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

Airwolf1

shirlgirl2004 wrote: »

People should value supporting their own children and not relying on others to do so. If you can work an extra 15 hours a week then you should, in preference to getting money from those that do work 50 hours a week.

It shouldn't be about forcing people to do it they should have some pride!

Yes, but I know a lot of people who missed seeing their children grow up, that is the point I was making.

If I was a little lad, I'd rather see my dad and spend time with him, rather than not see him.

Airwolf1

Basically the system needs overhauling. I don't know how but it does.

robin_banks

I think everyone's agreed on that, it's just a huge task.

minimike2

Two words:

"Nanny State".


People might not have liked things under Conservative power before, but they were on the way to sorting the country out. The only reason people found things difficult was because they were mopping up the utter mess that Labour made in thier stretch before. Things will have to get worse before they get better and being a nanny state is something that Labour have taken to the extreme. They have no idea what to do, they have no experience in sorting out messes like this and they need to go.

Yet why do people keep voting them back in.

:rolleyes:

shirlgirl2004

Airwolf1 wrote: »

Yes, but I know a lot of people who missed seeing their children grow up, that is the point I was making.

If I was a little lad, I'd rather see my dad and spend time with him, rather than not see him.

Of course you would but as a parent is it not your duty to instill a hard work ethic into your children?

I know of plenty of parents that would spin the line that they want to see their children in the evening and yet don't actually do anything with them when they get home from work because they "need to chill out".

MY OH will leave home at 5 then get back home at 7 just intime to read DD her bedtime stories and have a quick chat. He may only get half an hour or so some nights but in reality the quality of that time is probably greater than plenty of parents that stroll in at 6 and flick the TV on.

olly300

Airwolf1 wrote: »

Yes, but I know a lot of people who missed seeing their children grow up, that is the point I was making.

If I was a little lad, I'd rather see my dad and spend time with him, rather than not see him.

You are presuming your dad wanted to spend time with you.

I've worked with lots of fathers with young children.

Half of them came in work early , between 7-7.30 in the morning, so they could leave early, eat with their children and put them to bed.

The other half came into work between 8-9am and made sure they were still at work at 7pm. They are not forced to stay this late and some of this group are even found doing work on Sundays.

SingleSue

Grr, I said I wasn't going to get involved!

When I was small, my father worked but my mother stayed at home...it was normal then.

The not normal, was both parents working....when I went back to work after my children, my father wouldn't speak to me for a while as he saw it as me neglecting my duty as a housewife and mother. He didn't quite understand my need to have my own identity or the fact that I found being a stop at home mum rather boring..he would just say it was good enough for mum so why couldn't it be good enough for me.

Mum gave up work as soon as she and dad were married and she hasn't worked (in the official employment sense) since, dad would not approve.

Mind you, he doesn't like woman wearing trousers either! :rotfl:

SingleSue

olly300 wrote: »

You are presuming your dad wanted to spend time with you.

I've worked with lots of fathers with young children.

The other half came into work between 8-9am and made sure they were still at work at 7pm. They are not forced to stay this late and some of this group are even found doing work on Sundays.

Sounds like my ex husband..he would scamper out of the house as early as he could and before I worked evenings, would come back after bedtime. At weekends, he would go out early Saturday morning and come back after lunchtime, spend the afternoon with us and then scamper out to the office again in the evening, Sunday he would spend the morning in bed, get up for Sunday roast at midday, then take off straight for the office (usually watching F1 there), pop round to my parents for 10 minutes (we always go to my parents on a Sunday afternoon), and then come home...he would moan if we got back before 7pm.

I always said I was almost like a single parent when I was married as virtually all the childcare was my responsibilty and this was despite me also working.

robin_banks

minimike2 wrote: »

Two words:

"Nanny State".


People might not have liked things under Conservative power before, but they were on the way to sorting the country out. The only reason people found things difficult was because they were mopping up the utter mess that Labour made in thier stretch before. Things will have to get worse before they get better and being a nanny state is something that Labour have taken to the extreme. They have no idea what to do, they have no experience in sorting out messes like this and they need to go.

Yet why do people keep voting them back in.

:rolleyes:

There's some oversimplifying of things here. Firstly spending on benefits spiralled out of control under the Tories. Let's not forget record levels of entrenched long term unemployment even when the figures were fiddled, the most bonkers one being if you were 50 yeas or older and signing on you weren't really umemployed.

It was also the Tories who made one of the worst decisions in the history of the welfare state, that is to hand over administration of Housing Benefit to Local Authorities.

Do people remember family credit ? - it was even worse than tax credits, in an attempt to save money very few people administering the benefit were properly trained and were 'carpet bombed' with new claims, dictatcs form on high about targets etc led to temps being even more poorly trained !!

Also the Tories 18 years, and they were far from 'sorting it out'. The consumer 'boom' of the mid 80's was fed by imports and credit cards, a bit like the 'boom' of the last few years.

SingleSue

Blimey yes I remember family credit....we didn't even realise we could claim it as no-one had any clear ideas of the rules for it...so we didn't for a very long time.