General Benefit Questions....

[jp_bl_68]

From your description (granted, I don't know your situation and am judging on a few sentences) but you seem a sensible sort of chap who's perfectly able to find work and build a life himself...

There are only so many jobs out there, and there's a limit to the amount of work an employer can give a single employee. It doesn't matter how hard you're prepared to work if there isn't any more work going. Some people need help making ends meet. That's what the benefit system is there for.

Claiming benefits that your are entitled to (i.e. benefits that you qualify for) is not the same as abusing the system.

 

[moon man]

seems you are expected to live at home under 25 in the governments eyes ,over that age then a top up kicks in ,my daughters in this position ,just finished her degree but hanging on in Bangor ,she works in a bakery a nightclub and runs afew dance classes plus looking for a job where she can use her degree ,if she had afew sprogs they would be throwing money at her

 

[neil3k]

can you survive without the car?

 

[koolpc]

Get a better job?

 

[[Slip]]

Claiming benefits that your are entitled to (i.e. benefits that you qualify for) is not the same as abusing the system.

I couldn't agree more.... claim if they're there and I apologise if my post came across as being accusatory that someone who claims is abusing but I do think it's wrong to START by looking for benefit... I genuinely think that, in the main, the benefit system is in such a state now that it's created far too many people that are dependent on it.

Once it becomes a dependency to your lifestyle you're less motivated to work harder to "move on" so to speak.

My point was more that the OP seems like a decent sort of bloke and hard work ALWAYS pays off. Always. There's never ever a situation where "I can't do any more than I do" imho

 

[Van Hellseek]

You should be able to claim housing benefit. Assuming you're not living with your mum.

And if you ARE still living with your parent/s, running a car (luxury item) and still complaning about benefits, the door is that way -->

 

[platypus]

if your thinking of teaching, then that also is a dire place to be, teaching was what i wanted to do when i left uni, but i got told the wages are horrendous, £18,000 - 20,000 to teach level 3 etc, you might think this is a lot, but when you go through a levels, a degree and a pcge you expect a little more than this.

Teachers are well paid, have good job security, have excellent holiday time, are given generous pension schemes, have easier access to mortgages, and if needs be can get extremely generous housing help.

What is horrendous about that?

 

[jp_bl_68]

I couldn't agree more.... claim if they're there and I apologise if my post came across as being accusatory that someone who claims is abusing but I do think it's wrong to START by looking for benefit... I genuinely think that, in the main, the benefit system is in such a state now that it's created far too many people that are dependent on it.

Once it becomes a dependency to your lifestyle you're less motivated to work harder to "move on" so to speak.

My point was more that the OP seems like a decent sort of bloke and hard work ALWAYS pays off. Always. There's never ever a situation where "I can't do any more than I do" imho

I think we're on the same wave length. Benefits should be a last resort, a crutch to help people through the toughest of times.

I was claiming JSA for about a year but I never really felt comfortable with it. I'd rather earn £50 a week than be given it.

 

[Elliot6267]

my real argument was to do with working tax credit. I don't really see why you are expected to need less money if you're 24, than if you're 25. I don't think I deserve any Benefits, it's just it would be nice to have a couple quid extra to help me out. especially seen as though everyone else seems to get it.

it also bugs me that people are complaining about the proposal to have to do voluntary work in order to get JSA. surely them people are just saying they don't want to work at all!

 

[I_M_Weasel]

my daughters in this position ,just finished her degree but hanging on in Bangor ,she works in a bakery a nightclub and runs afew dance classes plus looking for a job where she can use her degree ,if she had afew sprogs they would be throwing money at her

Is this true? Because the only benefit I get as a working single parent is child benefit, what am I doing wrong?

 

[muon]

Is this true? Because the only benefit I get as a working single parent is child benefit, what am I doing wrong?

Depends on your income. If its decent you won't get working or childrens' tax credit.

http://taxcredits.hmrc.gov.uk/Qualify/WhatAreTaxCredits.aspx

edit:

Maybe you were trying to counter the point that just having children doesn't equal benefits. In which case I agree.

 

[Makunouchi]

Why don't you make an appointment at the job centre and actually talk to an advisor about this? You said you 'looked on the website' but that's really no substitute at all. Get on the phone and call the benefits department, then go down to your local job centre plus to see someone about this.

 

[I_M_Weasel]

Maybe you were trying to counter the point that just having children doesn't equal benefits. In which case I agree.

Yeah, pretty much so, people assume that as a single parent I'm getting cash thrown at me but in spite of having fairly large child care costs to enable me to work, I don't get anything from the state.

