Its a wonderful life... Want to try.....?? A Single parents View.. !!xx!

looby75

liney wrote:

I do not blame the people for claiming the benefits to which they are entitled; i do think the system needs overhauling.

Whilst the point of the site is money saving, the point of this thread was to tell everyone how difficult if was to be a single parent on benefits.

Being a single parent is one of the hardest jobs i can imagine, but having the option to save substantial (6k per year being £500 monthly...) amounts of money whilst not working does not show us that poverty is rife amoungst single parent on benefit.

People keep quoting these figures but honestly I doubt there is a single parent who is truly surviving on benefits alone that would be able to save that amount of money each and every month, if ever for that matter.

Fran

I think we have to be careful when deciding whether or not people can save while on benefits. It all depends on where you are before you go on to benefits. Also lumping all benefits together is not helpful. People on Disability Living Allowance for example would have more income than someone only on Jobseekers Allowance; this is for the extra costs of a disability but it might be the case that they can save some of this amount depending on what they actually need to spend for that reason. People going onto benefits from sporadic or poorly paid work don't start off from the same playing field as a higher earner in more regular work.

If by "saving" you are on the other hand going into debt in some other area, then this is not really a saving.

The thing about being a single parent is the total responsiblity, whether working or not. It's being on call 24 hours a day, and it doesn't matter which way you look at it that has to be difficult.

Kimberley

liney wrote:

Being a single parent is one of the hardest jobs i can imagine, but having the option to save substantial (6k per year being £500 monthly...) amounts of money whilst not working does not show us that poverty is rife amoungst single parent on benefit.

I agree, even when i was on IS to me it was a lot of money. Even now i'm working part time and getting working/child tax credits, i seem to have £300 left after all expenses etc.

I feel i get too much money, but you can't blame people who claim it, you have to blame the Government who give that much to the people.

No way are people on benefit worse of then they were years ago, and I don't understand those people in the programmes who show people struggling on benefit can say they are in poverty.

I don't think some kids live in poverty, i think the parents use the money on cigs/alcohol/drugs etc, and it's those parents who's kids live in poverty, because i know my kids never lived in poverty when i was on IS

rainbowrisin

liney wrote:

I do not blame the people for claiming the benefits to which they are entitled; i do think the system needs overhauling.

Whilst the point of the site is money saving, the point of this thread was to tell everyone how difficult if was to be a single parent on benefits.

Being a single parent is one of the hardest jobs i can imagine, but having the option to save substantial (6k per year being £500 monthly...) amounts of money whilst not working does not show us that poverty is rife amoungst single parent on benefit.

Being a single parent is difficult, but it all depends on how you deal with it.

Being on a low income is difficult, but it all depends on how you deal with it.

Poverty and hardship can, and does, happen to lots of people, regardless of income - read some of those pitiful threads on Debtfreewannabe where people bring in 1000s each month in earnings and are still struggling.

I think it's a shame that the OP finds life so miserable. I love my life. I find every day a challenge - looking for ways to make a few bob, looking after my children, doing things together, looking at ways to save a few bob.

Also, just because one person can save £500 / month it doesn't mean everybody can - whether on benefits or earning. Everyone's circumstances are different - if you give 2 people a pound and a month, there'll be one who'll be stoney broke in 30 minutes and the other who's made a profit of a few hundred.

I would suggest that single parents are more prone to poverty because, generally, they are trying to work and undertake / afford childcare, which isn't conducive to high earnings. That doesn't mean to say all single parents live in poverty.

Sometimes you don't have much say in the hand life deals you, but you do have a say in how you play it...and i say well done to anyone on a low income who sets a high savings target and strives to achieve it.;)

Becles

singlehouseholder wrote:

Thanks for that Becles, sadly on my bro's paltry income and whatever crumbs the govt throws them they wouldn't be able to afford to buy in this area. Neither would they want to move out of the area as they wouldn't want to take the two oldest boys out of school, or lose the support of the family, which helps the sister-in-law with twin toddlers when my bro's out grafting his bits off to pay for them all!!

You have my sympathies there.

The big reason I wanted to stay here was as my eldest was settled into a very good school, and both the boys and me have friends in the area who were of great support at the time my marriage broke up. I'm also only 6 miles from my parents, so it only takes 10 mins in the car if I need them!

