>Job seekers allowance (the standard benefit for the unemployed) will net you around £50 per week. //
Our family live on far less than that each per week after housing and we're working ... clearly we're not doing it right but it seems that is more than sufficient. Indeed my experience is that those I know on benefits can afford to live quite badly, wastefully.
How do you budget for that?
By the time I've used Energy/Gas + Internet + transport I've taken a huge bite out of that, not to mention food , phone etc.
In the US, public transport is at least $20 per week, for a minimum commute.
x2 for 2 wage earners.
$1/day(!) per person is another $5 each.
Replacing worn out clothes adds a touch.
Water/sewer is ~$5/wk/person for very light use. Energy for light/heat/cooking is similar.
That is bare minimum for survival.
Job seekers allowance (the standard benefit for the unemployed) will net you around £50 per week. Out of that has to come all of your expenses including energy , food , travel etc. You may be able to get rent covered by separate housing benefits.
Of course the right wing press will often print examples of families on benefit who are pulling in large sums of money from the taxpayer. I think in most cases these are cherry picked cases.
You do of course get more money if you have children, so perhaps if one can produce enough children to benefit from economies of scale it becomes more likely.