 

[jumpy]

it also bugs me that people are complaining about the proposal to have to do voluntary work in order to get JSA. surely them people are just saying they don't want to work at all!

The way it was explained to me was you have to do a 30 hour a week placement for a minimum of one month (equivalent to a full time job) and still be expected to actively jobhunt, or you loose benefit. Placements do not lead to work; they are 'to give you an idea of what it means to have a job, work ethic, people skills and timekeeping etc'. But that's ok, the companies running these placement schemes still get paid their subsidy, regardless of what you have to do for a handout.

If you can stay out of the benefits system, do so. They are not there to help you get a decent job or future, the mo is to get you off the dole asap, anything so long as it means you are off the books.
My own experience backs this up time and again - keep these time-wasters out of your life if you can, they will only obfuscate your goals and your future.

 

[Castiel]

So a single Male cannot claim any benefits until he is 25 years old, since when?

 

[Elliot6267]

don't get me wrong, I'd much rather be in work earning my money. I just don't see how somebody in the exact same financial situation as me, just a few years older, is entitled to free money!

 

[Destination]

don't get me wrong, I'd much rather be in work earning my money. I just don't see how somebody in the exact same financial situation as me, just a few years older, is entitled to free money!

This is part of the problem with the current system.
People have no idea what they are entitled to.
There are so many benefits and brands of benefit that its hard to know what applies.

If the current govt actually sort the system as they have claimed and reorganise it into a single 'universal' credit, then it should mean entering your exact details on one page/form and it'll spit out exactly what you're entitled to and arrange payment.

Thats what we need, a minimal/zero rated administration system, one proper spreadsheet, you enter everything in, and result is worked out.
Its not that difficult.

 

[Will]

So a single Male cannot claim any benefits until he is 25 years old, since when?

All kinds of misinformation over this thread

Most benefits are available to anyone 18 plus subject to qualifying criteria being met.

As for the Working Tax Credit, the rules in terms of age and hours per week you have to do to qualify are thus:

18-25 year olds - Not eligible regardless of hours worked (unless they have kids in which case its 16 hours or more)

25-50 year olds - They must work at least 30 hours per week (unless they have kids, in which case its 16 hours or more)

50+ year olds - They must work 16 hours or more to qualify.

Of course any entitlement to working tax credit takes into account as well but thats a far more complicated issue which I'm not doing to touch (its calculated on earnings in the last financial year, or current financial year included 'predicted earnings'...headache all round if you're in a job with variable hours such as agency work or have lots of overtime etc).

As for moaning about not qualifying for working tax credits due to your age - well perhaps you should not have taken on the financial commitments that you did without the means to fully support yourself, or without checking whether you would be eligible for working tax credit before you commited yourself. Why is it the states job to help pay for your rent, bills and car?

 

[Castiel]

All kinds of misinformation over this thread

Most benefits are available to anyone 18 plus subject to qualifying criteria being met.

As for the Working Tax Credit, the rules in terms of age and hours per week you have to do to qualify are thus:

18-25 year olds - Not eligible regardless of hours worked (unless they have kids in which case its 16 hours or more)

25-50 year olds - They must work at least 30 hours per week (unless they have kids, in which case its 16 hours or more)

50+ year olds - They must work 16 hours or more to qualify.

Of course any entitlement to working tax credit takes into account as well but thats a far more complicated issue which I'm not doing to touch (its calculated on earnings in the last financial year, or current financial year included 'predicted earnings'...headache all round if you're in a job with variable hours such as agency work or have lots of overtime etc).

As for moaning about not qualifying for working tax credits due to your age - well perhaps you should not have taken on the financial commitments that you did without the means to fully support yourself, or without checking whether you would be eligible for working tax credit before you commited yourself. Why is it the states job to help pay for your rent, bills and car?

Thankyou, that explains it.

And I agree, it is not the Taxpayers responsibility to subsidise anyone's lifestyle, benefits should be a last resort for those in need, not as a subsidy for income mismanagement.

 

[TheGamingGeneral]

I don't really see why you are expected to need less money if you're 24, than if you're 25.

It is only because if it was open to under 25s without the disability/child elements being involved, then everyone (particularly students) would be claiming WTC. If you consider an 18 year old would be on the maximum award for tax credits for atleast year one, £50 a week more than likely. As long as your income is less than £6420 then you will get the maximum award for tax credits and the likely hood is they wouldnt be much higher than that (at 30 hours a week your talking less than £10k before tax).

Long story short its to keep students from claiming it.