Another one of those benefits threads

treliac

exil wrote: »

People who moan about benefits can never imagine themselves being out of work and therefore in need of them. It's a form of insurance that we all pay for.

Not so and I don't think 'moan' is the right word. There is plenty wrong with the benefits system as it is now and it needs reforming. Indeed, some people have been disadvantaged and should do better but plenty, far too many, have been disincentivised from working - a lifestyle model being passed down the generations.

My husband has been made redundant twice so far during our marriage. I've been there, done that and still feel the same.

And my brother has just been made redundant. None of us are safe in this climate. My integrity is more important to me than my vested interests..... sorry if that is a shock to some.


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Exocet

exil wrote: »

I would get the princely sum of £65 a week if I lost my job. If I moved to Ireland and lost my job there I'd get 200 euros a week.... where's that ferry timetable?

http://www.aferry.co.uk/irish-ferries-uk.htm?gclid=CPaXyJSO6KECFc6X2AodexDaIQ

pjread

I know someone who's been unemployed for most of the last 8 or so years. after the change of government and the announcement (or perhaps scaremongering/ribbing, not even sure how accurate it is) that he'd have to go out and do community service to keep signing on, he got a job within 72hrs.

I wonder how common a theme this would be if others were pushed. (and yes, I do think it's done the guy a favour, regardless if he has any more cash or not)

exil

We're now in a situation where unemployment is increasing, so getting idle so-and-so's into work is just playing musical chairs. We will still have the same number of unemployed.

carolt

Rubbish - if millions of immigrants can magically find jobs when they arrive here (even without perfect English) then the jobs are clearly there.

And you know what, if the 'jobs' all dried up, they could do what I did when I couldn't find a job to fit in with my limited hours available and limited geographical mobility, and set up their own businesses.

Necessity is the mother of invention. I'm sure with their backs up against the wall they'd find some kind of job.

The problem is that currently they don't need to, particularly if they have children - and with current high house prices/rental costs.

£65/week isn't high, no - not a massive incentive.

BUT £65 a week PLUS rental costs that in London can be over a grand a month, even for a single person, PLUS all the extra tax credits that appear if you have children, etc etc.

Then the sums are very different, and working is far less of a clear winner.

Which desperately needs to be changed.

bristol_pilot

exil wrote: »

I would get the princely sum of £65 a week if I lost my job.

I take it you are single then. Single people without kids are always better off working. It's families with kids that rake in the benefits, equivalent of a working person earning six figures.

One of the final acts of the Labour government was to place a cap on the amount that can be claimed for housing benefit...of £57,000 per year. This cap affected more than 10,000 families who were claiming more than this.

This has gone beyond a joke, it is bankrupting the country.

Personally, I'm in favour of scrapping all benefits for new claimants.

carolt

I'd like to see a cap of £12,000 a year.

exil

There we go, what did I say! I guess bristol_pilot can't imagine any circumstances in which he/she'd have to claim benefit, being too talented/hardworking/wealthy/retired.

TBH it would need a series of unlikely disasters for me personally to have to claim anything other than contribution-based JSA. But I know people who are teetering on the edge of redundancy who have been working without a break for decades and would now be forced onto the streets should bristol_pilot's advice be taken by Cameron and Clegg. Luckily, I don't think it will.

Admittedly, benefits for families are relatively generous. So what do we do? Condemn kids to poverty due to having !!!!less parents? Or take them away and have them raised in state nurseries?

Hmmm. The politically correct police have got me - the !!!! in !!!!less is the word used by Father Ted and co but added to "less" it's not actually a swearword.

sjaypink

Graham_Devon wrote: »

I need to get it up again

Here we are carol, one of my previous projects. Just think, in a few months time you too could be playing along with the one-liner innuendo bingo, not a care in the world.... :A now, just be a doll and follow the frickin programme

Hey Dev, hows things with you?

Harry_Powell

Devon needs a girlfriend (or boyfriend), and carolt needs to stop being such a hypocrite. Simples.