalent of 3 days in the last 3 years.

The financial assistance from my parents, well they don't actually give me money, our family has never worked like that...it is either loans which, yes are interest free but MUST be paid back on a weekly basis without fail, or to be earnt via doing jobs for them. They do have a habit of making more food than they need and we will sometimes receive the leftovers when we go around....not that I am complaining because they are not leftovers on the plate but leftovers in the stew or soup pot!

If I moved abroad, yes I would be able to cope and probably just as well as I do now, I am a very independent sort of person and don't like to be pitied...which has caused problems in the past because I am the sort to not ask for help and can get a bit touchy if I perceive others are trying to help through pity. My parents have often said they feel like they are stepping on dodgy ground when they want to help me out because I am apt to get a bit uppitty and offended! :rotfl:

I see it as a weakness to ask for help....and weakness in my book is a failing.

I don't like failure.