Boom-time on benefits: The 140,000 families who claim £20,000 a year in handouts

terryw

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

snip

Other EU nationals, such as those coming on spouse / student / work visas don't have access to the benefits system at all, and public funds in this context includes public housing.

Are you sure about this? I thought visas are not necessary within the EU? And I know loads of EU nationals who live in public housing..........I thought that they had the same rights as UK citizens.

A slightly puzzled
terryw

leighton

terryw wrote: »

Are you sure about this? I thought visas are not necessary within the EU? And I know loads of EU nationals who live in public housing..........I thought that they had the same rights as UK citizens.

A slightly puzzled
terryw

i think NDG meant "non-EU nationals" - prob a typo.

SingleSue

There is no free school uniform in my area, they stopped the £15 grant (£25 if the child was moving into high school) around 2 years ago.

And even with the grant, it would buy a shirt or a pair of trousers and not the complete uniform...not that I ever claimed it!

MiserlyMartin

StevieJ wrote: »

You really will have to stop reading that newspaper :eek:

Why should they?

Talking of benefits I went to that entitled to website and looked to see what I can claim as a working single person with no kids. NOTHING. I then tried it as an unemployed person with 2 kids and I would have to earn 18K to match the income. Kids could be arranged and my job is becoming less attractive day by day. Why shouldn't I join Brown's nation of welfare people?

mouche

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

Other EU nationals, such as those coming on spouse / student / work visas don't have access to the benefits system at all, and public funds in this context includes public housing.

I think non-EU was intended here. And as a non-EU legal immigrant I can confirm that the only benefits we get are NHS (not free prescriptions) and statutory maternity pay. If OH or I were to lose our jobs, we would get nothing despite paying taxes & NI practically since the minute we got here 4 years ago. I remember when we went to get our NI numbers, we asked what they were for. The person explained and then added - "of course, you're paying into the system for other people - you won't get anything yourselves". I'm not complaining - those are the rules and we accepted them when we chose to move here. But it does make me sad to see all immigrants lumped into one category. Thank you to those of you who point out the differences in types of immigrants and help to increase awareness.

Happy new year everyone!

DW123_2

I think non-EU was intended here. And as a non-EU legal immigrant I can confirm that the only benefits we get are NHS (not free prescriptions) and statutory maternity pay.

That's all any working woman receives except pregant women receive free prscriptions prior to and a year after birth.

If OH or I were to lose our jobs, we would get nothing despite paying taxes & NI practically since the minute we got here 4 years ago. I remember when we went to get our NI numbers, we asked what they were for. The person explained and then added - "of course, you're paying into the system for other people - you won't get anything yourselves"

Are you sure about this???

Read the passage below to understand why we Brits are so upset and angry. As a taxpayer perhaps you should be too!!!!!!!!!

"Polish workers are using EU rules to make sure they can keep receiving handouts which are worth DOUBLE what they would get back home. They are being given master classes in how to obatin them. At least 50,000 Poles have left Britain in just three months because of the economic downturn, government figures show. And Polish job centres have now started courses to tell people how to claim benefits, according to daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza..."source Metro.co.uk 4th November 2008

olly300

PasturesNew wrote: »

Before the benefits explosion, parents got some child benefit for the 2nd and 3rd kids only (until 1977). There was none of this DLA/carer business. If you had a sickly child of any sort and looked after them you'd still only get the standard child benefit money I believe. They just went to special schools where the staff could cope with a bunch of them because they were familiar with their needs. Now if there's one child in every class, each having different needs, the whole school's disrupted and nobody wins.

Not strictly true.

I went to a primary school in the 80's where there was a deaf children's unit. That meant in my classes one to four of the pupils had different stages of deafness.

