Benefits Cash Card

Johnnytwostep

I want my piece of the benefits pie, I have earned it, how dare they take away my £20/week to give to the scroungers.

Child goes full time nursery anyway, but i want the government to pay for some of it.

Johnnytwostep

The_ICT_Engineer wrote: »

Very simple, You are clearly not management, So will be paid, well below 20k. My tax bill was more than this.

Like i said before i dont give out that much personal info on a forum, but if you think that you earn more than me so be it.

AP007

Johnnytwostep wrote: »

I want my piece of the benefits pie, I have earned it, how dare they take away my £20/week to give to the scroungers.

Child goes full time nursery anyway, but i want the government to pay for some of it.

Anyone who has kids and thinks the state owes them as just as bad as the scroungers you think we all are when a lot of us never chose to lose our jobs where you chose to have a kid. Why not have some more!

mcjordi

Dont feed the troll

UsetheFORCE

I used to pay £150 a week tax and NI but then a government agency decided to break the law and force me onto benefits....you couldn't make it up!!!

So I encourage everyone to claim what they can and bankrupt this country and it's useless fiat currency!!!

bluebag

Ah the daily wail causing havok again I see.

The UK bank bailout cost the taxpayer 280 years worth of benefits.

Just sayin'

Johnnytwostep

AP007 wrote: »

Anyone who has kids and thinks the state owes them as just as bad as the scroungers you think we all are when a lot of us never chose to lose our jobs where you chose to have a kid. Why not have some more!

I dont want anymore kids, they dont come with a free £20/week.

Ill wait for a bit until i am unemployed and then who knows the delights that will be handed to me on a plate when i have another kid.

UsetheFORCE

UsetheFORCE wrote: »

I used to pay £150 a week tax and NI but then a government agency decided to break the law and force me onto benefits....you couldn't make it up!!!

So I encourage everyone to claim what they can and bankrupt this country and it's useless fiat currency!!!

Sorry, we are effectively bankrupt anyway....

UsetheFORCE

Johnnytwostep wrote: »

I dont want anymore kids, they dont come with a free £20/week.

Ill wait for a bit until i am unemployed and then who knows the delights that will be handed to me on a plate when i have another kid.

No delights when Universal Credit comes in...assuming it ever does!!!

kingfisherblue

Johnnytwostep wrote: »

might make some people get a job instead of sitting at home with their sky tv and plasma screens watching jeremy kyle all day smoking and drinking their benefits away

Although I appreciate that there are some benefit scroungers, there are many who are on benefits through no fault of their own. You don't seem to understand that, so let me spell out why I am on benefits, but do not consider myself a 'scrounger'.

My husband and I had three children, both of us worked, although I reduced my hours after the kids were born. We didn't earn much, but we didn't have fancy holidays, Sky, etc. We had no debt and very little saved, but we managed without benefits (apart from child benefit, and a few months maternity benefit - the longest I was on maternity leave was six months and this was due to medical problems).

One of my children was born with severe disabilities and will never be cured. I had to give up work, as child care for disabled children insight on impossible to find. I was also exhausted because my son has a lot of overnight care needs, as well as his daytime needs. Add in appointments, sometimes five a week and not all in the same town, maybe you will begin to understand why I could not continue to work. I loved my job in a bookshop, and was very upset to leave. My husband, of course, continued to work.

After being together for 19 years, married for sixteen, my husband decided to leave us to start a new family with someone else. Our house still had an outstanding mortgage, and had been adapted for my son's needs. He still needed care both day and night, regular appointments, large amounts of medication, etc.

I had no choice but to claim income support. I have never felt so ashamed in my life, and I cried constantly through that first interview. I come from a family that has always had a strong work ethic. I am no different to other members of my family, starting voluntary work at 14 and paid work at 16, whilst I was studying for my A levels.

My son is still severely disabled. He has developed in some ways, but has also developed additional medical conditions. He is now 14, and I am so proud of him and my other two children. He was given four hours to live when he was five hours old. Surgery, correcting four major abnormalities, was performed the day he was born, just before the time scale of four hours after diagnosis was up.

My child has substantial care needs, as well as mobility needs. He has just had his medications reduced , but still takes nine types a day, up to four times a day depending on which medication it is. Previously he took ten types a day.

I am still on benefits, still ashamed. I often go back to bed for a few hours when the kids are at school, as I am up so frequently in the night. Luckily, his choking episodes are fewer as he grows older, but can still be quite scary when they do happen. His vomiting is less than when he was a baby, controlled first by major surgery and now by drugs.

My son cannot be left alone, as he has no sense of danger. Despite being 14, he cannot pop to the local shops, use a phone (mobile or landline - he can talk into one, but cannot dial numbers, and when I say talk, his speech is very unclear). He cannot cook even simple things, although he can help when given short,very specific instructions, but we often have to repeat them and show him what to do.

My son struggles to dress himself. He wears jogging bottoms for school, as he cannot fasten ordinary school trousers. He still wears nappies as he is doubly incontinent. His glasses have to have thinned down lenses otherwise they Are too heavy for him to wear. He has hearing aids in both ears, and uses a wheelchair when we are out.

I do not object to looking after my son and helping him to live as happy a life as possible. I still somehow find time to give my other two children individual attention, as I love them just as. Uh as I love my disabled son.

I do what I can to repay my debt to society. I volunteer at the local community centre, where they understand that it has to fit around my son's needs. I also run Rainbows and Brownies, and my mum looks after my son whilst I am there. I do programme planning, accounts, sourcing craft materials, etc when my son is at school. I need these activities to keep my mind active and to keep me sane.

I am teetotal and always have been. I don't smoke - never have. I have never taken drugs and rarely go out socially.

I am not complaining about my life, just explaining that I cannot currently work and therefore need to claim benefits. I am extremely grateful that I live in a country that provides an income for those who cannot earn their own money, for whatever reason.

Not all benefit claimants are scroungers. Would you like to be classed as a scrounger if you lost your job tomorrow and couldn't get another one straight away?

A little more compassion and understanding wouldn't go amiss.

As for the original reason for this thread, I can understand why a payment card for benefit claimants might be brought in. I have no objection to this, but would like the card to be accepted in cheaper shops such as B&M, Home Bargains, etc, rather than just in the main supermarkets which can be so much more expensive. toilet rolls are a prime example. They are a necessity, but I can get them much cheaper and of decent quality in HB than I can in Tesco.

Cash would still be needed for some items, and I would like to think that I am responsible enough to pay my own bills such as gas and electricity. I do not want everything sorted out for me, as I still have a brain and the ability to make decisions.

I have no debts, but will have a shortfall on my endowment (which I pay for from my benefits) when it matures next year. I save what I can towards that, as it is towards paying off the mortgage.

I don't get housing benefit, by the way, because I have a mortgage and housing benefit is for rented properties. I do get some help with SMI, but this does not cover the full amount each month, not by a long stretch.

I apologise for the long post. I realise that it is slightly out of order in places, but I am tired and have already been into my son once sincere went to sleep. Only another two or three times to get up tonight

To those searching for jobs, I wish you well. To those who just want to criticise benefit claimants - would you walk a mile in my shoes?