£70 out of pocket because I work

pookie5488

dd is in p6 and just came home from school with two letters.

£35 uniform allowance now available for primary school children, yippee I thought then noticed at the bottom of the letter..."only available to children who receive free school meals"!!

2nd letter about the entrance exams for grammar schools £35 fee (why, should we pay anything when 11 + was free and where is this money going?) and again children who receive free school meals are exempt from paying the fee!!!:mad::mad:

Before I get flamed I realise that you can work and get free school meals if you are on a low income, but I just find the whole system totally unfair. Could you imagine the outcry if we received a letter asking for money stating children who do NOT qualify for free school meals exempt from paying???

Money_Grabber13579

I know the exact frustration you feel. When I was in 6th year, many people got the £30 Education Maintenance Allowance. I didn't because my parents actually earned their way in life rather than sponging off everyone else. It seems to me that if you slave away at work, you are worse off than if you just sit on your !!! all day long.

Pretani

I know a man with 4 kids who stopped working 15 years ago as he would have to be earning £350/week to break even. Unskilled/uneducated jobs paying £350/week are few and far between.

The system is flawed big time!

Artofdookie

Pretani wrote: »

I know a man with 4 kids who stopped working 15 years ago as he would have to be earning £350/week to break even. Unskilled/uneducated jobs paying £350/week are few and far between.

The system is flawed big time!

How does he get away without going to interviews etc, My daughter signed on for 6 weeks after she left college until she found a job and everytime she signed on they were at her to prove she was looking for work?

snowmen

Pretani wrote: »

I know a man with 4 kids who stopped working 15 years ago as he would have to be earning £350/week to break even. Unskilled/uneducated jobs paying £350/week are few and far between.

The system is flawed big time!

we are coming up to this kind of decision ourselves when the wife goes back to work in a couple of months. Is there a place to go to work out how we would be financially if she went back part time or full time?
as above - no point working for no benefit.

dmurray0

snowmen wrote: »

we are coming up to this kind of decision ourselves when the wife goes back to work in a couple of months. Is there a place to go to work out how we would be financially if she went back part time or full time?
as above - no point working for no benefit.

Hi, Yes there is. Go to your local Jobs and Benefits Office. Ask to speak to a Personal Adviser. Ask them to do a "Better Off Calculation" for you. They have it on their desktops. I should know....I am one!!!!!

Money_Grabber13579

And then when you do work, the most of it is taken straight back off you in stealth taxes. Makes me mad!:mad::mad::mad:

Irishmummyof2

There is also this website

http://www.entitledto.co.uk/

miffy's_hat

I know the system is wrong, but I know 2 ladies who have worked as cleaners for years and have told me they work for £5 more than if they sat at home, but they work because it gives them a purpose and sets a good example to their kids. The earlier reply about the man with kids and not working made me sad. Unless the loss of benefit made a huge difference, I would be saying 'what am I teaching my kids?' That it's ok not to work? Maybe their mother could try working too.
Beside me are 2 families who don't work and are getting benefits. I work hard to pay a mortgage and one house has 3 people in a 4 bed detached privately rented house, paid by the HE. She told me this herself! The kids have moved from other housing estates and don't care about anyone else's property. They have done a long list of damage to my house, usually when I am out. They other family don't work and live in an even bigger house. I could sit in my house and not work and not try to and sponge off everyone else. I know not everyone unemployed can get work so easily, but why are we paying to house these people in new build houses where I have to work my ???? off to keep and they do nothing?? I have always worked, sometimes for nothing at all, just to have some self respect and to teach my son that you pay your own way in lfe. Sorry if this is a rant, I know it doesn't apply to everyone, people can fall on hard times, I am talking about people who don't want to work at all!:mad::mad:

carlamagee

it infuriates me......but is there ever anything "fair" in life!??

rjh090384

a girl i know claims she is a single parent because even though she is living with her boyfriend she is still registered at her parents address she gets about £500 if not more tax credits a month , free dental tx etc plus her benefit - she also works full time and her mum takes car eof the wee one so no childcare and is living a life of luxury in designer clothes etc - whereas ai know we are better off than a lot but i have to work to pay my mortgage so the governemnt give us £40 a month- she doesnt even have a mortgage!! and my kid gets clothes off ebay and the last tshirt i bought was 4 years ago and my jeans are from asda - and she paid for her dental tx last time because she couldnt be bothered fill out the form and anyway its only £20 she said
£20 is a lot to most people
agreed it also infuriates me