Does adding 1 kid increase UC "housing" by £100 & reduce "earnings deduction" by £200?

ColonelCabbage

I ran various [partner/kid/income] combinations & scenarios in DWP-endorsed calculators like benefits-calculator.turn2us, and for household incomes below ~£30k the difference between registering 1 kid vs. 0 kid seems to always be £315 (child element) + ~£100 (more housing) + ~£200 (less earnings deduction) = ~£623.

Yet I can't find this information anywhere online. Articles always mention the fixed child element of £315 (or £269 if born after Apr 2017) but apparently never the notion that a child also increases the housing element and decreases the earnings deduction, let alone by how much.

As a result I'm not sure whether I should trust the calculators on this. Can anyone shed some light please?

Yamor

Yes, those are the three effects of adding a child (besides for the non-income-related effect of reduced conditionality).

The precise amount of extra UC you'd get towards your rent depends on the area you live in. Generally, as a single person (or couple), you'd only be entitled to the 1-bed rate (or perhaps the shared accommodation rate), whereas with a child you'll be entitled to the 2-bed rate.

Without a child, you don't have entitlement to a "work allowance". This is an amount of money you can earn without any reduction to your benefit. With a child, you are entitled to the work allowance. Assuming you have housing costs, the work allowance is currently £379/month, which equates to £208.45 extra benefit (as the taper rate is 55%).

Links to guidance about this:

Rate of extra UC entitlement for a child: https://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/new-to-universal-credit/how-much-youll-get/

Bedroom entitlement: https://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/new-to-universal-credit/housing/

Work allowance: https://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/new-to-universal-credit/universal-credit-and-work/

ColonelCabbage

Yamor said:

Yes, those are the three effects of adding a child (besides for the non-income-related effect of reduced conditionality).

The precise amount of extra UC you'd get towards your rent depends on the area you live in. Generally, as a single person (or couple), you'd only be entitled to the 1-bed rate (or perhaps the shared accommodation rate), whereas with a child you'll be entitled to the 2-bed rate.

Without a child, you don't have entitlement to a "work allowance". This is an amount of money you can earn without any reduction to your benefit. With a child, you are entitled to the work allowance. Assuming you have housing costs, the work allowance is currently £379/month, which equates to £208.45 extra benefit (as the taper rate is 55%).

Links to guidance about this:

Rate of extra UC entitlement for a child: https://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/new-to-universal-credit/how-much-youll-get/

Bedroom entitlement: https://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/new-to-universal-credit/housing/

Work allowance: https://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/new-to-universal-credit/universal-credit-and-work/

Thank you for this clarification.

My ex says she entered her details in one of the calculators advertised on DWP website and finds that the difference between registering 1 child vs 0 child is only £315 (the child element).

But I suspect that's not true. Is it a possible scenario though? Can a person registering a child not get any further earning deduction nor any increase in housing?

Spoonie_Turtle

ColonelCabbage said:

Yamor said:

Yes, those are the three effects of adding a child (besides for the non-income-related effect of reduced conditionality).

The precise amount of extra UC you'd get towards your rent depends on the area you live in. Generally, as a single person (or couple), you'd only be entitled to the 1-bed rate (or perhaps the shared accommodation rate), whereas with a child you'll be entitled to the 2-bed rate.

Without a child, you don't have entitlement to a "work allowance". This is an amount of money you can earn without any reduction to your benefit. With a child, you are entitled to the work allowance. Assuming you have housing costs, the work allowance is currently £379/month, which equates to £208.45 extra benefit (as the taper rate is 55%).

Links to guidance about this:

Rate of extra UC entitlement for a child: https://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/new-to-universal-credit/how-much-youll-get/

Bedroom entitlement: https://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/new-to-universal-credit/housing/

Work allowance: https://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/new-to-universal-credit/universal-credit-and-work/

Thank you for this clarification.

My ex says she entered her details in one of the calculators advertised on DWP website and finds that the difference between registering 1 child vs 0 child is only £315 (the child element).

But I suspect that's not true. Is it a possible scenario though? Can a person registering a child not get any further earning deduction nor any increase in housing?

If it's from 1 to 2 children then it'll depend on the age of the children.  If they're below a certain age then two are expected to share 1 bedroom regardless of sex/gender.  It's only if they're a different sex and above that age (I think it might be 10yo) that there would be an extra bedroom entitlement.  If they're the same sex I think they're expected to share until they're adults.

ColonelCabbage

Spoonie_Turtle said:

ColonelCabbage said:

Yamor said:

Yes, those are the three effects of adding a child (besides for the non-income-related effect of reduced conditionality).

