Leave my family allowance alone

mockridge13

Full Member
:mad: Heard on the news this morning that the conservatives want to stop family allowance for households on an income of £32,000 approx. I knew they would take the tax credits off us but thought the limit would be higher for family allowance. £32,000 sounds alot but not when we already pay a big some of that in tax and NI and have a daughter to send to college and support who dosn't get EMA and can't find a weekend job and have another child at school to support. If we didn't have a mortgage think we'd be better off on dole but would drive me insane. i know we got alot of debt to sort out but think they keep taking off the same people all the time.

Feel better now i've had a moan.
 
Oh - that's dreadful.
I rely on my family allowance - mostly because my son's father does not pay maintenance for the boys (and he lives abroad so I have no hope of getting it) - as I gave up work in November, we don't even qualify for family tax credit.
I feel gutted.
x
 
My mum has 4 children under 16. all in school. She owns her house but cant afford it without the help of dreaded evil ex husband. her income is less than 6000 a year on benifits and she really struggles.. if they make this change my poor mum is gunna be flipping screwed. She looks after my neice 3 days a week free of charge so my sister can work full time.



I am sorry, and i understand its difficult for you.. as it is for everyone.. but i think your lucky to have an income of 32,000 a year as it is.

Your daughter could find a weekend job. stores always want weekend staff.. it just might not be in a store she'd like to work it. Work is out there, it just depends on what your willing to do as far as im concerned. Im not saying it isnt difficult for her, because iv been in her situation.. but i know i turned down jobs that i didnt 'want' to do..i didnt want to work saturdays, and i wanted to work in a 'nice, popular' store.. before i learnt my lesson that its not forever and a jobs a job.


eurgh, cant believe they'r doing this. Makes me mad. :(
 
I think it's always difficult when changes are announced. It's a really difficult subject benefits/allowances because there will always be people who feel left out but you have to draw a line somewhere and in my opinion people with a higher than average income shouldn't be topped up with money that could be spent elsewhere. If this frees up some money then I think it's a fairly harmless way of doing it. I know it feels like a massive change but for a lot of people who recieve it now it is just an extra and not something desperately needed. There will always be exceptions to that and of course people on very low incomes rely on the money just to get by. I just hope the money that is saved will be used to make life easier for those in actual need but probably not.:(

Maybe that makes me sounds hard but I do understand what it's like to be poor. We live off my husbands income, it's not alot so yes everything we get is extremely helpful, child benefit, working family tax etc. We have 2 children and just about get by but I feel very priviledged now compared to my childhood. I was one of 6 children, dad walked out didn't pay anything so my mum raised us on benefits and it was very very hard.

Losing any money will hurt us for a while but there are always ways to save if we look hard enough. If the money can be used to help those who need it more than us then I think it's our duty. Having said that it drives me crazy seeing how many people claim things when they shouldn't. We worked out we would actually be better off on benefits but we decided to have children so we need to look after them. I have quite rigid views on this sort of thing but hope I haven't offended anyone!

Great post about jobs Fern there are always positions available, they might not be what we want or where we want them but there's always something. I'm sending my children out to work part time as soon as they're old enough not because of the money but because I think it's all part of growing up and learning some responsibility. I think they're going to hate me but it didn't do me any harm however much I wished I didn't have to give up my Saturdays.
 
I completly agree ^


i also feel very passionate about people who claim who shouldnt.


Like you i am one of seven, my father constantly left for months on end, for other woman and returned when he liked.. my mother raised us single handedly, whilst dealing with her own emotional issues and trying to protect us. we never had anything, we had food and water, and heating when we could afford to. My mum had no family to help her and couldnt work due to have so many dependant young children. We have always struggled, so i am VERY greatful now that i CAN work. That i bring in money all by myself, and do you know what.. Joe makes 4 times what i do on a flat month, but its still money we need.. and id rather work for what seems like nothing to some, than claim or not work at all.

I feel very privelidged now.
When i was at college a few years ago i didnt count for EMA because i was too young, then the year i turned 16 i couldnt get it then either because my mums earnings were too low. I had to bus it to college 5 days a week which cost my mum £5 a day. She just couldnt afford this but she did it untill i managed to find a waitressing job. I could only get 8 hours of work per week, and i was on £4 an hour. I hated every second but i did it because i wanted my education and i knew that the £25 per week she would save meant more towards the bills.


My mum is currently training to become a childminder so she can look after my niece whilst working, the money she will get will be crap.. but she has to because my youngest brother turned 9 in march and she was told she HAS to go to work now. They dont care my 15 yr old brother has very bad mental health problems and is constantly leaving school and walking off, getting hurt, into fights and at worse attempting suicide. My youngest michael, who is 9. Is still greiveing for his dad, who my mum has worked hard to maintain a positive memory of since he died when michael was very young. Michael gets picked on and has dyslexia. He is often sent home from school.

my mum hasnt worked not because she doesnt want to, but because she is needed by her family far too often, that she is an unreliable employee.

