Hi I have got a case which i would like to share with you.
i am working with a 18y.o female she was in college and claiming IS prior to getting her own tenancy. She was offered a job on a part-time basis and she was lucky to find an employer paying 6.50ph for account assistant given the fact that she was in her first year in college.

she was given her own tenancy and we applied for HB and Ctax benefit, she was no longer claiming Income Support because she was now working.

She now has agreements from both HB and Ctax department and she need to contribute towards her rent 50.20 and 13 pounds towards her Council Tax bill. She is only getting 104 a week but HB has made their dec. on the sum of 113 a week.

So a simple math is that she does have 104 and take away 50.20 and 13 she is left with 40.80 pounds a week which means that working she is not better off she is actually losing 7 pounds if claims Income Support.

What do you think I should advice her to do???

I always say to my Young people to work but this is what happens when they go and work.

This a a perfect example of the discrimination that under 25's experience - lower hourly pay for those who are working - Benefits reduced for those that aren't, HB is restricted to what used to be called a single room rent - in our area, that's £64 per week.


Your client has £40 a week to try and live on - from that she will have utility bills of at least £15 a week - in addition to public transport costs - TV licence - telephone etc: which probably means that she will have something inthe region of £20 a week or less to spend on food.

The only help that you could offer is to encourage and help her apply for a Discretionary Housing payment from the local Authority - the only criteria is financial hardship - we use them a lot to alleviate what can only be described as poverty........

Just to be clear, I readily acknowledge that the cost of working (e.g. travel / lunch etc) can have the real-world effect of making someone worse off when earning than when on benefit.

However, in terms of the HB/CTB calc in relation to income, it is impossible for someone to be "worse off". Sure, they may only be pennies better off, but the calc itself means that for every £1 above IS levels, a clmt is 15p per week better off (subject to the "real-world" issues mentioned above).

I'm also struggling to see how someone with earnings of £104 per week can be treated as having £113. Is there any more info as to why the LA has assessed earnings at this level? For example, are there elements in the clmt's earnings that cannot be disregarded?

On a personal note, I can't for the life of me work out why any government (of whatever colour) thinks that a combined taper of 85% is appropriate. Lunacy.

Kevin -

I wholeheartedly agree with your last para. And it isn't only youngsters who are affected. I had a client in her fifties who lost her job so claimed JSA, HB, CTB. When I explained to her what would happen when she got another job she looked at me as if I were daft and simply said "What's the point of me working then?".

Of course, its the system that's daft (or there are less polite words to describe it!).

Hi well i have just was on th phone to my client as she is confused and angry as she doesnt understand what to do. She s thinking of working only one day which will give her 52 pounds as she is in college I will try to claim EMA and will check about claiming Income Support.

Will keep you updated but hope to find a way to keep her working rather then going on benefits as I sai before she really enjoys working and I havent met many 18yo to that, also her employer is asking her to start full-time but she is in college so that is imposible at the moment.

Thanks to all of you