[Closed] Could you live on £26,OOO per year. DC content

If that's after tax, I could quite happily live a fine life on that.

Is that £26k take home?

Is that the total amount that a family, maybe with family members that have special needs and care arrangements?

If so no, thats only 2 lots of £13k salaries (assuming that both parents unemployed as opposed to an addition to their salaries).

The problem is the system is abused far too widely making it too expensive.

if it was take home, I get raped every month by those tossers for making 55k

Benefits are tax free so yes, £26K after tax.

that is after tax (there is no tax on benifits).

I earn 26K (before tax) and have a wife (who does not earn) and one child.

Pieface - DLA is not included in the proposed 26k so would be an additional.

So £26k after tax is around £35k gross??

wow, don't even earn £26k before tax!

i could survive on about 5k a year. i could LIVE on £26k a year 😀

Remember the subsidised rents they get too. It all works out to a very good income. If you can't cope, then stop having kids.

that's about my take home after the taxman has finished with me so yes comfortably.

benefits make people sick, reduce the legal working hours, employ the population

float - i doubt you could survive on 5k a year if you include rent.

BTW the 26k also doesnt include child benifit.

Hold on, something's getting skewed here, is it being suggested that benefits are capped at £26000 PER PERSON? Is this a combination of all the benefits available? (i.e. a blind deaf wheelchair bound ex-serviceman with kids etc)?

I'm on £23000 before tax working as a mechanical engineer with 3+ year's experience, never thought anything of it as I can live on it quite comfortably, but now...

BTW the 26k also doesnt include child benifit.

The government proposal is that the £26K does include child benefit. The ding-dong in the Lords currently is about whether that should be the case or not.

£26k that'd be a nice pay rise from the 18k (pre tax & NI) that I have to live on.

I earn far less than £26k ...

the 26k is per family/household - a blind/deft/wheelchair bound person would get Disability Living alowance on top @ approx £400 pcm (an additional 4,800 per year).

The problem is the system is abused far too widely making it too expensive.

No the problem is a lack of social housing which means councils have to place families with private landlords.

This article makes some good points:

[url] http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jan/22/housing-benefit-cap-62p-a-day [/url]

I've been trying to find an article I read earlier that showed this will affect less than 1% of benefit claimants, and that 54% of those affected live in Greater London.

The government proposal is that the £26K does include child benefit. The ding-dong in the Lords currently is about whether that should be the case or not.

my bad - the wife was telling me porkeys.

houseing benifit is a small part of the issue - iirc Its been proposed that the housing benifits system will be cut by 33% across the board.

This well peeves me off But I do think not all are getting such luxuries
But is ridiculous to be able to get so much money on benefits

To have £26,000 in your pocket after tax you will need to earn £ 31,720 approx.
Maybe i should claim my Human Rights and get something back for what i put in.

the 26k is per family/household

Right, that makes more sense.

TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTR - Member
Remember the subsidised rents they get too. It all works out to a very good income. If you can't cope, then stop having kids.

And if you have kids, then lose your job?

Hold on, something's getting skewed here, is it being suggested that benefits are capped at £26000 PER PERSON?

No, household.

MrNutt - Member
benefits make people sick, reduce the legal working hours, employ the population

CallMeDave's just attacked France over the 35-hour working week...

Have in the past so probably easily could again, I couldn't be so spend free have as many special things as I do and not worry about getting an unexpected bill but I could get by. It seems fair to me that those receiving benefits should fall on the average, enough for people to live on but not too much not to encourage them to look for employment.

the 26k cap is for work related benifits only and DOES NOT include illness related benifits on which there will be no cap nor on widows/ war widows etc..

But it also doesn't take into account the size of the household.

is it being suggested that benefits are capped at £26000 PER PERSON?

No, per family I believe. Not an issue if you've 1 or 2 kids, might become one if you have more. [i]Probably[/i] an issue if you lived in London and had a big family. I'd imagine that private rent on say a 3 or 4 bed house would be a lot. Still, combine this plan with a commitment to build loads more social housing and it would make sense.

Average gross [b]household[/b] income in the East Midlands is ~£600, so for this area 26k doesn't really seem like too much of a 'cap'

I think the idea of a universal benefit is flawed when there's such a huge disparity in housing costs across the country

But it also doesn't take into account the size of the household.

hense the house of lords bill.....

Does this benefit need to pay for the complex care needs of say someone with cerebral palsy whose parents want their child to live at homs?

Maybe i should claim my Human Rights and get something back for what i put in.

Or maybe you could consider that you already get a great deal living in the country, and STFU?

Well it's about £20k more than I have earned so far this tax year....and just had a partner pull out of a research contract which was the next 6 months work. My own research keeps me busy but doesnt pay the bills....

RichPenny - Member
Maybe i should claim my Human Rights and get something back for what i put in.
Or maybe you could consider that you already get a great deal living in the country, and STFU?

Just what deal would that be ??? Have worked my nuts off all through my life so far
and had my company for 8 years mostly working through the nights if not 24hrs
to get things out the workshop in time Now employ 4 persons and always
worried of sales etc even though we have a good order book.
Also i live in East London

So WHAT DEAL WOULD THAT BE !!

i am £5k less than that, OH is on £10k less than that and spends 20% on petrol a year, both graduates racking up interest on student loans, can't save for a house and god knows when we will have kids or even get married,

thank god for mtbing, for when I am on the trails, I exist,

Yes easily. I have a large flat in leafy SW London (mortgaged) with super high service charges, have a cleaner, drive an Audi and my base yearly outgoings are about £22k. No children mind you, no fags, booze or drugs.

i am £5k less than that, OH is on £10k less than that and spends 20% on petrol a year, both graduates racking up interest on student loans, can't save for a house and god knows when we will have kids or even get married,

so you have a combined income of 37K - sounds like you could save for a house if you wanted to, just need to change your likestyle a bit.

I earn between 22K and 25k before tax (overtime dependant) and mrs carlos about 8k part time. So we don't earn 26k take home between us.

It winds me up that the system is so flawed that it allows people who don't work to have a better standard of living than I do.

Mrs carlos has recently gone back to work after maternity leave , before she went back we went on the government benefits calculator. If she was made redundant we would be £130 a week better of with the benefits she'd receive.

i am £5k less than that, OH is on £10k less than that and spends 20% on petrol a year, both graduates racking up interest on student loans, can't save for a house and god knows when we will have kids or even get married,

So more than the preposed cap.

Single dad, 2 kids, working full time here. Total income after tax and including benefits is below £24000. We cope, I can't complain as it could be so much worse.

mmb - i salute you sir!!

I heard over the din of my loud carsharer this morning that poverty was defined by children having to share bedrooms.

I shared a bedroom with two siblings until I was about 11 and my folks were middle class. Times have changed.

£26K before tax would be a doddle, you just need to know how to economise.

EDIT: Also project, the capital 'o's in the title are driving me to distraction. You get 8/10 troll score just for that alone. 🙂

Just what deal would that be ???

OK, I will list a few things for you.

A safe, relatively crime free environment.
Fantastic employment opportunities, including the ability to start your own business.
Good education.
Good healthcare.
A welfare state that will look after you reasonably well if required.

That's just 5 things you should be incredibly grateful for. I'm sure you have worked very hard for what you have. You should be proud of yourself, but make no mistake; you've been enabled by those things I've listed and more besides. Don't take them for granted because they might not be here forever....

Thank you, I live in poole by the way so not a cheap area by any means. We have to learn to live within our means, if you can't afford it do without. I can still afford to run a car and pay £850 per year for my daughters coach fees to college (30 miles away).