Trying to get my head around it

Pobby

Well thanks everyone so far as I this is not posted to be a benefits bashing thread although we are not on page 2 yet.

Sue I know you are not comfortable about being on benefits although surely they were designed to support folk like yourself and no one in their right mind would deny that.

I think the point I am making is where they have become a life style choice. Does it sound unreasonable to say to me God sons mother, look we will carry on paying out for you and the three children and have more if you wish but the state will not increase what they are paying at the moment.

To me, it seems like a parallel universe. On one hand people getting on with it and getting scant help when things go wrong, yet on the other side we offer a " live life free " card for others.

the_ash_and_the_oak

getting paid to buy things imo. In a consumer-oriented system it increases demand and is an effective way of circulating money into the economy

bo_drinker

The problem is that it has become a lifestyle choice. Come rain or shine the money is there week in week out.( I call it magic money) We are into 3rd generation now. It's been too easy for too long.

lostinrates

doire wrote: »

I see what your saying but getting to use it as his own car. Is that OK?

Perhaps. If there is a car unused when he is not available to use it should the environment suffer another brought in to existance? And the local parking availability suffer two instead of one?

I'm not arguing for it, or against it...I just think ''fair'' is hard, if not impossible to apply.

inspector_monkfish

doire wrote: »

I see what your saying but getting to use it as his own car. Is that OK?

well, i guess if its there for a genuine reason, he might as well use it for other purposes as well

Pobby

the_ash_and_the_oak wrote: »

getting paid to buy things imo. In a consumer-oriented system it increases demand and is an effective way of circulating money into the economy

Surely if that was correct if a person loses their job then why do they only get a pittance in JSA?

On the car thing a friend of mine had a disability car which his wife drove. They split up so he handed the keys over to one of his kids.

kabayiri

My biggest worry is that those who work and abuse the system will destroy it for those in genuine need.

I'm sure we all know examples of both types. I certainly do.

I know a certain drug dealer, who makes all the claims, basically to create a 'front' to try and disguise the income source which allows him to purchase his posessions.

He doesn't need the state money. No one would challenge his situation, because, well being is valued in these here parts...

SingleSue

Pobby wrote: »

Well thanks everyone so far as I this is not posted to be a benefits bashing thread although we are not on page 2 yet.

Sue I know you are not comfortable about being on benefits although surely they were designed to support folk like yourself and no one in their right mind would deny that.

I think the point I am making is where they have become a life style choice. Does it sound unreasonable to say to me God sons mother, look we will carry on paying out for you and the three children and have more if you wish but the state will not increase what they are paying at the moment.

To me, it seems like a parallel universe. On one hand people getting on with it and getting scant help when things go wrong, yet on the other side we offer a " live life free " card for others.

I know, you will have to forgive me but I am feeling rather sensitive about things right now as life has taken a pretty sh!tty turn over the last few weeks and I am feeling rather like being hit with a brick wall/sledgehammer, ton of bricks etc!

Where there was a glimmer of a light at the end of the tunnel, this has been rather dampened.

If only we could get badges that say "Hey, I used to work, I'm not a single parent who has never worked, is a baby machine and chose benefits as a lifestyle choice but one who was forced here by circumstances" :rotfl:

I get annoyed by those who choose this lifestyle, why they would is completely beyond me.

StevieJ

SingleSue wrote: »

I know, you will have to forgive me but I am feeling rather sensitive about things right now as life has taken a pretty sh!tty turn over the last few weeks and I am feeling rather like being hit with a brick wall/sledgehammer, ton of bricks etc!

Where there was a glimmer of a light at the end of the tunnel, this has been rather dampened.
.

Very sorry to hear that Sue, hope it all works out for you

PasturesNew

I think the other issue is they don't see how much they get/how 'well off' they are compared to others. And they have a lot of spare time to devote to getting more and learning how to work the system.

They think that everybody else is on double what they get, they don't realise that often we are giving up 12+ hours/day every day, rain or shine, to drag ourselves out of bed, to juggle a cr4p life with long hours, only to end up with less than they get.

You see them on the telly programmes, saying they "only have £X" per week, but they're only "seeing" what they get in their hand. They never factor in the rent paid, council tax, freebies etc.

Coming here to MSE and seeing SOAs has really opened my eyes to what I see as the "fortunes" a lot are raking in, just by knowing which boxes to tick.

I blame the Govt first though, for creating such a large and unwieldy system that can create the cumulative effect, resulting in them having incomes far in excess of most hard working people.

Next, I blame house prices, because HB/LHA having high payouts to cover high rents, because house prices are high. And a lot of that's the Govt too.

And thirdly I blame bosses and the Govt, that together allowed wages to stay low because of the WTC system that meant that families with enough money, by working the system and just working "enough" hours, could generate an income completely disproportionate to the job being done and the hours, disadvantaging hard working singles. Together they destroyed full-time jobs on a living wage, to create two part-time jobs for people with children to do, who would then get WTC. One full-time job gone, two part-time jobs created + WTC top up. Many jobs' salaries haven't increased in the past 10 years and most people assume that everybody else is getting WTC just because they get it.

I'm very tired now. Tired, desolate and in despair when I read SOAs.

Then, at the end, when I've worked for 50 years of my life, without having "a life", they'll all get the same pension as me.

It's not just the money - it's the TIME it takes to work full-time that really grinds you down.