MSE News: Government moves towards new monthly benefit system

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver

Comforts is an aside, think how YOU would cope in my 'home' environment? we don't need the government to muck us about like this.

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver

Localised sounds like Market speak for let the LOCAL Market set the price etc whatever that means, market friendly regardless of cost to us.

tizerbelle

rogerblack wrote: »

Have you considered how expensive this would be?
Paying benefits weekly, or biweekly, these days is essentially free.

Sorry but I don't understand why you say making payments weekly or bi-weekly would be free but monthly would be expensive.

Whenever any organisation sets up a payment schedule (e.g. payroll) there are costs involved even if that is just the resource cost (e.g. wages of the people preparing the payroll).

If everyone is paid weekly - the organisation has this cost 52 times a year. Monthly they only have this cost 12 times a year.

ETA: I notice someone has said that payments into a PO account are chargeable - presumably by the account holder (I don't know I don't have a PO account) again only paying for 12 payments would be cheaper.

ETA2: (Brain not functioning too well today!) Presumably as the government are looking to cut costs where ever they can this change to monthly is simply that a cost cutting exercise. The guff about better preparing people for employment and budget management is simply the "spin"

Orville

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver wrote: »

Us unemployed don't need additional pressures and weekly payments were better from a budgetary point of view. The Government shifting the Goal posts in terms of payments cause all manner of problems.
Incidently I live in the high pressure environment of people with alcoholism, drug addiction, depression, schizophrenia etc. I have seen it done it and got the swearword t shirt. Please don't tell me I dont have a stressful environment and don't need comforts.

Hi.

The unemployed are paid fortnightly. They also sign on every two weeks.
What i do wonder though is if it's changed to monthly would you then only have to sign on once a month..?

one2escape

I dont like the sound of this at all. We find it easier to manager are money when we get paid weekly. I work and the money I earn goes towards all the monthly outgoings (mortgage, tv, phone etc). My wife gets the benefits weekly and she pays for the day to day things like the food, electric, kids clubs etc. We will be able to adapt to this if it comes to it but many of the other people wont be able to. I used to sign people on and I know a lot of them would struggle. Some will think it of a windfall and spend all of it within a week or two. I know thats what they trying to do so people can budget but if they do this it will cost more money than it saves. This another policy which sounds good on paper and will be a disaster in practice.

iRoger

And allow those that want to remain on the current system the chance to opt out?

They seem to have forgotten that their computers can handle this sort of thing very easily - they may not save as much as forcing everyone to move, but if their 75% figure holds true then it will still be a significant saving and also, actually fair.

looby75

I would be quite happy to have benefits paid monthly. All my bills are paid monthly so it would be much easier for me to budget if I knew that on x day I had y amount going into my bank account and that on z day all my direct debits would be taken out. The rest of the money is what I would have left for everything else for the rest of the month.

As it is now I've got DD's scattered all over the month to coincide with JSA/CTC payments and it can get a bit hard to keep track of.

System

I'm !!!!ed if i have a manic episode at the end of the month. I'll most likely end up spending it and have nothing to live on for the rest of the month. I'm going to have to give my cash card to my flatmate or something

Percy1983

I really can't see what the problem is, with that I have been working since 16 and been on monthly pay all along.

Surely as a lot of bills are monthly it can make budgetting easier, ie bills all come out just after benefits go in the rest is yours. With weekly you need to save some each week to meet monthly bills.

cosmic-dust

The DWP best order a job lot of cotton wool.