My mum relys on family allowance. I honestly dont know what shes going to do!
 
My husband is 62 and has been out of work (despite applying for every job going) for the best part of 10 years. He hasn't had a penny, because I was in work. I'm sorry but I'm fed up of the world and his wife being able to claim for everything when we've never claimed for s*d All! All benefits need to be set against income and the world doesn't owe us a living. And yes we've put 2 sons thro university which cost us our life savings but I would do it again!
 
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I am sorry, and i understand its difficult for you.. as it is for everyone.. but i think your lucky to have an income of 32,000 a year as it is.


Does sound like i have nothing to moan about having a joint income of £32,000 but lucky is not the way i see myself.

Let me explain to earn this my husband works 52 hours a week sometimes more i work 40 hours a week so no luck there just hard work.

have worked since i was 14 and in the last 30 years have spent most of this relying on benefits to top up are low income have gone through my husband being made redundant 3 times and had to suffer a 12 month period when he could not find work.

Just feel that if they take it from us it won't make any difference to people who need more help.

there are alot of benefits that need looking at like tax credits and the child tax fund unnecessary for some not enough for others just felt annoyed that for once we felt on top (with hard work). Wish i had savings to put my daughter through uni but never had the money to save.
 
When I got divorced from my ex husband I had to rely on benfits as I was not able to work due to health reasons and having 5 very young children to take care of. Money was so very tight and I sympathise with any one who lives that life now, its not easy and can be totally soul destroying. I think I had it a little easier than most on benefit as I did get a little bit of an extra income because of my ill health.

I got remarried nearly 4 years ago and my husband has always worked - he does n't have an extrememly high paying job and having 6 children to support we do get topped up with tax credits - despite the tax credits we would be better of with my husband not working but my husband could never sit around claiming benefits. I'm not sure how these changes will affect us but I'm sure we will be in an even worse situation. Having said that, we will manage, we always do and there are always ways that we can cut back and save money. Despite working long hours my husband often takes on painting and decorating jobs in the evenings and weekends when extra money is needed so I guess he'll be doing that more often if child benefit or tax credits are cut.

The most important thing for me is to make sure my children see that if you want things in life you can't sit around expecting them to come to you, you have to work for them and work bloody hard. My eldest daughter will be 17 in two weeks and last year after she completed her GCSE exams she went to work on the shop floor in the factory where my husband is the IT Manager. She hated it, every single minute of it and asked to quit each day when she came home but I did nt let her - in the end she loved the money she made but more importantly than that the biggest lesson she learnt (as she told me) was that she was going to have to work so hard to get a good degree so she would n't have to do a job like that for life. It was hard for her - standing on a line shelling pistashio nuts for 8 hours a day but at the end of her 8 weeks there she had so much respect for the people that were standing on that line 8 hours a day 5 days a week just to make ends meet. I will do that with every single one of my children so they appreciate how hard people work to earn every single pound.

Nothing is handed to us on a plate in life so imho something needs to be done about the people who are on benefits and happy to be so, and spend their money on alchohol, cigarettes etc while their kids walk around with holes in their shoes and trousers up to their knees. Us, the tax payers pay for them to have that life style and I for one don't want to keep paying for them. Yes there are people that genuinely need to be on benefit and are striving to change their lives but equally so there are people that know how to work the system and get all kinds of benefits they should n't be getting. :mad:
 
Having worked in an organisation dealing with people on benefits, once thing I would say is don't panic until the full reform has been announced.

It is simply impossible for families to exist on next to nothing, and the government will not let families fall below the poverty line. I rather suspect that whilst they will 'abolish' one type of benefit, there will be another new benefit to take it's place. It will be re-packaged as a new benefit, and the MP's will all pat each other on the back for making such a change, when in effect it probably won't be much different.

The government have spent years introducing changes to the benefit system, but they really haven't made much difference, the only real differences are that they're clamping down on long-term jobseekers (to eliminate the non-genuine claimants), and they're trying to get more parents working.

If you do have children with additional needs it's worth seeking advice and maybe applying for Disability Living Allowance or Carers allowance depending on their needs.

I'm not all pro change or anything, I just think we should wait and see what happens before we all panic!
 
Think i moaned without looking at all the changes as a worker if they raise the personnal allowance then taking my family allowance will not be an issue. Hope they find a way to weed out the people who don't want to work i know lots from the genuine people who can't work i know lots of these as well.

