MSE News: Benefits recipients could lose £1 billion

Arg

poppy10 wrote: »

If public sector workers are all having their pay frozen (or cut), it would have been perverse for the government to give all dole recipients a 5.4% increase in their handouts. This move seems only fair.

To sack the many ovrpaid and unneeded public sector workers and put them on the dole would be fair.

zagfles

There've already been two threads posted here about this which were rapidly dispatched to DT. Do we get to discuss this on the benefits board now?

bestpud

I haven't had a pay rise in 4 years and my OH actually had a 10% pay cut a couple of years ago!

Seems right benefits should be frozen when so many are making sacrifices to keep their jobs.

zagfles

Credit-Crunched wrote: »

My heart bleeds, I have not had a pay rise in 3 years!

Yes some people would kill for a 4.5% payrise. The vast majority of workers won't get that. Except the fat cats of course.

Also in the last year of the last govt, Sept inflation was negative, -1.4%, but benefits were increased 1.5%. So that was nearly a 3% real terms increase. Makes this real terms decrease of about 1% look trivial. I don't think it'll lead to mass starvation.

tagq2

Income-related benefits are set at what the law considers to be "what you need to live on", far below minimum wage for anything approaching full time work. So they must increase in line with inflation, i.e. not decrease in real terms.

Those who have seen their wage go down in real terms would be better off campaigning for higher wages rather than suggesting that everyone should have to suffer like them. People at the bottom end of the range of incomes - whether working hard at a job, working hard finding a job, or severely ill/disabled - are all in the same boat and should work together rather than allow themselves to be divided and conquered.

stepm

Oh my God; almost everyone is living in the fantasy land called 'prosperity' and 'lets help the needy'. The real world is coming to a country near you very soon, and it will be very, very scary. The real world will mean working harder, longer and smarter for less money. It will also mean slashing benefits, reducing state pensions and downsizing the whole of the welfare state. Politicians have a severe problem with honesty but believe me, what I have said is on its way. No amount of protestation will stop it, it's inevitable. The centre of economic power and prosperity has moved eastwards and it is only enormous amounts of debt that have sustained our comfortable life for so long. Eventually, as everyone knows, credit will run out and the cost of servicing existing debts gets so high, the big knife will eventually have come out - don't think any other solution is possible.

Fiver29

As a NMW earner I found it ridiculous that the MW went up this year when everyone else has pay freezes. IMO it's right that benefits are frozen.

Graham_Devon

flight747 wrote: »

Another tight - budget by Tories again. Why didn't David Cameron told us before that our rises will be within CPI inflation rate. And now government doesn't want to fork out £1 billion pound. What about us really struggle with higher energy cost, food cost, living cost is impossible now with loads of unemployed are rising.

The government ought ashame themselves and ******** selfish themselves. All they think is themselves only.

I don't think we won't get any rises next April because I bet March budget will be frozen all social welfare benefits until 2013.

I'd be absolutely chuffed to bits with a 4.5% rise.

I haven't had a pay rise for 2 years now.

These sorts of posts (the one I quoted) are the exact reason as to why some benefit claimants get a bad name.

zagfles

tagq2 wrote: »

Income-related benefits are set at what the law considers to be "what you need to live on", far below minimum wage for anything approaching full time work. So they must increase in line with inflation, i.e. not decrease in real terms.

Oh really? So people starved 10 years ago did they, since most benefits have increased well above inflation over the last 10 years. In particular child related benefits - even this govt put up the child element of tax credits by 11% in April this year.

Those who have seen their wage go down in real terms would be better off campaigning for higher wages rather than suggesting that everyone should have to suffer like them. People at the bottom end of the range of incomes - whether working hard at a job, working hard finding a job, or severely ill/disabled - are all in the same boat and should work together rather than allow themselves to be divided and conquered.

Most workers saw their wages rise in real terms last decade. Just like benefit claimants did.

Now workers are seeing their wages fall in real terms. So are benefit claimants (if this story is true).

Dina_Lady

Thank you tagq2 for being a voice of reason and compassion in a sea of bigotism and selfishness as expounded by many of the PPs.

What would the PPs who claim to be worse off than 'doleys' say to me and my family?
My husband has been trying to find a job for 6 months - he is an Environmental Scientist - no luck yet. I work for the NHS (part-time low wage, 3 year old son to look after)

How do we fit in with your narrow views of benefit recipients?
Are we living in the lap of luxury? NO!

Just stop and think about what you are saying about people who receive and rely upon benefits.

Is YOUR job iron-clad? Are you absolutely NEVER going to be out of work yourself through no fault of your own?

If you would prefer us to live in absolute poverty, then stop and think about whether you may need the same benefits in the future.