Your summary
Extra hours make you better off by£163.71a month
Total£441
You keep£163.71
Universal Credit£200.09
Tax and NI£76.82
Working 8 more hours a week adds £440.61 of gross pay a month. After tax, National Insurance and the Universal Credit taper you keep £163.71, which is 37p in every pound, or about £4.72 for each extra hour.
37p kept per £1£710 work allowance63% effective rate
THE COMPLETE PICTURE
Your results in detail
Income now£1,515.89Pay plus Universal Credit
With extra hours£1,679.60
Universal Credit lost£200.09
You keep£163.71
What we assumed
- Rates
- 2026/27 tax, NI and Universal Credit
- Pay
- £12.71 an hour, 16 hours now
- Months
- 52 weeks ÷ 12, paid monthly
- Benefit cap
- Not applied
Not right for you? Change it under More options.
Where the extra pay goes
£440.61 of extra gross pay a month.
You keep£163.7137%
Universal Credit£200.0945%
Tax and NI£76.8217%
Before and after
A month.
| Item | Now | With extra hours |
|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | £881.23 | £1,321.84 |
| Income Tax | £0.00 | −£54.87 |
| National Insurance | £0.00 | −£21.95 |
| Take-home pay | £881.23 | £1,245.02 |
| Universal Credit | £634.67 | £434.58 |
| Household income | £1,515.89 | £1,679.60 |
Income by hours worked
At £12.71 an hour.
Pay plus Universal CreditTake-home pay only
16 hours a week: take-home £881.23, Universal Credit £634.67, total £1,515.89 a month.
£570£1,140£1,710£2,280
Drag across the chart, or use the arrow keys, to read any number of hours.
Step by step
Household income a month at different hours.
Hours a weekIncome
0 hours£728.84
8 hours£1,169.45+£440.61
16 hours£1,515.89+£346.44
24 hours£1,679.60+£163.71
30 hours£1,786.67+£107.07
37.5 hours£1,920.51+£133.84
Worth knowing
Getting more from working.
Pension contributions cost you less on Universal Credit
Universal Credit counts pay after pension contributions, so a pound into your pension reduces take-home pay by much less than a pound. Try a pension percentage under More options.
Paid in arrears, by assessment period
Extra pay reduces Universal Credit in the assessment period you are paid it. Weekly or four-weekly pay sometimes puts two paydays in one month, which lowers that month's award.
2026/27 rates. Ignores the benefit cap, which earning £881 a month removes. Not financial advice.