Is a single mothers benifits enough

astonsmummy

pipkin71 wrote: »

With council tax benefits and housing benefit taken into account, I would need to earn £300 per week after tax to be better off working than I am on benefits, and that's with two children.

I dont think so, i dont earn £300 a week, i only work 16 hours and am MUCH better off than being on benefits, i pay rent and council tax and run a car which is essential for my job.

nottslass_2

Hi, I'm not a single parent anymore,but was one years ago. living on IS is the pits,you only have enough money to pay for the bare essentials,according to the entitled to benefits calculator a single parent,with one child would be entitled to

£45.75 ctc
£59.15 IS
£18.10 Child benefit
total £122.90 PW

Nobody can say that this amount would provide anything other than the basics of day to day living expenses and to suggest that single parents (who are on benefits) are living a luxury life style with designer shoes and holidays is complete Rubbish !!

krisskross

nottslass wrote: »

Hi, I'm not a single parent anymore,but was one years ago. living on IS is the pits,you only have enough money to pay for the bare essentials,according to the entitled to benefits calculator a single parent,with one child would be entitled to

£45.75 ctc
£59.15 IS
£18.10 Child benefit
total £122.90 PW

Nobody can say that this amount would provide anything other than the basics of day to day living expenses and to suggest that single parents (who are on benefits) are living a luxury life style with designer shoes and holidays is complete Rubbish !!

I think that is quite a good amount per week. We are a pair of pensioners and spend

£35 on food. All fresh home cooked stuff. I have time to do this but then so will a SAHM
£15 to cover gas and electric
£10 for phone and internet
£3 TV licence
£2 for home contents insurance.

these amounts are per week, so approx £65 per week for the essentials. 1 adult and 1 child should be about the same thus leaving approx £60 a week for clothes ,transport etc. I think this should be well doable, and have money left for treats.Not designer stuff but surely plenty to live on.


edit: forgot water, this would add another £5 a week

dobbie82

nottslass wrote: »

Hi, I'm not a single parent anymore,but was one years ago. living on IS is the pits,you only have enough money to pay for the bare essentials,according to the entitled to benefits calculator a single parent,with one child would be entitled to

£45.75 ctc
£59.15 IS
£18.10 Child benefit
total £122.90 PW

Nobody can say that this amount would provide anything other than the basics of day to day living expenses and to suggest that single parents (who are on benefits) are living a luxury life style with designer shoes and holidays is complete Rubbish !!

yes 122 a week.. thats what you get direct. its not what they get given but what they dont have to pay. with just housing benefit, council tax benefit, free school dinners etc. that can add £200 a week.

nottslass_2

krisskross wrote: »

I think that is quite a good amount per week. We are a pair of pensioners and spend

£35 on food. All fresh home cooked stuff. I have time to do this but then so will a SAHM
£15 to cover gas and electric
£10 for phone and internet
£3 TV licence
£2 for home contents insurance.

these amounts are per week, so approx £65 per week for the essentials. 1 adult and 1 child should be about the same thus leaving approx £60 a week for clothes ,transport etc. I think this should be well doable, and have money left for treats.Not designer stuff but surely plenty to live on.


edit: forgot water, this would add another £5 a week

That leaves £55 pw to cover school uniform,bus fares,hair cuts,presents when invited to partys (DS had three invites in last 2 weeks) clothes & shoes(children appear to grow before your eyes) repairs or replacement of house hold essentails,birthdays and christmas,household insurance (£16 per month in this area for a 3 bed semi) the cost of glasses (if needed),pocket money,window cleaner,bus fares(no free passes) etc. Thats before other costs such as buying a bed & bedding when child moves from bed to cot and after school activities,school trips and the phone bill !

Yes,I don't doubt that £122 pw will provide a basic standard of living,but People generally seem to have the idea that single parents on benefits are living some kind of high life provided for by the tax payer,not a basic existance .

krisskross

nottslass wrote: »

That leaves £55 pw to cover school uniform,bus fares,hair cuts,presents when invited to partys (DS had three invites in last 2 weeks) clothes & shoes(children appear to grow before your eyes) repairs or replacement of house hold essentails,birthdays and christmas,household insurance (£16 per month in this area for a 3 bed semi) the cost of glasses (if needed),pocket money,window cleaner,bus fares(no free passes) etc. Thats before other costs such as buying a bed & bedding when child moves from bed to cot and after school activities,school trips and the phone bill !

Yes,I don't doubt that £122 pw will provide a basic standard of living,but People generally seem to have the idea that single parents on benefits are living some kind of high life provided for by the tax payer,not a basic existance .

As pensioners our income will not change dramatically for as long as we live.

However one might think that a single parent on benefits will be able to start some paid work and claim the very generous tax credits. You will not be a single parent on IS for ever. I feel the level of IS is very satisfactory considering it is not meant to be excessively long term.

I clean my own windows, and I have understood from my son that glasses were completely free for children at Specsavers. What a pity if they have stopped doing this. I am not suggesting for one moment that single parents live the high life but then neither do most of the rest of us no matter what the source of our income.

Scarlett1

I dont want to start a lone parent x pensioner debate but there is also a generous pension tax credit, they are also entitled to claim housing and council tax benefit, aswell as a £200 cold weather payment per year that lone parents dont get, we cant compare the two scenarios especiallys since pensioners dont outgrow their clothes or need new shoes every 3 months

Anneliese13

Or nappies!

j-baby-scotland

Nowadays most private landlord tenants have to 'top-up' their housing benefit entitlement from their income support to pay the full rent.
This could be a considerable sum, £30.00 per week for example.
Therefore it's not easy to compare a Housing Association / Council tenant single-parent & a private landlord tenant single-parent as having the same disposable income.
Surely, everyone here recognises the lack all over the UK of affordable social housing?
Fuel poverty likewise. This is where due to bad insulation, lack of double glazing & central heating one single-parent can be paying far greater out than another single-parent in fuel costs. A single-parent in an old badly maintained private landlord dwelling lacking good energy efficiency & paying a rent 'top-up' not covered by housing benefit could easily be £30.00 or more per week worse off than a single-parent on the same income support level living in an Housing Association dwelling with energy saving double glazing, central heating, insulation etc.

It is not correct to assume that all single-parents get their rent paid in full by housing benefits.

It is also not correct to assume that all single-parents have the luxury of not falling into fuel poverty.

http://www.nea.org.uk/Policy_&_Research/Fuel_poverty_facts/Fuel_poverty_and_energy_efficiency

krisskross

Scarlett1 wrote: »

I dont want to start a lone parent x pensioner debate but there is also a generous pension tax credit, they are also entitled to claim housing and council tax benefit, aswell as a £200 cold weather payment per year that lone parents dont get, we cant compare the two scenarios especiallys since pensioners dont outgrow their clothes or need new shoes every 3 months

As pensioners we are not entitled to anything, just to use up our savings until we are below the threshold. However after 80 odd years of contributions behind us I feel that the £200 winter fuel allowance has been paid for many times over. I still think that the reported figure of £123 a week AFTER housing costs is plenty for 1 adult and 1 small person.