Is a single mothers benifits enough

black-saturn

weymuffred wrote: »

Yes and I have taken all the advice offered, but its funny that our debts and problems became a problem whilst my wife was working.

Agreed. I managed to pay a good chunk of my debt off when I went through a 3 year stint of being on benefit. I'm debt and mortgage free now but still feel less flush than I did when i was on benefit.

dmg24

weymuffred wrote: »

So how far should I, and many others in my position, go into debt before we loose everything?

Don't be such a drama queen. Once a person starts work, they gradually get pay rises and promotions. Once this starts to happen, a persons income from employment will far exceed income from benefits. Then, even if a person may have accrued debt whilst working their way into a better position, they will be able to pay the debt off.

I do not for a minute believe that someone would 'lose everything' by going into employment. Struggle, quite possibly, but that's life.

So back to my question, should everyone that is better off on benefits give up work?

PasturesNew

black-saturn wrote: »

Kriss Kross - You didnt think about saving for a private pension when you were racking up the 90 years of work so as not to be such a burden on the tax payer?

Having a private pension has only really been touted the last 20 years... we were brought up to expect the old age pension to be there.

Then about 20 years ago, people started whittering on about buying your own pension. Followed by lots of problems with private pensions - scandals and money missing.

We were also lead to believe there were jobs for life.

Then when it all changes, it's too late to go back and have a rethink.

Most/many older people either didn't "know" they should be saving -or- were in company pension schemes. Not their fault. It's the way things were back then. . . and - they had no benefits to bring up families with. You had to earn your own money. All this benefits culture is quite new.

P.S. I don't have a pension!

Edinburghlass_2

black-saturn wrote: »

Agreed. I managed to pay a good chunk of my debt off when I went through a 3 year stint of being on benefit. I'm debt and mortgage free now but still feel less flush than I did when i was on benefit.

So why don't you apply for working tax credits as has been suggested to you on several occasions.

As for anyone who claims their pension being a burden on tax payers, how do you work that one out?

weymuffred

Bogof_Babe wrote: »

Going back to the original question, why are the children of single mums not being supported by their fathers? All very well to say "he walked out", but I am sure in most cases he didn't disappear off the face of the Earth.

Interesting to hear today that the Tory's are proposing re-jigging things so that families living together will be better off, not worse off as now, than so-called separated parents. I wonder (if they get elected and put this into practice) whether there will suddenly be a reduction in single parent statistics.

There is no reason why Krisskross should not take up her state pension (if in fact this is what her £212 per month is - it sounds more like the figure for an employment pension at that rate). She paid into the system all the time she worked, and the Government makes no suggestion that retired pensioners are a burden on the system, unlike arguably avoidable single parents.

Yes they may not have disappeared off the face of the earth, but dont you think if it was as easy as that to get money off the father, they wouldnt?
I think its easier to get blood out of a stone than for some mothers to get financial support off the fathers of their children.

Bogof_Babe

black-saturn wrote: »

Of course there will be a dramatic reduction in single parents but there will also be a dramatic increase in unhappy children who are stuck in loveless families because they are better off.

It will be interesting to see if unhappy married couples get as much flack as single parents do now. They will be staying together because they are better off on benefits and therefore be a burden to that poor tax payer I keep hearing about wheras they could split up and be worse off but better off emotionally. Works both ways doesn't it?

Well it is to be hoped that in the long term they are better off not on benefits. Presumably in a two-parent family, at least one of them could be available for work.

I can't understand why partnerships, relationships, even marriages (if that isn't too outdated a concept) are so much more fragile these days than e.g. 30 years ago. Don't people choose their potential chilrens' father carefully any more? Don't people make an effort to work through their problems (everyone has them, however much in love you are, but you can at least attempt to work through them) with the ultimate aim of staying together in a workable relationship?

I really feel the welfare safety net has worked against promoting and supporting family values, and it is very sad. Do people even bother with falling ln love before producing kids nowadays?

Zara33

Bogof_Babe wrote: »

Going back to the original question, why are the children of single mums not being supported by their fathers? All very well to say "he walked out", but I am sure in most cases he didn't disappear off the face of the Earth.

Perhaps reading the child support threads you might get the answer to your question there.

PasturesNew

dmg24 wrote: »

Once a person starts work, they gradually get pay rises and promotions.

Not entirely true.
Depends where you're living and what job you're doing in what sort of company.

I've always worked for small companies - by small I mean 1-6 employees. No promotions to be had and any promise of more money never came to anything as "times were hard".

black-saturn

There are a lot of absent fathers who do pay the CSA which makes up the majority of benefit payments.

krisskross

black-saturn wrote: »

Kriss Kross - You didnt think about saving for a private pension when you were racking up the 90 years of work so as not to be such a burden on the tax payer?

Of course we have private pensions. Otherwise we would have no tax liability and we would be claiming income related benefits. We get £1000 a month between us in private pensions. Our State pensions are our entitlement just as child benefit is an entitlement. We have paid tax and NI for almost a century between us as I said before. Surely black saturn you don't begrudge us our bit of pension?