There are various changes that I think could make universal credit work better for low income families.

Removing the two child cap would be a huge step in reducing child poverty. As would removing the bedroom tax.

Reducing the administrative burden associated with universal credit for working families would be a big help. The endless uploading of evidence is wearing.

One thing that would work for a lot of families is looking at how child care costs are supported.

Rules like not being able to claim for costs paid more than two assessment periods in advance block a lot of claims for care in school holidays where camps/clubs fill up fast.

Top up fees/consumable charges etc are considered optional by universal credit but for places providing childcare these are essential and not optional. This means that I can actually only claim back up to 66% of my childcare costs through universal credit and a lot of people I know have it worse than that.

End the 5 week wait for first payment.

Have the choice to be paid weekly, fortnightly or monthly available to everyone, without having to plead and prove a special need.

Raise the level of UC payment so that all over 18s receive the same basic rate.

Allow claims and communications in person, by post and online by everyone without having to plead and prove special need.

I would have benefitted greatly from most of these changes being in place and it would make the claiming and communications process a lot more manageable and less stressful for me. Raising the payments for younger people would go some way to relieve poverty - food and rent doesn't cost less for under 25s. Being paid weekly or fortnightly would make it easier for me to budget and manage bills more confidently.

This is another month of June, the weather 🌦️ is getting better ❤️‍🩹 sending love ❤️ and hugs 🫂 to everybody in this platform thank you.

Good afternoon. I just want to quickly say something about the first comment that the government has extended free school meal is very good. If the government can make it compulsory for children to get free School Meal during school time, that will be very lovely. That will be so so good.

Because every child deserves to, to eat his food, that would be so good and also to the children as well. If we happy, I don't know that all when they are in school, they have food to eat. So that would be a very good.

That would be so good. And also, for example, I work as a school kitchen assistant and some of them when they come for, when it's break time and they want to eat, they asked Miss please do know how much is my card. Can I check? How much is on my card and

I would say oh can you take it to the till to ask the lady how much is in there?

Some of them, they don't have enough money for some food and drink and they just buys Just enough or some of them they buy, just the street food, they don't have money for the food cost me. Oh, you need to do if they don't have money for some which they were just take cookies and it's not enough for them. But if they have free school meals they'll be so happy. At least they can eat. They can eat.

I’ve learned that if I don’t take care of my mental health, even the physical or career progress doesn’t feel like enough. Even small things — like talking to someone I trust, going for walks, praying or meditating, or joining community groups — really help. It’s about balance. I’m trying to remind myself that my mind needs care too because I matter as a person, not just what I can achieve. I’m learning to invest more in my mental health now, because I’ve seen how important it is for staying strong through this journey.

I think I prioritise my mental health a bit more than my physical health - the latter in trying to improve. For many years I had a high cardio lifestyle but in recent years and lack of motivation also due to mental health issues, I'm not nearly as active as I'd like to be. The past few years I've also gained a bit of weight too which I'm also working on. Prevention is best so I try to alleviate as much triggers like stress for example, that can have a downward spiral on my mental health. I'm currently doing mindful meditation classes in the hope this might be beneficial. I definitely need to work more on my physical health and I'm very mindful of this.

I feel like my mental health is dependant on my physical health. If I don't exercise I feel really low and sad, I struggle with autistic burn out often and when this happens and I can't look after my physical health my mental health declines rapidly.

I currently pay for a gym membership which is really cheap at around £14 a month , if I wasn't able to afford this I'd really struggle with my mental health. I have exercise equipment at home but by going to the gym I'm forced to get out of my comfort safe zone of home and be around people. This also is a tonic for my mental health even if I don't interact with anyone, simply by being around humans sometimes helps lift the spirits.

I believe if the government funded gym memberships for people who really struggle with mental health issues the need for medication would decrease and society as a whole would feel a whole lot better. This would have a knock on effect meaning more people would be able to go back to work, less sick days, less mental health dips and everyone would be so much happier.

It's a sunny day here, feeling great with the sun not too hot though

Honestly, I don't really think I invest time in my health at all. There is very little understanding of the mental health issues that I face and very few trained professionals to deal with the issues myself and others face. On top of this I have physical health issues, but again due to the fact I am not comfortable around people that are not known to me, and very rarely use telephones, also the high cost of transport I am unable to attend most hospital appointments and don't even bother to try to make a doctors appointment unless is is a absolute emergency.

No I don't but I am trying my best to invest in my mental health now as I am hearing and learning so much about mental health now, all thanks to all the organisations I am in for giving us knowledge of what mental health is, I for one didn't realise what mental health was, coming from Africa, but now I know what it is and I'm paying attention to it but still not as much as my physical activities but I know I'll get there soon.

No! Not even close! My mental health gets very little time because I don't feel like I have the time with a disabled child at home to put time to it and being autistic too the local NHS doesn't offer anything suitable - despite having a longstanding mental health condition. I would have to pay privately to get suitable treatment which I just can't afford - it would start at £40 a week roughly. Which I just can't afford. I rarely even get anytime to myself to think about my needs let alone to act upon them.

Being physically disabled as well my physical health usually forces me to pay attention otherwise I'll end up in hospital. My career has become full time family admin for 3 disabled people, one of whom is a child and one of whom can't work because of their conditions yet is still expected to complete endless paperwork, chase appointments and on limited sleep, mental, physical and financial resources. Being then called a benefit scrounger...It's pretty soul destroying at times.

Hi Beauty,

What a great and important question — thank you for asking it.

Honestly, I don't invest as much time in my mental or physical health as I do in my career. I’m currently working two jobs and averaging around 45 hours a week. By the time I finish work and take care of everything at home, I’m usually too exhausted to focus on my well-being.

Financial constraints also play a big role — I often don’t have the resources to prioritise my health the way I’d like to. It’s something I find quite worrying because I’m fully aware of how important self-care is.

As a single parent, investing time and energy in myself can feel like a luxury I can’t afford, even though I know it’s necessary.