Always better off working!! What a Joke!!

spandee

Trying my best to work.. working for 3 agencies but getting on average 25 hours a week so not entithed to WTC as I am single. however also not entitled to any housing or council tax benefit as I have disposable income above their criterea. It costs me this so called disposable income to travel to work. I have worked out that I am worse off in work than out of work. Over the next month I have to consider if my current situation is going to put me in debt.
I want to work and I want to have the ability to save for a better future but feel absolutely disabled by the current system.
Do I really have to lose money by working??:mad:

Dunroamin

Being single has nothing to do with getting WTC - you don't qualify because you're working so few hours.

annie1975_2

spandee wrote: »

Trying my best to work.. working for 3 agencies but getting on average 25 hours a week so not entithed to WTC as I am single. however also not entitled to any housing or council tax benefit as I have disposable income above their criterea. It costs me this so called disposable income to travel to work. I have worked out that I am worse off in work than out of work. Over the next month I have to consider if my current situation is going to put me in debt.
I want to work and I want to have the ability to save for a better future but feel absolutely disabled by the current system.
Do I really have to lose money by working??:mad:

And they wonder why people dont want to work?
Maybe if you could up your hours to 30,you may then qualify for something to make it worth your while.

princessdon

That doesn't sound right

Can you pop what benefits you think you'd get (or did get) on here with values and if you get anything now. Your rent costs (and if in shared accomodation or 1 bedroom) Plus your hourly rate and we can see if you are entitled to anything else.

spandee

Hi all... Dunroamin You miss the point... I know I am working too few hours however this is not through choice nor is it the point. some weeks i get 5 days work some I get one. if the work isnt there I cant do it. this is the massive disadvantage of working for agencies.
To give some background on myself I am a 49yr old man who has worked full time since the age of 16. This includes 15 yrs military service. Apart from a year unemployed with mental ilness
2008 - 9.
I fall through a gap.. too few hours to claim WTC and too much pay on average to claim any benefit I have checked this with benefits service.
after the costs of getting to work this leaves me with less than the money the government says I need to live on a week.

As to my hourly rate that depends on the role, it varies from 6 to 7 pounds an hour.

spandee

forgot to mention i am in a council flat and rent is £65 per week, council tax is £13 per week.
I submit my payslips to the benefits service but always seem to just fall outside their entitlement. I dont blame the benefits service I know they work to a set criterea. Its just that I am worse off... I think It is probably the Agencies that frustrate me. no job security and they seem to just treat you as a commodity they can profit from.
However almost every job advertised these days seems to have an agency behind it.

Dunroamin

spandee wrote: »

Hi all... Dunroamin You miss the point... I know I am working too few hours however this is not through choice nor is it the point. some weeks i get 5 days work some I get one. if the work isnt there I cant do it.

You miss my point. You said " so not entithed to WTC as I am single" when being single is irrelevant - what matters is the hours you do.

Why not find 5 or so hours of self employed work that you can do to bring your hours up over the minimum 30 hours you need for tax credits?

Sixer

Dunroamin wrote: »

You miss my point. You said " so not entithed to WTC as I am single" when being single is irrelevant - what matters is the hours you do.

Why not find 5 or so hours of self employed work that you can do to bring your hours up over the minimum 30 hours you need for tax credits?

I think you're probably missing what the OP meant in their first post. They probably meant "not disabled or caring for children" rather than "single" - in which case, they'd not need to find 30 hours for WTC entitlement. I don't think there was anything the OP was misunderstanding about their situation.

Good idea re self-employment. OP - try surveys, website reviews, mystery shopping, etc. Info on the Up Your Income board.

missapril75

spandee wrote: »

forgot to mention i am in a council flat and rent is £65 per week,

So, if I'm not mistaken, to lose any/all entitlement to HB when rent is £65 must mean take home pay is at least £175 a week.

That leaves £110 a week after paying rent, which is about £40 more than JSA. £27 after council tax.

Not much of a gain at all, agreed, but that is based on the lowest wage . Less than £175 take home and you'd begin to qualify for HB.

If you really are never qualifying for HB, that would mean they are never assessing you on less than £175 wages.

You say sometimes you might only work one day in a week. If that doesn't put you at under £175 and a likely entitlement to HB then they must be averaging your wages.

In which case, the occasional high wage/5 day week might unfairly be costing you.

If there is too great a variation in your pay, they probably shouldn't average it.

This is an extreme example but if you had £50 for one week and £300 for another, that's an average of £175 and would cancel HB for 2 weeks.

But it's way too different to average. Such a variation should (clearly) wipe out one week (for the £300) and pay you full HB for the other (not to mention JSA too - although that's complicated)

It's easier for the HB office to average instead of calculating it every week but that doesn't make it the correct thing to do.

Alternatively, maybe it's just that your fares to work are particularly expensive?

Dunroamin

Sixer wrote: »

I think you're probably missing what the OP meant in their first post. They probably meant "not disabled or caring for children" rather than "single" - in which case, they'd not need to find 30 hours for WTC entitlement. I don't think there was anything the OP was misunderstanding about their situation.

Good idea re self-employment. OP - try surveys, website reviews, mystery shopping, etc. Info on the Up Your Income board.

How can someone say "single" when they mean not" disabled or caring for children" - it's not as though the two concepts are related in any way. (I wish we still had the puzzled smiley!)

spandee

missapril75 you have it right. i can have a massive variation week to week and most weeks my travel costs are over £40 I have worked out that in real terms I lose money working.
to end speculation the only reason I put down that I was single was to show that there was no second income coming into the house so please don't get bogged down with this.
I started this thread just to vent my frustration, primarily about the way I feel exploited by agencies and the fact that almost every full time job you apply for with regular hours ends up being an agency advert who then want to put you on their books rather than for the advertised job.
As regards self employment- no thanks.