how come i cant get tax credits

popadom

I work 25 hours a week, (4 days)
im 18, no kids, i pay my own rent (i cant get ANY help)
Im on £134(after tax) per week
my job lasts 6 months (£3612)
so how come i cant get it, apprently somone on £66,000 can get it, it dosnt make sense.
My rent is £188 a month
my old benfits(housing+jobseeker) 188+200 a month
£148 better off but i pay for transport @ £45 a month

Why cant i get any help?

shell_542

Working tax credits is only for 25 yr olds and over.

Child tax credits are for parents.

Spendless

You can't get WTC as a childless person because you work under 30 hours per week and are under 25 years old. Instead you need to up your hours to that of a f-time job, either by upping your hours, taking a 2nd job or looking for f-time work elsewhere.

popadom

Im on future for jobs fund, it was really hard to get this, there is no work. Why is someone over 25 more entitled though?

Jowo_2

rgay1992 wrote: »

..Why is someone over 25 more entitled though?

It's probably an arbitrary threshold simply to cut down on costs and encourage those who are young and have no dependents to work full time.

Same with the LHA 1 bedroom rate which is payable to those over the age of 25 (will change to 35) otherwise we'd have 16 year old school leavers expect to move into their own places instead of sharing.

Same with the pensions - different countries have different retirement ages and our govt has made changes to this in the past.

Currently the UK pays out more in benefits, allowances and credits than employees contribute to the public purse in PAYE taxes, a totally lopsided, unsustainable and unbalanced model which is one of the reasons, alongside the national deficit, the current govt is slashing its expenses.

popadom

Im a lodger. I moved out at 16 and have had very little help from family, or organistations.

Jowo_2

I moved out when I was 18 with no help from family and organisations, became a lodger and spent around a third of my full time income on rent - there's nothing unusual about young people being independent and not receiving any assistance from the state. I got a second job on top of my full time job to make ends meet better - twice the hours that you currently work - and I didn't feel sorry for myself or expect anything different. A few years later I paid my way through university without parental assistance, working part time in all term times and full times in the holidays, taking out the odd student loan.

You can double check your benefit entitlements on the Turn2us online calculator.

If you work full-time, bring up your hours from 24 to 35, then your income will increase by up to 30%. Young people with no dependents and no disabilities don't tend to get much in the way of benefits. The only way to be 'better' off is to earn more money and spend less. It's not worth comparing a part time job to being on the dole as it's a dead-end whereas your future earning capacity is unlimited, that's comparing apples with pears. Yours isn't a benefits issue, it's a housekeeping/personal budget issue.

When you reach 21, even if you earn the national minimum wage, your net income from a 35 hour per week job would be £180 (nearly three times the sum of JSA) but by then you'll hopefully have lots more skills, experience and qualifications and will earn lots more than that. The NMW also has abritrary age thresholds on, but they work in your favour.

Work more hours to increase your income and work on ways to cut down on your expenses, such as cheap meals and getting a free bike off Freecycle/Gumtree freebies so you don't have to pay for public transport. Download the budget planner on the free tools section of this website and work through the site to identify where to make savings. The 'old style' moneysaving forums are supposed to be really good for tips on how to be frugal. This site is recommended for info on how to cook cheaply - you could more than halve your foodbill using this website.

http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/

Though social housing is very scarce, and demand is high, there is nothing to stop you from applying to your local council and all the local housing associations for a tenancy. As a young single healthy adult with no dependents, you will be a low priority but if you don't apply, you don't get, and some areas have more social housing availability than others.