Some Benefits should be given in forms of vouchers instead of cash

ILW

hubba wrote: »

I may not be employed but i budget well and manage (just), why should my abilitiy to choose how i spend that be taken away from me. If you give it to me in vouchers how do you propose i find the money to let my daughter go on her trip to france with the school no handouts there but i find the money some how.

Odd arguement, what about all the people who work for a fairly low wage and cannot afford a foreign holiday but have to pay (through the taxes taken from them) for your daughter to have one? Strange world we live in.

JayScottGreenspan

lily76 wrote: »

I was shocked a 17000-income family with two children after tax earns only 15000 less than a 50000-income family with two children found from yesterday's metro.

www.entitledto.co.uk

2+2, single earner £17k gross wage, £7.5k rent
PAYE -£2,105
NI -£1,239
Tax credits +£5,426
Housing benefit +£2,693
Total net income £21,775

2+2, single earner £50k gross wage, £7.5k rent
PAYE -£9,930
NI -£4,257
Tax credits +£547
Total net income £36,360

Extra £33k earned:
£14,585 to the family (44%)
£18,415 to the govt (56%)

hubba

ILW wrote: »

Odd arguement, what about all the people who work for a fairly low wage and cannot afford a foreign holiday but have to pay (through the taxes taken from them) for your daughter to have one? Strange world we live in.

When i was working i would have had the money to just because i am on benefits does not mean that i cant save five pounds a week and choose to go without myself to be able to give her that something extra.
THATS MY CHOICE IO GO WITHOUT it is not surplas to requirements.
Oh and by the way if you are working and you cant afford to put a bit by for childrens school trips then that really is a sorry state.
Gone are the days when trips in school were paid for, and why she suffer because of the labour bloody government.:mad:

curly_cabbage

I so agree benfits are a short term fix not a life style as some people treat them. I think vouchers would be able to cover so many things, Gas, electric, food, clothing ect then if they wanted to smoke and drink live in Spain when its far from their means, maybe they would consider going out and earning enough to meet their requirements rather than expect the social to give them the hand outs. Sorry for the rant but me and my OH pay so much tax and strive to have more from life by working hard, it makes me sick to see these spongers living off our hard work.

CC

Leighthal

hubba wrote: »

why dont we all return to the dark ages, and capital punishment for those out of work:mad:.

Have you gone mad, i think so.

My children are always my top priority, if some one has to go without then its me not them so i can give them the little extra things.

If some people are putting themselves before there children giving them vouchers will make no difference at all. I can tell you what they will do, flog um to the highest bidder for cash for half of there worth.

I may not be employed but i budget well and manage (just), why should my abilitiy to choose how i spend that be taken away from me. If you give it to me in vouchers how do you propose i find the money to let my daughter go on her trip to france with the school no handouts there but i find the money some how.

Exactly.A debit card system seems like a good idea where it can be used for food or energy only(no need to print vouchers and can be credited at the Post Office).IMO cigs and booze are a luxury item and not a necessity for people without employment.

looby75

Leighthal wrote: »

Exactly.A debit card system seems like a good idea where it can be used for food or energy only(no need to print vouchers and can be credited at the Post Office).IMO cigs and booze are a luxury item and not a necessity for people without employment.

so what about clothes, shoes, bus fares, toiletry's, school trips (I'm talking about the educational ones not holidays)

The fact is a voucher/ card system that restricts what a person can buy is totally unworkable, you can't provide vouchers/cards that cover every basic need of a person/family

Leighthal

looby75 wrote: »

so what about clothes, shoes, bus fares, toiletry's, school trips (I'm talking about the educational ones not holidays)

The fact is a voucher/ card system that restricts what a person can buy is totally unworkable, you can't provide vouchers/cards that cover every basic need of a person/family

Good points.Why not apply the card to these also.We do live in the 21st century.

looby75

Leighthal wrote: »

Good points.Why not apply the card to these also.We do live in the 21st century.

because the cost of the admin involved in such cards would cost more than the benefit themselves!

Snooze

looby75 wrote: »

You know nothing about me or the reason I am on benefits, you know nothing about my efforts to find work, my health problems or my previous work history, yet you think you have the right to insult me and talk to me like something you have wiped off the bottom of your shoe for the sole reason I haven't got a job.

I might be out of work right now but at least I'm not rude and judgemental.

Umm, I think you need to get down off your high horse and read what I actually wrote :rolleyes:. Nowhere in my post did I say I had any issue with you claiming benefits. As for my apparent 'tone', tough !!!!!! if you didn't like it. Your whining about your 'rights' whilst living off the state deserved it.

Rob

aliasojo

lostinrates wrote: »

I'm confused about the argument of suffering through a change like this (although I personally think the idea as it stands is not supportable) legitimate spend claimants wouldn't suffer because their spending pattern would change, just their method of paying for it.

I pay for everything (food, fuel, council tax....everything I can) with either my Tesco clubcard (to amass points) or my Egg credit card which gives cashback.

I do this solely as it is more 'profitable' than using cash. Our cash sits in the bank acruing interest (admittedly very small amounts at the moment :rolleyes:) until the statements come in and I then use the cash to clear the balance.

So being given vouchers in lieu of child benefit or tax credit will certainly not help me in any way, and will in fact make me worse off. I work hard at making our money work hard. I didn't wake up one morning and become good at this, I learned over a period of time. As can most other people. If they choose not to, that's fine...just dont let their decisions affect me.