MSE News: 'I'm on benefits but I'm no scrounger'

Derivative

""Someone on Twitter said they would happily give up work and stay in bed for £11,000. Go on, then. Try to maintain any kind of lifestyle.""

Why do people persist in posting such utter tripe?
The cap itself is enough of an issue without trying to pretend that £11000 is a tiny sum of money.

£7000 pays for a single person's rent and bills/CT in most places in the UK. £1000 pays for food.

You have £3000 per year or almost £10 a day to do whatever TF you like.

£10 a day would get me a hell of a lot.

Fenris

ses6jwg wrote: »

I refuse to believe that most people on disability benefit cannot perform some sort of work such as office work.

I'm just going to quote this because this is the kind of thing that really makes me angry!

Here's a little bit about my situation:

I'm a 35 year old woman. I used to work 90+ hour weeks in the Security industry. I hated it with a passion, but it was the only work I could get that would realistically pay for my lifestyle. Even working 90+ hours a week I was still lucky if I broke the £1000.00 a month barrier after tax and NI. After rent that left me with about £400.00 a month to actually live on. And I did OK.

Then my Mum got taken seriously ill and I had to move to a different part of the country to look after her. I was unable to get another security job because the rules changed and I needed a certificate. When I asked at the Job Centre if they'd be able to help with the cost of that certificate I was lead on a merry dance for 6 months before I was told I'd been out of work too long to qualify for any help!

A series of really horrible events, coupled with being unable to find work where I currently live, lead me to be diagnosed with Clinical Depression. For those who suffer from this illness, I don't need to tell you how horrid it is. For other people it's a matter of "Pull your socks up and get on with it!" If you have never suffered from a mental illness you'll never know what it's like.

I am riddled with other medical conditions; I'm hard of hearing and have been since I was 11; I have problems breathing; I have a back problem brought on by one job and compounded by another one, the list goes on and on!

Then, the year before last, I was taken seriously ill. After many tests I was diagnosed with a lung disease. It's currently in remission but I'm not "well".

Now, the reason I've posted all of the above is this: I'm not work-shy. I would like to work, but how many employers are going to even consider a deaf, short-sighted, depressed woman with back problems and a lung disease? They'd look at my CV and bin it! More rejection letters = deeper depression = back to self-harming (yup, spent 20-odd years of my life cutting myself. Not proud of it, but I'm not scared to admit it either.).

Ideally I'd like to go back to college and study Biology and Chemistry, but where am I going to get the money from? I get £92 a week Income Support and that's it. Because I moved in with my Mum to help her through her illness I don't get any other benefits. She's on pension so we're not rich! There's no way I can afford university fees of £6000.00 a term!

Just because I'm sick doesn't mean I want to give up on my life, but there's simply no support for people like me who want to do something with their lives! If the Government helped people like me it'd be a hell of a lot better than penalizing us for being ill!

ses6jwg wrote: »

Why should people on benefit be able to afford to smoke, go on foreign holidays and have Sky TV, at the expense of the state, when those who work for minimum wage struggle to put food on the table.

!!!!!!ed if I know! I last went on holiday in 2001! I've forgotten what an airplane looks like! I don't smoke, I don't drink, I don't go out. Last time I went to the cinema was in September. I don't eat out (except on a shopping day, and that's only the local greasy spoon!). I don't have Sky TV, who can afford it?! I couldn't afford it when I was working!

I buy food (which in itself is a struggle as I don't eat meat and I'm lactose/milk protein intolerant. Do you have any idea how much of the cheap food is stuffed full of Whey Powder?!), I buy cat food (yes, I'm seriously indulgent, I have two cats. And no, I'll never palm them off on someone else! Would you get rid of your kids because money's a bit tight?) and that's it. Oh no, I do manage to find a bit of money to build James Bond's DB5. Well, one has to have something to look forward to, no?

Living on benefits can be done. If you cut out all the bad stuff like smoking and drinking then it's a lot easier! I manage on £92 a week. It's not great, but I manage and I'm able to buy the odd little treat. There again, I don't waste money on stuff like make-up and perfume!

I'd love to be able to go on holiday once in a while; just because you're on benefits doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to get away from the stresses and strains of daily life once in a while. I don't begrudge people a caravan holiday in Weston, or a weekend in Malaga, but I do resent people having a fortnight in Disneyland Florida! And I do resent people on benefits waving around credit cards. I can see why people who work would be mad as hell about that! It irks me!

But we're not all chavs! We don't all have a dozen kids just for the benefit money! We don't all hang around outside McDonalds sporting Elizabeth Duke's finest! We don't all have Corsa's with a blown diffuser (F1 fans will get that!). Some of us are just genuinely ill and getting by on the meager rations that the Government say we can live on. £26,000.00 a year?! In my case just short of £4,800!

