why are we worth less money apart then together!

ANNIEHAHA

After reading some articles in the paper I just wanted to know why in this day and age ,how it comes to the fact me, hubby and 2 kids are worth £10,000 less a year together !:mad:

It amazes me that the goverment go on about wanting kids to grow up with fathers in the home and yet the benefit system seems to have flip reversed what it was suppose to do and made us worse off for it !

Even though we pay Tax ,all our bills and CSA ,we are worse off then if we were living apart. I dont deny single parents the right to their money but when I look at some people claiming (all claimers not just single parents) they are actually financially better off with no rent council tax etc.

Sorry for the rant ,this is not a dig at single parents ,but at the goverment and other claiments that I see who are better off then us.

Badger_Lady

I may have misinterpreted your post (apologies if so!), but families are more efficient when living together - just one mortgage / rent to pay, council tax is only 25% more (rather than 50%), and by cooking / sleeping together, utilities and food costs are lower.

So it does make sense to me... or are you suggesting that you and the kids would get £10k more if hubby moved out? (even taking joint income into consideration)?

Sorry - I've never had kids, so I don't really understand what circumstances you're describing! Maybe I should shut up...

NekoZombie

do you mean 'why are we worth *more* money apart than together?'

missk_ensington

Yes I think she means more apart, not less apart!! I had to re-read it a couple of times too....

That is the sad fact of this country. At Xmas me and DS's dad had a *brief* reconcilliation but he's the sort of person who proposes after 2 weeks and in the short time we were together he was on about us living together (that was never gonna happen anyway!!) but to appease him I looked at the costs and would have lost nearly all my tax credits as he earns about £27,000pa, plus his CSA, and would have had to pay all my own tuition fees at uni, all my own nursery costs....... As soon as I told him that his financial commitments would extend further than £300 per month child support and that he'd have to pay for my uni fees and my car and my everything he soon cooled off the idea........;-)

Sorry not making light of the poor state of affairs but that's just the way of the country and it wont get better I'm sure! The only way to be together and profitable is if someone in the relationship is self employed an can make out they earn less but when two people are PAYE the system is a mess! I really don't blame people for fiddling everything when you get people with a £20,000 annual salary and four kids and barely any help as seen in another thread

ANNIEHAHA

Sorry to confuse people ,it just does not make sense that it works the way it does.
Sorry to hear about your ex missk-ensington seems your better off without him if the financial implications are too much for him (Ido not mean to be offensive)
There was an article I read where the couple split up as even with CSA they were better off!

ANNIEHAHA

sorry for messing up the title I meant more money apart then together!

dmg24

it just does not make sense that it works the way it does.

Yes, it does. As Badger_Lady said, it is economies of scale.

PasturesNew

1 person living alone pays for:
1 TV Licence
1 lightbulb on in the room
1 loo flush
1 oven on to bake a pie
1 fridge running
1 TV to watch
1 lot of clothes to wear
1 phone line
1 broadband connection

2 people living together need:
1 TV licence
1 lightbulb on in the room
2 loo flushes
1 oven on to bake a slightly bigger pie
1 fridge running
1 TV to watch
2 lots of clothes to wear
1 phone line
1 broadband connection

And so it goes on. When I had a house alone, it cost me £1000 to own/run the house. If I'd moved a bf in it would have cost an extra £100-150/month including food. Just have to pay for extra council tax, a bit extra on a lightbulb, 2nd person using a shower/loo and the food they eat.

msmicawber

Pasturesnew has put it very well.

I have to take issue with your assumption that benefits claimants pay no rent and council tax as it's rarely true and most claimants pay a proportion of their rent and council tax even if they're in social housing. Most benefits are means tested, and the amounts that it is deemed possible for people to live on are very small:

From my LA's web site concerning Housing & Council Tax benefits:
An allowance (known as the Applicable Amount) is worked out based on you and members of your family's age.This allowance, which reflects the basic living needs of a claimant (and family), is then used to work out your Benefit.
Single person
Up to and including 24 years old £46.85
25 years old and over £59.15
Single parent
18 years old or over £59.15
Couple (married or unmarried)
Both up to and including 17 years old £70.70
At least one 18 years old or over £92.80
Each child
Up to the first Monday in September after the 16th birthday award: £47.45
From the first Monday in September after the 16th birthday to the day before the 20th birthday: £47.45

The sums above are to cover food, clothes, bills, partial rent if the rent exceeds the 'average' for the area, partial Council Tax.

I pay income tax, rent, Council Tax and all bills for a family of 3 and don't have another adult to share these costs or any of the other responsibilities of family life with. I do receive Tax Credits and a 25% single occupancy Council Tax discount. My situation is not unusual.

You don't say which newspaper(s) these articles were in, but their figures rarely bear any relation to the actuality of single parenthood.