What Benefits Do We Recieve?
During The Personal Life Cycle
Childhood
For a first child, parents recieve £20.30 each week, until the child is 16. For any subsequent child, £13.40 is paid. Pregnant women get free dental care and prescriptions until the baby is one year old. If a woman is pregnant and employed, they can recieve SMP (statutory maternity pay), but only if they have been workin gwith the same employer without break for at least 26 weeks. SMP is paid continuously for up to 39 weeks. For the first six weeks you earn 90% of your average weekly earnings, and for the remaining 33 weeks you recieve a standard rate of £135.45 (or 90% of your weekly earnings, whichever is lower).
You can recieve child benefits if your child:
>Is under 16
>Is 16-17 and has left education
>If they are 16-20 and on a full time educational course
>If you are earning less than most people and your child recieves free school meals.
Adolescence
If you are between 16-19 in full time education, you can recieve a bursary of £1200 a year, apart from this most teens (over 16) don't get any benefits, however if you have a student loan, this is classed as benefits/income by the government. Adolescents recieve child benefits until 16. Most benefits available to teenagers are for in the case of pregnancy, for example child benefits. You can usually claim Jobseeker's Allowance only if you are 18 or over. However, 16 and 17-year-olds who are unemployed and not in full-time education may, under some circumstances, be able to claim. If you are 16 or 17 years old, you may get Income Support if you:
>Have a child or are pregnant
>Are on certain kinds of training course.
Income support is to help adolescents on a low income pay for day-to-day living costs.
Young Adult
Most single, adults under 35 are now entitled to housing benefit also known as local housing allowance (LHA). LHA is a benefit for people on a low income to help them pay their rent. They can get council tax benefits if they pay council tax but their earnings are below a certain level. Young adults can get Second Adult Rebate if the person they live with isn't their partner, if they are 18 or over, they don't pay you rent, don't pay council tax and are on a low income. There are many benefits you can recieve, if:
>You are on a low income(whether employed or looking for work)
>You are ill or disabled
>You have dependent children
>You are a carer
>You are pregnant or have recently had a child
>You have been bereaved
Middle Adult
Late Adult
A person over 60 can recieve even more benefits. Late adults get free bus passes and recieve a pension. A pension is the National Insurance contributions you have paid. This is to ensure that, once you have retired, you will still have money to live off on top of what the government pay you.
A pensioner can recieve:
>Pension Credit
>Housing Benefit
>Council Tax Benefit
>Lower council tax, or rent
>Winter fuel payments
>Help with health costs
>State pensions
>Illness and disability benefits and so much more...