Parents in Care

gingin_2

CL wrote: »

Not where I live. My MIL is in a care home and those who pay and those who don't are both in the same homes with the same care. We looked at several homes and they were all like this.

That surprises me. My Grandmother pays £650 a week for her home. It's beautiful, like a 5 star hotel, but it's all private, I think.

CL

Nicki wrote: »

Because the country is broke frankly!

The cuts I have already seen in public services are draconian, and they are only going to get worse. Local authorities just don't have the money to make a universal offer of free care for all, and if they are forced to do so one of two things will happen. Either the threshold for being taken into residential care will be raised to the extent that elderly people will literally be left to die in their own homes uncared for, or the standard of free care being offered will drop even further to the extent that we will all be horrified by the levels of neglect we will see due to understaffing, with elderly people not being helped with feeding and toileting, as happens already on some overstretched nhs wards.

Yes it is.

I am fed up of those of us who work and pay taxes paying for everyone else, their children and their elderly. I know this is going to be a rant and I apologise, but my parents both worked to pay for their home and children without claiming benefits. I work full time to pay my mortgage, rates (council tax in NI) and taxes. I have just had a baby and did not have a baby until I felt I was in a position to financially support my family. Should I require care in my old age, my home will possibly be taken and sold, whereas the person in the next room who sat on the dole their whole life (but fit to work) will get it for free.

I will be having an accountant and a solicitor do some financial planning to pass over everything I own to my children before the time comes that I may need nursing care. As far as I'm concerned I will have paid enough in taxes to cover me.

Person_one

CL wrote: »

Yes it is.

I am fed up of those of us who work and pay taxes paying for everyone else, their children and their elderly. I know this is going to be a rant and I apologise, but my parents both worked to pay for their home and children without claiming benefits. I work full time to pay my mortgage, rates (council tax in NI) and taxes. I have just had a baby and did not have a baby until I felt I was in a position to financially support my family. Should I require care in my old age, my home will possibly be taken and sold, whereas the person in the next room who sat on the dole their who life (but fit to work) will get it for free.

I will be having an accountant and a solicitor do some financial planning to pass over everything I own to my children before the time comes that I may need nursing care. As far as I'm concerned I will have paid enough in taxes to cover me.

But you'll have had a nicer life.

Also, we don't just pay taxes to cover ourselves or they'd just be savings accounts. We pay in to cover everybody.

CL

gingin wrote: »

That surprises me. My Grandmother pays £650 a week for her home. It's beautiful, like a 5 star hotel, but it's all private, I think.

It's about £600 a week here too and it is like a Travelodge with a few orderlies and one or two nurses (if you can find them.)

CL

Person_one wrote: »

But you'll have had a nicer life.

Also, we don't just pay taxes to cover ourselves or they'd just be savings accounts. We pay in to cover everybody.

I'm happy to pay taxes to cover those who are unable to work. Not those who choose not to.

McKneff

It doesnt necessarily have to happen though.

Say the house is sold for 300K, 5k to 2 children, so still £290k to cover care costs.

So yes, I still think people (if you look at my figures) are being a tad unfair.

Nicki

CL wrote: »

Yes it is.

I am fed up of those of us who work and pay taxes paying for everyone else, their children and their elderly. I know this is going to be a rant and I apologise, but my parents both worked to pay for their home and children without claiming benefits. I work full time to pay my mortgage, rates (council tax in NI) and taxes. I have just had a baby and did not have a baby until I felt I was in a position to financially support my family. Should I require care in my old age, my home will possibly be taken and sold, whereas the person in the next room who sat on the dole their whole life (but fit to work) will get it for free.

e.

I can see where you are coming from, but what you propose is that you should work your socks off paying your taxes so that rich old Mrs Jones who lives in a five bedroomed house should have her nursing fees paid by you in full, and her flibbertigibbet daughter should inherit that house and holiday in Barbados for the next ten years paid for by the sweat of your brow. Or worse, rich old Mrs Jones has no children of her own to inherit and leaves all her money to the BNP (or any cause you can think of which might stick in your craw) whilst you pay for her to do so.

The fact that some people choose to live their lives on benefits is not right or fair to the rest of us, who have the social responsibility to pay our own way in life. But just because a small proportion of society makes that choice when young, does not mean that the vast proportion of society should be able to make that choice in their later years. We may have been able to afford free care for the elderly in past times, but the increase in the ageing population coupled with the state of the economy means it's not a viable proposition any longer and the most obvious person to pay for the elderly person's care is the elderly person themselves assuming they have the assets to do so.

gingin_2

CL wrote: »

It's about £600 a month here too and it is like a Travelodge with a few orderlies and one or two nurses (if you can find them.)

Nooooo... she pays £650 a week plus all the extra's and she's loving every minute of it.

cte1111

We really need a FAQ section, e.g.

Q1. Should my relative be able to give me all their money because I want an inheritance more than I care about their standard of care?
A. No because people are expected to pay for their own long term care homes.

Q2. Why should people who save have to pay but people who don't get it free?
A. Because otherwise people who were poor would end up on the streets, the workhouse would have to make a return and people without assets would starve to death.

Person_one

CL wrote: »

I'm happy to pay taxes to cover those who are unable to work. Not those who choose not to.

Overly simplistic view of the situation I'm afraid.

For one thing, who gets to decided who is deserving? What counts as 'unable' in your book? Why should your book be the one that we all go by?

Also, taxes don't just go towards unemployment benefits! We also, as a society, pay for healthcare, education, clean streets, police and fire services, and many many more things that you'd never be able to afford if everyone just kept your own little pot and refused to share.