The precise amount of extra UC you'd get towards your rent depends on the area you live in. Generally, as a single person (or couple), you'd only be entitled to the 1-bed rate (or perhaps the shared accommodation rate), whereas with a child you'll be entitled to the 2-bed rate.

Without a child, you don't have entitlement to a "work allowance". This is an amount of money you can earn without any reduction to your benefit. With a child, you are entitled to the work allowance. Assuming you have housing costs, the work allowance is currently £379/month, which equates to £208.45 extra benefit (as the taper rate is 55%).

Links to guidance about this:

Rate of extra UC entitlement for a child: https://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/new-to-universal-credit/how-much-youll-get/

Bedroom entitlement: https://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/new-to-universal-credit/housing/

Work allowance: https://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/new-to-universal-credit/universal-credit-and-work/

Thank you for this clarification.

My ex says she entered her details in one of the calculators advertised on DWP website and finds that the difference between registering 1 child vs 0 child is only £315 (the child element).

But I suspect that's not true. Is it a possible scenario though? Can a person registering a child not get any further earning deduction nor any increase in housing?

If it's from 1 to 2 children then it'll depend on the age of the children.  If they're below a certain age then two are expected to share 1 bedroom regardless of sex/gender.  It's only if they're a different sex and above that age (I think it might be 10yo) that there would be an extra bedroom entitlement.  If they're the same sex I think they're expected to share until they're adults.

Sorry I should have specified that. It's just one child, she's 13 years old.

Spoonie_Turtle

ColonelCabbage said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

ColonelCabbage said:

Yamor said:

Yes, those are the three effects of adding a child (besides for the non-income-related effect of reduced conditionality).

The precise amount of extra UC you'd get towards your rent depends on the area you live in. Generally, as a single person (or couple), you'd only be entitled to the 1-bed rate (or perhaps the shared accommodation rate), whereas with a child you'll be entitled to the 2-bed rate.

Without a child, you don't have entitlement to a "work allowance". This is an amount of money you can earn without any reduction to your benefit. With a child, you are entitled to the work allowance. Assuming you have housing costs, the work allowance is currently £379/month, which equates to £208.45 extra benefit (as the taper rate is 55%).

Links to guidance about this:

Rate of extra UC entitlement for a child: https://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/new-to-universal-credit/how-much-youll-get/

Bedroom entitlement: https://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/new-to-universal-credit/housing/

Work allowance: https://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/new-to-universal-credit/universal-credit-and-work/

Thank you for this clarification.

My ex says she entered her details in one of the calculators advertised on DWP website and finds that the difference between registering 1 child vs 0 child is only £315 (the child element).

But I suspect that's not true. Is it a possible scenario though? Can a person registering a child not get any further earning deduction nor any increase in housing?

If it's from 1 to 2 children then it'll depend on the age of the children.  If they're below a certain age then two are expected to share 1 bedroom regardless of sex/gender.  It's only if they're a different sex and above that age (I think it might be 10yo) that there would be an extra bedroom entitlement.  If they're the same sex I think they're expected to share until they're adults.

Sorry I should have specified that. It's just one child, she's 13 years old.

Oh wow, I see now I totally misread your post before, sorry.

What's her current bedroom entitlement?  If it's her (alone or with a partner) you'd expect current entitlement to be one bedroom, then plus a child the entitlement should become two bedrooms.

Spoonie_Turtle

Just had another thought.  Is your ex renting?  If she has part ownership or owns her home then that changes things.

ColonelCabbage

@Spoonie_Turtle she lives with a partner and our daughter half of the time (split custody), not sure about her bedroom entitlement. I'm pretty syre they're renting though.

Spoonie_Turtle

I can't work out what's going on then.

Just so you know, only one of you can claim for your daughter on UC.  That claim will have the child element and the potential extra bedroom entitlement, the other can't.

ColonelCabbage

Spoonie_Turtle said:

I can't work out what's going on then.

Just so you know, only one of you can claim for your daughter on UC.  That claim will have the child element and the potential extra bedroom entitlement, the other can't.

No problem.

But based on this scarce information can you estimate whether it's possible or not that such a person would receive only £315 UC more by including a child in the UC claim compared to not including any child? That is, is it possible that having 1 child in the UC claim make no difference regarding the housing part and earning deductions part?  

Yamor

It would only be possible if both of the following are true:

1. At least one of the claimants has LCW
2. they are either not renting, or renting in the social sector