Choose a household, set each benefit between its minimum and maximum, and see the salary, tax and National Insurance needed to take home the same money. Every figure uses official 2026/27 rates.
Benefits are added up the way the Department for Work and Pensions pays them, not simply stacked. Three rules matter most.
The salary figure assumes the job replaces every benefit shown. In practice, PIP and Child Benefit carry on in work and Universal Credit tapers away at 55p for each £1 earned above any work allowance. The second panel models that: pick the hours and it shows what the household would actually gain by working at £12.71 an hour.
Tax uses England, Wales and Northern Ireland rates; Scottish income tax bands differ. Workplace pension contributions, student loan repayments and travel costs are not deducted. Universal Credit childcare costs are left out because they are only paid to people in work. Council Tax Reduction and free school meals vary by council and are entered as estimates; in the working scenario Council Tax Reduction is held steady, although most councils reduce it as earnings rise.
From 6 April 2026. Weekly benefits are converted to monthly by multiplying by 52 and dividing by 12.
| Benefit | Rate | Weekly | Monthly |
|---|
| Personal Allowance | £12,570 | reduced by £1 for every £2 over £100,000 |
| Basic rate 20% | £12,571 to £50,270 | |
| Higher rate 40% | £50,271 to £125,140 | |
| Additional rate 45% | over £125,140 | |
| Employee National Insurance | 8% / 2% | 8% from £12,570 to £50,270, 2% above |
| Employer National Insurance | 15% | on pay above £5,000 |
| National Living Wage (21+) | £12.71 an hour | from 1 April 2026 |
| Benefit cap, outside London | £1,835.00 / £1,229.42 | a month; families and couples / single adults |
| Benefit cap, Greater London | £2,110.25 / £1,413.92 | a month; families and couples / single adults |
| Benefit cap earnings exemption | £881 a month | net earnings on Universal Credit |
No. Many have strict eligibility (PIP needs a disability assessment, the carer element needs 35 hours of care a week) and the benefit cap limits most households without a disabled member. The sliders let you set realistic amounts rather than assuming the maximum.
Universal Credit pays actual rent up to the Local Housing Allowance for the area and household size. These rates are frozen at 2024 levels for 2026/27 and vary from under £400 to over £2,000 a month. Social housing tenants get their actual rent, subject to the bedroom rules.
Universal Credit, PIP and Child Benefit are not taxable. Carer's Allowance, New Style JSA and New Style ESA are taxable, but on their own they sit below the Personal Allowance.
Yes. The Universal Credit child element has been paid for every child since 6 April 2026, at £303.94 a month per child born on or after 6 April 2017.
DWP's Benefit and pension rates 2026 to 2027, HMRC's Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027, the benefit cap guidance and the National Minimum Wage rates.