The profoundly deaf ones, and there was one boy in my class through most of my time from 5 to 11 spend anything from an hour to a morning/afternoon being educated with us with another teacher for support. (The disruption he caused was because every child particularly those on his table wanted to help him. )

The ones with better hearing were basically educated with us and the class teacher didn't always have extra support in the classroom when they were in the class. In fact with 2 of them who spent about 2 hours a week in the deaf unit and there was no extra support classroom support. So what tended to happen is that a parent would be around to help the class. However this parent while they were asked in the lesson to help these 2 children, ended up being involved in helping the slower children. It's actually more disruptive in a mixed ability class at 9 having a child who can just about read in your lessons.

Unfortunately for them they were sort of forced by the education authority to go to one secondary school because it has a specialised unit. Even though 2 of them were very clever, well behaved and any secondary school in the area would have been happy to take them.

The reason I know this is that I ended up having lessons with someone in my secondary school who had the same level of deafness as the 2 children in my primary school who were as clever. That child's parents decided that they were going to a normal school and to be educated with normal hearing individuals and where not going to be dictated to by anyone on how they wanted their child educated.

cocktail

Are you sure about this???

Read the passage below to understand why we Brits are so upset and angry. As a taxpayer perhaps you should be too!!!!!!!!!

"Polish workers are using EU rules to make sure they can keep receiving handouts which are worth DOUBLE what they would get back home. They are being given master classes in how to obatin them. At least 50,000 Poles have left Britain in just three months because of the economic downturn, government figures show. And Polish job centres have now started courses to tell people how to claim benefits, according to daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza..."source Metro.co.uk 4th November 2008[/quote]

My dad works in the home office and he confirms that a non -eu immigrant gets no benefits. NHS and statutory maternity leave are the only 'benefits' for obvious legal reasons. they have to pay full N.I. contributions and taxes.
Polish workers are EU aren't they

mouche

DW123 wrote: »

That's all any working woman receives except pregant women receive free prscriptions prior to and a year after birth.


Are you sure about this???

Read the passage below to understand why we Brits are so upset and angry. As a taxpayer perhaps you should be too!!!!!!!!!

"Polish workers are using EU rules to make sure they can keep receiving handouts which are worth DOUBLE what they would get back home. They are being given master classes in how to obatin them. At least 50,000 Poles have left Britain in just three months because of the economic downturn, government figures show. And Polish job centres have now started courses to tell people how to claim benefits, according to daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza..."source Metro.co.uk 4th November 2008

Oh I see...I was under the impression British and EU citizens get Working Tax Credits and Child Benefit as well? I am quite likely mistaken - since I don't qualify for benefits, I don't really know what other people get.

For the same reason, I'm not too bothered about what EU citizens get. My taxes go to pay benefits to all EU citizens (including British ones) so for me it doesn't really make a difference which country they are from. I'm sure I would mind if I was a British citizen though!

What does bother me is that some people assume that non-EU immigrants are the root of all evil. It is not that easy to immigrate to the UK legally and we certainly don't get any public funds when we do. Asylum seekers and refugees may do but I don't think anyone would prefer they were sent back to certain death in their own countries. Illegal immigrants are a problem definitely and I support moves to find and send them home - but I would love to see figures comparing the number of illegal immigrants on benefits versus the number of EU immigrants on benefits. I suspect the latter is a larger group. Also, I wonder if it is even possible to claim benefits if you are an illegal immigrant?

The point I'm trying to make is, newspapers and people often shout about 'solve the UK's problems by sending the non-EU immigrants home'. Illegal immigrants, yes, they should be found and sent home and the borders tightened against further illegal immigration. But sending the legal non-EU citizens home will reduce the number of tax pounds in the economy without reducing the amount of benefits paid out. Which will make the problem worse.

mardatha

Mouche, it's so easy for some to blame one group or class of people for all ills , isnt it? And the rubbish that's talked about how "Poles get free houses and pushed to the top of the NHS waiting lists"..etc. Is sad how people are so quick to resent and blame . They should remember that we are all on one planet here, we all have the same fears/hopes/worries, and just get on with their own lives and business.