Benefits for low paid son

blue what are you talking about. He’s not getting benefits . His parents made the mistake of giving him the £80k before it was needed for a house deposit. However without the capital it seems unlikely that he would get anything anyway - as a pp said single people are not treated at all generously by the benefit system. For example, I’ve found out since this thread started that low paid single people under 35 only get HB at a rate that covers a room in a shared house. 35 seems a bit harsh to me.

But he doesn't need benefits. He has 80k to live off! Why should be claim benefits while accruing interest on 80k in the bank?

We’ve got warm hearts though Maryeliza

Oh but it’s cold up North❄️☃️

There are plenty 3 bedroom houses for sale in my town for £80k ... decent ones too .

I didn't go - although two of my friends went and wanted me to go with them. Sometimes I think back and wish that I had gone when I was young and single. As it happens, we had to move there years later and endure a crippling mortgage and as we had children by then we couldn't enjoy the 'high life'!
We were in a 'leafy suburb' so it was quite pleasant.

You're right jalima and, newly-married, my husband and I headed for the bright lights. Good jobs, excellent social life, decent salaries, affordable rent. After 2 good years we decided that London was not where we wanted to live long-term and certainly not where we'd start a family.
Returned to Scotland, rented for a year while taking postgrad teaching qualifications. Took drop in salaries to go into teaching but by the time we reached 25 had a decent 3 bedroom flat and a mortgage we could just about afford.
Sometimes you can achieve what you want only by calling it quits in the wrong situation and moving on.

I think that £140,000 could certainly get something in most parts of the country, but perhaps not London and the SE.

mcem I think a lot of young graduates head to London thinking that it is the place to be but find out that life can be better elsewhere - sometimes it takes a while to find that out!

Well obviously it’s hypothetical just to show that depending where you live, £80000 for a deposit won’t get you much if you can only get a mortgage of £60000 (in some parts of the country).

A deposit of £ 240 000? For a 1 bedroom flat? Best advice would be to move!
My niece is trapped working in Central London on a very low wage. She has absolutely no hope of buying. She simply cannot save because every year she faces ridiculous rent increases and so moves further out for a cheaper rent. She then has to pay more for transport and continues to lose out. Wouldn't be difficult to find a similar, relatively low-skilled job.

All of her family live in ( or moved in the last few years) to Scotland. Parents comfortably retired in pleasant area, brother in a well-paid job and buying his own flat in a good area of Glasgow. Other family members not far away and ready to offer support.

I think she's deluded to think she is living a good life and enjoying the "buzz" of London when she can't afford to enjoy the amenities around her.

Unless we know where he lives we have no idea what size deposit he needs. Assume his gross income is £20000, a very generous bank might lend him £60000. To buy a one bedroom flat where I live he’d need a deposit of at least £200-240,000.

Well, you could buy a modest four-bedroomed house here for that deposit!
And there appear to be jobs going too.

The point is that just saying "£10/hr" gives us no usable information

£10/hr on a zero hours/ad hoc/part time basis is rubbish

£10/hr pro rata on a full time secure permanent contact with employment benefits is a good deal.

Also "invested" = what?

The OPs sons circumstances aren't known on this thread so replies can't be that useful

I don’t really see the point of your post not . The individual circumstances of people obviously impact how well they can manage on a particular wage. It’s not just about the here and now - a younger person may be wanting to save up for a deposit or because s/he would like to marry/ live with someone. Someone else on that wage may have a very well paid partner. Travel to work costs or a necessary car are also at play. In a country as rich as ours and with the disgraceful inequalities of wealth and income we have it’s utterly unacceptable that there’s so much low pay about. There are many large companies that pay out huge dividends to shareholders and bonuses to directors who pay their staff so little they have to claim tax credits. I’m not talking about SME here

The capital may or may not affect certain entitlements depending on the benefit & how it is investment, so it in fact is accurate to say that there isnt enough info to adequately answer

£1600/month gross is not enough for a family but for a single person (op mentioned no dependants) its perfectly livable unless there is something else going on (low hours or bad money management).

I live in one of the more expensive parts of the country. A family sized rental home in a not great area starts at around £1200, so it would be a low income for a FAMILY.

But for a single person, crappy studios/one beds start at around £700/month and nice ones start at £850/month so its a perfectly adequate income even in a pricey area

I pay £11.50 hourly rate, plus half if we're away and she doesn't clean. I hope that's fair, she's so good and trustworthy.

I see the OP has taken her bat and ball home.

It’s market forces isn’t it? My dd ( near me) pays much more than £10 an hour for her cleaner - no one would take the job at that rate.

It's the same poor wages here in the NW too. I doubt that many South of Watford would get up out of their bed for £10 an hour whereas here,people would snap your hand off for that---------if they had the opportunity, but that's another argument in this forgotten area of decent employment.

I’m not being funny but many people I know would jump at a job paying £10 an hour ( me included ) if I could get away from the one I’m stuck with .

I pay the lady who cleans for me £10 an hour and I always worry that it seems very low.

Exactly maryeliza thank you for making my point for me .

I just found some figures for 2015 for median weekly earnings (ft). In my area it was £513 - I don’t know where in NE you are but the figure for South Tyneside was £396 - a huge % difference

Most unskilled or semi skilled jobs around here attract minimum or living wage only maryeliza. It is shocking but it’s a fact .

Also speaking as an employer his £10 per hour is not what it costs to employ him (employers NI, plus insurance contributions, plus pension contributions etc) is quite a lot When you add it all up .