The house the council offered was by their admission one of their "hard to let" properties and was 12 miles away from here. It would have meant a change of school, loss of friends and a greater distance between me and my parents. That's one of the reasons I was so determined to work so I could stay here!

Becles

rainbowrisin wrote:

Sadly many people on low incomes do not read MSE, and in some cases do not have the necessary personal attributes to make savings.

Just to put another spin on it - the cases of benefit claimants featured in the media often show people with wide screen LCD TV's, designer clothes and other expensive goods.

It's fair to assume that there are people out there who will spend their benefits on living costs, and maybe able to save some to buy the odd luxury now and again. At the other end of the scale it's fair to assume there are claimants who spend the lot on luxuries, then complain because they don't have enough money for food, heating etc.

jellyhead

i've only read the first 4 pages of this thread, so please don't jump on me if it's already been covered, but the baby is about to wake up and i just wanted to post something.

mrs western promise appears to have an easy life, and western promise has a lot on his plate - but has anyone considered that she might have postnatal depression? sorry if i am offending anyone, but the comment about why daddy hasn't potty trained the 3 year old made me wonder if she feels confident enough to make decisions and cope with things.

being a parent can be hard work in ANY circumstances, and postnatal depression can affect those who have a cleaner and shop at waitrose, it's not picky.

rainbowrisin

Becles wrote:

Just to put another spin on it - the cases of benefit claimants featured in the media often show people with wide screen LCD TV's, designer clothes and other expensive goods.

It's fair to assume that there are people out there who will spend their benefits on living costs, and maybe able to save some to buy the odd luxury now and again. At the other end of the scale it's fair to assume there are claimants who spend the lot on luxuries, then complain because they don't have enough money for food, heating etc.

Tchah! The media have a lot to answer for IMHO.
You're right that some people do buy a lot of tat. That said, I think it takes a fair bit of strength to resist consumer pressure, especially with a multi-million pound advertising industry which tells us tat is a luxury item. I know people have free choice in how they spend their money, but also feel that it's far easier for some to be "strong" and stick to the essentials, than others.

My pet hate is the children's christmas present thing. I think it's absolutely dispicable that parents are sold the idea that if they don't buy their children whatever tat is on offer then they are selling their children short in some way and are therefore BAD parents. Easy for some parents to see through it, but when you're on a low income and maybe feel you don't have much else to offer your children, then things and image do become more important, and therefore harder to resist.

astonsmummy

Kimberley wrote:

I agree, even when i was on IS to me it was a lot of money. Even now i'm working part time and getting working/child tax credits, i seem to have £300 left after all expenses etc.

I feel i get too much money, but you can't blame people who claim it, you have to blame the Government who give that much to the people.

No way are people on benefit worse of then they were years ago, and I don't understand those people in the programmes who show people struggling on benefit can say they are in poverty.

I don't think some kids live in poverty, i think the parents use the money on cigs/alcohol/drugs etc, and it's those parents who's kids live in poverty, because i know my kids never lived in poverty when i was on IS

I agree, when i was on IS i was in no way living in poverty, i dont think i get too much money though i think it's about right for me and my situation (single parent on wtc & ctc)
I used to get roughly
£95 pw IS
£17.50 pw Child benefit
£86.59 pw Full HB
£16.52 pw Full CTB
£215.34 Total

Now i work 22 hours pw and get on top of my wages roughly
£130 pw Tax credits (which includes £24 towards spuds nursery fees)
£17.50 pw Child benefit
£40 pw HB
£6 pw CTB
£193.50 Total

And pay about £5 per month tax and NI

Meaning the government is saving roughly £16.84 per week by me working (sorry if calcs are wrong - i'm a worn out single mum!:D )

looby75

Becles wrote:

Just to put another spin on it - the cases of benefit claimants featured in the media often show people with wide screen LCD TV's, designer clothes and other expensive goods.

It's fair to assume that there are people out there who will spend their benefits on living costs, and maybe able to save some to buy the odd luxury now and again. At the other end of the scale it's fair to assume there are claimants who spend the lot on luxuries, then complain because they don't have enough money for food, heating etc.

I do wonder how the heck the media find those kind of families though. They are aren't truly representative of any of the single parents I know. Maybe they are the kind of people who wash their dirty linen in public on shows like Trisha and Jeremy Kyle and then use the fees to buy big tv's etc so they are already on the medias "books" lol