Just hope all the money they save goes on the right things but there will always be people left needing more but not getting it.
 
It was so frustrating in the company I worked for, as we were responsible for helping people back into work, coaching them in skills they might need, working with them to find suitable jobs, boost confidence or just give them a ruddy good kick up the bum. But I would say out of my personal caseload of 140, I had about 30 who genuinely couldn't work (I worked with people on sick benefit), about 30 who said they wanted to work, and about 10 who were actively looking and applying. Of the 80 others on my caseload both my organisation and the JCP could do nothing, we had absolutely no power.

Funnily enough when people had their medical coming up, If i told them that their condition wouldn't be sufficient to be exempt from working (seriously, diabetes, twisted ankles etc - as if!) and that if they got a job before they came of their benefits they'd get other financial support when in work, but after they'd get nothing - it really was funny to watch how quickly people found themselves some work then!

The JCP and DWP don't have enough resources to investigate everyone either, I had a client openly brag to me that he was still getting working tax credits and Incapacity Benefit. I explained that he wasn't allowed working tax credit if he wasn't working, but his response was 'well if I tell them I won't be able to pay the mortgage'. I gave him advice and numbers to ring, as he would;ve been entitled to some help with mortgage payments, then I advised the DWP what he told me - 6 months later they'd still done nothing about it!
 
wats family allowance? we have an income of 30k but dont get anything but child benefit.
We live on 1800 a month but £900 is rent (2 bed small house) £160 is council tax, £180 is travel to work, £400 on bills etc. x
 
Sorry showing my age family allowance is child benefit
 
oh ok so they are getting rid of that? Jesus I am living off that this week! till my husband gets paid!!!!!
 
They aren't getting rid of it completely, atleast not yet. They are considering what to do with it. Perhaps lowing the age it stops or paying less per child. Don't think any decisions have been made yet.
 
Even though i do not live in the U.K. I see regular abuse of the British benefits system here in Spain and it makes my blood boil.

There are people living here, and not one or two, but droves of them, who claim benefits, have car disabled badges from the U.K. , have their kids in school here, use an E whatever number it is, for free health treatment and have not put a penny piece into our system or yours. They are cheating two governments, two country´s and what is more, they are very comfortable........... we struggle. We have been here 28 years and do not get one pennies help from anyone anywhere.

My British pension is just 2.25 a week and why. Because like so many ladies of my age, we were encouraged to pay a married woman's stamp as our husbands contributions would cover us. I stayed married to the ex for 20 years ( god knows why), he is not married to anyone else, he paid in for me for all those years but because we are divorced I have no right to anything. I worked all my married life. It seems so unjust.............where is that money he paid in for me ??? Keeping the fraudsters !!!!

Sorry to have gone off on one and strayed from the original topic,
 
Well I ahve just come off the phone from my daughter's school. I am on my own with two children aged 9 and 7. I work 20 hours a week and earn £7000 a year. I get Child Tax Credits. They have a school trip coming up. County wll help with the cost of the trip if you are getting Child TAx Credits and your income is less than £15,00 pa. Great I think. She can go!! Then she said unless, you are getting Working Family Tax Credit. What??!! So on my income you get help, unless of course you are stupid enough to obtain that income through work rather than benefits. Who can justify that??
 
My life would be so so different with 32k a year. I would ahve been earningt hat by now if I hadn't looked after the kids. I am glad in many ways I did. My kids just couldn't imagine childminders and holiday clubs. They both have friends that do and they all hate it!! Little did I know that my hubbie didn't want a mother for a wife. Loves the kids, but not the attention they take from him. He has now found a girldfriend that was prepared to leave her kids to be with him. Good for him! If I thought that was a possibility I would never have given up that job. But How could I ahve done. Unfortuantely, it ius such a fast paced industry, there is no wya back in to it, and am now ahving to start bottom of the heap at something else!!
 
I get seriously p*ssed off at who claim money and who cannot, my mum & dad have worked all their lives, never claimed a penny, sometimes they both worked two jobs at a time to give my brother & I what we needed (not what we wanted - we knew better than to ask for anything), last year Dad had a heart attack (he was 69 then), he is better now but is now not able to work, mum is 61 now & wants to be able to retire gracefully but they can't afford for her to do it because they are not entitled to any benefits apart from their state pension, I hate it, they have worked hard & deserve to be rewarded for all the money they have put into the government pot.

They should take the money off the people that refuse to work and give it to those that have worked hard all their lives & try to do things the right way!
 
I know what you mean Mumtheshopper - we have 3 kids in primary school and have to pay for everything because we get a small amout of working tax credit!!!!
So they seem to be saying that if we didnt work ( and get this benefit ) then most of the trips etc would be free!!!!!
 
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