Just something to think on while you're tarring everyone with the same brush.

Oh and I'd just like to address the "visibly disabled" thing too. This is another thing that makes me mad as hell; just because you can't see a disability, doesn't mean it's not there! Like I said above, I have a lung disease. I could show you the X-Rays if it'd make it easier for you to believe I have it. But because Joe Bloggs can't see it, I must be a benefit scrounger! This is the typical attitude I've come to expect from the "Benefit Basher." Out of sight, out of mind.

borkid

Dognobs wrote: »

chronic fatigue syndrome,

Do you actually know what CFS is? Do you have a close relative/ friend with it? Unfortunately it is frequently misdiagnosed and is not just one illness, it is often used as an umbrella term for many illnesses ( wrongly so) which doctors fail to diagnose properly. CFS is NOT just about feeling tired. The least affected can hold down a job the most affected bed bound. Yes you do only see sufferers on a good day.

lowlylittlecog

Oneday77 wrote: »

I for one know I am guilty of benefit bashing. However it is always against the long term claimants that have no real excuse for not working. In this story he does have physical issues and to me that makes him a worthy claimant. However the facts in the story need to be broken down and checked to give it any validity. If as people have stated the £11k is likely to not include HB & CTC. Then I'm sure over on the DFW board people could make £11k go a very long way. The Oldstyle board could probably feed the whole family on less than £2k a year easily, then take Gas\Electric at £2k a year. So £7k a year for travel, clothes, communication bills, car, insurances etc is budgetable but probably doesn't leave too much room. Benefits are to ensure that people don't live in a gutter and begging in the street, not to allow for foreign holidays etc.

Once the fraudulent benefit claimants are cracked down on the whole benefit culture will get a better reputation. No-one ever remembers things for the good stuff, the negative is built into the UK public's outlook on things. Look at the bad weather & poor football to see what I mean.

Additionally he states he would wish to get the £26k that people are throwing about. The issue is why should any family get the equivalent of a £35,000 annual wage before Tax & NI for free?

Hmm... I don't think you need to own up to benefit bashing, that's pretty clear from the rest of your post. I won't make any comments about the original article, except to say I pray I never have to suffer the sort of disability this man has had to suffer, irrespective of how much I could take from the system (not forgetting he was previously employed, and therefore has paid into the aforesaid system).

I would just say that if you think that "fraudulent benefit claimants" are going to be sorted out, well, you sir, are officially an optimist. Look a little more closely at the shallowness of the politicians involved, once they've managed to force genuine claimants out on the street and shave a few bob off the budget they'll call the policy a complete success and hurry back inside before the canapes are all gone. Infinitada Qatada and the other lead swingers will still be bleeding the country dry. It's money that Smiley Dave and George "Capital Gains, what Capital Gains?" Osbourne are concerned about, not what's right and wrong. Much easier to come down hard on those in genuine need and no real voice than those with a good legal team.

As for the vast sums spent on rented accommodation, which is what you are referring to when you mention the £26K cap. As far as I am aware this is due not to people taking the pee, but is a result of private landlords, particularly in the South East / London area charging "the going rate" for property. This in turn is helped along by a chronic social housing shortage caused by the ending of much of Local Government supplied housing, which in turn was a previous gerrymandering policy from the same party that Dave now leads.

I have absolutely no faith at all that the benefits mess will be sorted out, though it should be good for a few sound bites and photo opportunities.

Anaisanais

Yes, let's hear it loud and clear. Does Ross receive housing benefit, Council tax benefit and so on? What about free prescriptions, free dental care, free school meals?
Whilst very sorry about Ross's disability (and not judging him because I don't know), what annoys me is how often certain people choose to leave bits (huge chunks?) out of the equation. If Ross is receiving most or even some of the above, I would say he isn't doing at all badly.
Also, while sorry for his family's general ill health, who exactly pays for all the medical care, the schooling and so on? I worry from week to week as to whether I've got enough work to pay my bills and I pay whatever tax I owe and I must admit that my sympathy for some people is wearing very thin, especially when we are only told half the story.

Silver-Cat

The media are quite happy to cash in on the "benefits scrounger" story which lets face it, the UK public as a large majority believe, as well its the news so it must be true!

Why don't people change their way of thinking even if it is just for once. Instead of believing every story printed, why not challenge what we are reading and being told? Look into the facts. If we can't be bothered then who are we to judge others?

Unfortunately there is a lot of lazy narrow mindedness attitude in this society where we are quite happy to be spoon fed information without challenging the source and then take pleasure of saying welll they are scum and we are superior.

I absolutley sympathise with Ross and hope his situation improves, but lets also not forget there are a lot of people on benefits who are not disabled who just simply cannot get work at the moment. It happens, yes it is a fact and it doesn't automatically make them a scrounger. We've only just seen on the news today about the increase of unemployment and its shocking.

