Strike!

[BoldonLad]

It's irrelevant to the discussion anyway. Single parents exist, including those on a single wage. That's all we need to know.

That is an interesting thought. Should people, doing exactly the same job, with same skills, etc etc, be paid different rates, depending on how many children they have, if they have a partner, how much their mortgage is, how much their monthly car payment is, etc etc

 

[Bromptonaut]

The life choices I'm referring to is deciding whether to have children if you can't afford them or not become a single parent if possible or make sure the estranged partner pays his/her way, there's are lots of choices people make along the way to help themselves.

I haven't got a clue what 'maximum allowed for rent' means and even less of and idea what 'UC' is?

While the media loves the image of the feckless woman pushing out loads of kids with different fathers that's only a small number. As I've said before I'm a Welfare Rights Adviser and for three years I was focussed on Universal Credit (UC).

I had an lot of clients who had two or three children who, at conception, they could well afford. The relationship then foundered. Why doesn't matter. The woman was left with the kids. Yeah maybe Dad has them at weekends and maybe he pays a bit for them but it's the Mother doing the heavy lifting.

If you rent privately there's a limit on what the benefits system will pay towards rent. The technical term is Local Housing Allowance but I used maximum allowed rent as I thought it was clear. It's supposed to be based on market rents but it looks at those at the cheaper end of town and only rarely is it actually uprated.

 

[Bromptonaut]

That is an interesting thought. Should people, doing exactly the same job, with same skills, etc etc, be paid different rates, depending on how many children they have, if they have a partner, how much their mortgage rent is, how much their monthly car payment is, etc etc

Not up to the employer but the bits I've bolded determine whether you get a top up from the state.

 

[winjim]

The life choices I'm referring to is deciding whether to have children if you can't afford them or not become a single parent if possible or make sure the estranged partner pays his/her way, there's are lots of choices people make along the way to help themselves.

Mate.

 

[Deleted member 28]

Mate.

Errrr....................................ok?

 

[Deleted member 28]

While the media loves the image of the feckless woman pushing out loads of kids with different fathers that's only a small number. As I've said before I'm a Welfare Rights Adviser and for three years I was focussed on Universal Credit (UC).

I had an lot of clients who had two or three children who, at conception, they could well afford. The relationship then foundered. Why doesn't matter. The woman was left with the kids. Yeah maybe Dad has them at weekends and maybe he pays a bit for them but it's the Mother doing the heavy lifting.

If you rent privately there's a limit on what the benefits system will pay towards rent. The technical term is Local Housing Allowance but I used maximum allowed rent as I thought it was clear. It's supposed to be based on market rents but it looks at those at the cheaper end of town and only rarely is it actually uprated.

Interesting, no seriously.

You can earn £35k per yr and given certain circumstances still get money from the government, how much?

 

[Bromptonaut]

Interesting, no seriously.

You can earn £35k per yr and given certain circumstances still get money from the government, how much?

Replying to the last post without recalling what's been said already isn't a good forum debate technique.

The answer, and the proviso/rationale, is at post #828

 

[winjim]

That is an interesting thought. Should people, doing exactly the same job, with same skills, etc etc, be paid different rates, depending on how many children they have, if they have a partner, how much their mortgage is, how much their monthly car payment is, etc etc

Not up to the employer but the bits I've bolded determine whether you get a top up from the state.

Just wait till you find out about parental leave.

 

[winjim]

Errrr....................................ok?

You're so sure that everybody else is doing fine, aren't you? Now obviously I'm not going to go too far into my family life on this forum, for one thing personal anecdotes have a limited relevance when applied to the general situation, but it involves all the things you mentioned all happening all at the same time.

It's not always a choice, and if it is, sometimes it's a reasonable choice.

 

[Deleted member 28]

Replying to the last post without recalling what's been said already isn't a good forum debate technique.

The answer, and the proviso/rationale, is at post #828

If your job is in an 'expensive' area and you're a single parent of (say) 2 teenage children then how does living in a decent home of one's own become a 'life choice'?

Using the example of a single parent on £35k then even in Wolverhampton, where the max allowed for rent is around £600/month, they'd get
around £640 in UC. That assumes they're paying into the NHS pension scheme.

I'm doing my best here, never having claimed a penny in benefits so bear with me, if I was earning £35 and living in Wolverhampton with 2 teenage kids and no partner I could claim £600 per month for rent and £640 in UC as well as my £2k take home pay from the NHS?

If however I didn't have any kids then I would have to rely on just my salary?

 

[BoldonLad]

Just wait till you find out about parental leave.

What has that got to do with it?

I have children, grandchildren, I am aware of parental leave

 

[winjim]

What has that got to do with it?

I have children, grandchildren, I am aware of parental leave

So you're aware that there are circumstances in which people with children are paid differently by their employer than people without. Wasn't that your question?

 

[Bromptonaut]

I'm doing my best here, never having claimed a penny in benefits so bear with me, if I was earning £35 and living in Wolverhampton with 2 teenage kids and no partner I could claim £600 per month for rent and £640 in UC as well as my £2k take home pay from the NHS?

If however I didn't have any kids then I would have to rely on just my salary?

You're on £35k in Wolves with two teenagers and renting a 3 bed. You're allowed a 3 bed because you've both a boy and a girl and they're past the age of puberty.

Universal Credit will pay £640 but the £600 for the rent is part of the calculation. You don't get that as well.

Your monthly take home after tax/NI and pension contributions is about £1850. You keep the first £344 as a Work Allowance the rest counts against Universal Credit as a taper rate of 55p for every £1 earned.

 

[BoldonLad]

So you're aware that there are circumstances in which people with children are paid differently by their employer than people without. Wasn't that your question?

Having parental leave is not being paid differently, they still get same salary/hourly rate/day rate, but, for a defined period, they have an adjusted leave entitlement, is how I see it. There are of course other examples, where being a parent is not a qualification.

 

[Bromptonaut]

Having parental leave is not being paid differently, they still get same salary/hourly rate/day rate, but, for a defined period, they have an adjusted leave entitlement, is how I see it. There are of course other examples, where being a parent is not a qualification.

The law for Maternity Pay is that you get 90% of pay for 6 weeks then £156.66/week. Some employers pay more but that's under your contract.