How do people survive on UC?

calcotti

Spender£ said: If you think UC is hard to survive on try JSA or CA for size!

I have been on Carers Allowance of £62 per week although it might of changed since and my other half claimed JSA of £72 or so a week as they don't let everyone on Universal Credit.

Unless you had capital that excluded you from claiming or reduced entitlement a couple in that situation would be entitled to a modest income based JSA top up in the case of legacy benefits or a UC top up today.

JonVarnas

Spender£ said:

kimwp said:

Not a rhetoric question, genuinely how does a single person live on £400 ish a month? I think I could squeeze bills, food and annual expenses down to £400 a month, but that leaves nothing for rent/mortgage!

Is there something I'm missing?

If you think UC is hard to survive on try JSA or CA for size!
I have been on Carers Allowance of £62 per week although it might of changed since and my other half claimed JSA of £72 or so a week as they don't let everyone on Universal Credit.
The UC is higher than JSA and CA the main difference being monthly payment vs fortnightly and questions still remain as to why UC claims got an extra £20 whilst people on other benefits got no extra which is strange when people on JSA are in the same boat although don't want to talk politics.
It was a case for me of adapting to survive and in those days before the MSE Website success I used to listen to Martin Lewis on the Radio 2 Jeremy Vine show getting tips and advice on how to make your money go further, this and being thrifty was a big help living on £62 per week, I look back now wondering how i managed!

I'm not sure of your exact circumstances but I've been on Carers Allowance twice and both times I was able to claim Income Support which then also entitled me to a Carers Premium which all in total raised my income to £100 a week and I believe you could get the premium on JSA as well. On Universal Credit you'd get even more: According to Turn2us...

Carer's Element

You can get this addition of £162.92 per month if you are caring for a severely disabled person for at least 35 hours a week. You do not have to claim Carer's Allowance to get this element. 

Unlike Carer's Allowance where you are prevented from claiming if you are earning above a certain level (£128pw for 2020/21), for the Carer's Element your level of earnings does not prevent you from claiming. However, as the Carer's Element is a part of Universal Credit (UC), which is means tested, your earnings and other income will affect whether you can get this and how much Universal Credit you are entitled to.

If you are making a joint claim, you can get a Carer's Element each if you both qualify for it. However, you cannot be caring for the same severely disabled person.

Getting the Carer’s Element of Universal Credit might affect the benefits of the person you care for. It might mean they lose their entitlement to the Severe Disability Premium (SDP).

https://www.turn2us.org.uk/Benefit-guides/Universal-Credit/Additional-Elements-of-Universal-Credit
I reckon that to be around £570 a month in total (£130 a week) for a single person, but again it may depend on personal circumstances.

With regards to why Universal Credit got the uplift and legacy benefits didn't, well the cynic in me thinks it was more for political reasons than governmental altruism. All new claims (bar New-Style JSA claims) are for Universal Credit and with massive unemployment looming, the government panicked at the thought of millions of extra people finding out how paltry benefits actually were, especially after spending the past decade telling everyone that people on Social Security were scroungers. That's my theory anyway

calcotti

calcotti said:

Spender£ said: If you think UC is hard to survive on try JSA or CA for size!

I have been on Carers Allowance of £62 per week although it might of changed since and my other half claimed JSA of £72 or so a week as they don't let everyone on Universal Credit.

Unless you had capital that excluded you from claiming or reduced entitlement a couple in that situation would be entitled to a modest income based JSA top up in the case of legacy benefits or a UC top up today.

The actual figures at today's rates would be 
For legacy benefits C-JSA £74.35, CA £67.25 plus income based JSA or IS top up £12.70/week making a total of £154.30/week. This excludes any help with rent and Council Tax if applicable.
For UC C-JSA £74.35, CA £67.25 plus UC top up equivalent to £33.08/week making a total of £174.68/week. Obviously this includes the current £20/week COVID uplift without which the amount would almost match the legacy benefit amount.