I wish that people who feel they have the right to critisice people on benefits would get the real facts before they lump everyone into the scrounger catagory. Speak to people who work in the employment sector of recruiting. You'll hear a very different story of what work is available to how the media report it.

Vacancies do appear and people do apply but there are only a certain amount of positions available and a lot of companies are still cutting jobs.
A company I know has recently advertised a vacancy which received 46 approved applications. There was only one position and it was filled quickly. Whilst congrats to that person, that means there are 45 people still without a job despite applying. Incidentally the 46 was from a 1st shortlist of over 200 applications received and was shortlisted based on qualifications, experience etc.

Look at business news, its incredibly depressing story for a lot of companies right now. A lot of people are still waiting to find out if they will have a job in 6 months time. It would be very interesting to see the view of someone who are on the benefit bashing wagon right now and find out their opinion when they are unemployed next year as the company they work for has gone through a staff cost saving re-orginisation.

I am very lucky, both my partner and I work full time yet we both hope that should the companies we work for collapse then we will receive the support we need if we are in that situation. We have some savings but not a lot. Savings would be great but its not that easy to do when you have a tight budget of what you spend.

On the other side, as someone mentioned earlier here, why not have a look at tax fraud. Now there's an interesting story which doesn't get reported much. Why not?
The latest estimate I could find was that the UK is losing £69.9bn a year to tax evaders. Shocking isn't it.
For those who are interested here is the report.

Ask the question, why is this not in the media as well as benefit fraud or is it simply easier to target people on benefits or is it simply too close to home?

disgruntledpensioner

IF you can afford to run a car then you are not on the 'bones of your backside' and talking about cars and mobility, how many would be running round in them if they were the basic old fashioned type of mobility car. I know someone who is driving round in a BMW - yes - on mobility. All she does is use it for her work and run her kinds about. Oh yes and it is her Mothers car, who incidently has her own new car that she drives. Why am I disgruntled . !

MrsEpps

My husband and I are hard working individuals and neither of us have ever claimed but in recent years we fell foul to the recession and lost our business. I was so angry when we were told that we were not entitled to Jobseekers as the solicitors had not paid 6 wks of NI since the business was closed, so after 12 years of payments we got nothing and at the time our boys were 2 & 3 so I was unable to work either due to lack of childcare!

Why is it in this country hard working individuals are penalised while others get thousands for doing nothing?! What you pay in you def dont get back!

I applaud the bus driver as he still trying to get work even though its obvious he cant do very much. I hope you recover quickly for you and your family sakes.

JimmyTheWig

MSE_Martin wrote: »

I must say Im a little surpised some of the comments above. The whole point of Ross's article (as it clearly states - it is his article not ours - this is a guest comment) is to give a voice to someone who you wouldn't normally hear from.

It isn't about the pounds and the pence its about the attitude and prejudice he has felt about claiming benefit. As for checking through his benefits - this isnt about auditing the man's life - its about a platform to give him his say, in his words, with his view - talking about what it feels like.

We have tried to minimise any editorial influence (the same courtesy we give to other guest contributers including the Prime Minister, or Ed Balls, Ray Boulger) and let him have his say.

He had bravely stuck his head above the parapet - he is a real person - please remember that when you comment.

Martin,

I hope that the above was not aimed at zagfles. If it was, I think it is unfounded.

While I agree that the discussion is not centring around how Ross isn't a scrounger (he isn't, clearly, so there's not much discussion to be had on that point!) I don't think that the discussion has been anti-Ross or anti-benefits in general.
In fact what many posts are doing is pointing out that Ross should be entitled to more than he is currently receiving.

If people were coming on saying "I work hard and only earn £8k - why does he get £11k?" then I can appreciate you defending him. But they're not. They're saying the opposite.


I'm hoping to read an MSE News article next week entitled "MSE Forumites helps Guest Commenter receive the benefits he is entitled to" which goes on to say that following his Guest Comment, Ross was informed by various posters (particular thanks go to zagfles) that there were other benefits that he and his family were entitled to. He has since used the sites guide (link) and found he is entitled to a further £4k a year. Ross would like to thank the helpful posters as it means that he and his family, though still far from well-off, can afford a few more of the basics than they previously could.

dtsazza

Barneysmom wrote: »

I don't see what difference it makes knowing to the last penny how much the family gets. Fact is he's not a scrounger.
He is entitled to benefits so should get them.

I agree that no-one should be accusing him of benefits fraud, as he is entitled to claim everything he receives (and possibly more).

However, the broader context of this story is in the current debate about the benefits system. How much he is entitled to is very relevant. If it were £2,000 a year I would have no issue at all, if it were £100,000 a year I would.

While it often manifests as "benefit bashing", I'm sure that the debate is a question of "are benefit entitlements too generous", and in that context the size of the entitlements makes all the difference.