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Is this calculation right?
Comments
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Your name says it all - an evil attitude.
Oh, you know me so well
No, I believe benefits should be there for those who physically cannot work, these people should be the priority for the welfare system. There should be a safety net for those who fall on hard times, this could happen to any of us at any time.
It should not be there for those who chose not to work because they can get benefits to top them up to a full time wage. It's not right and ultimately, it's depriving those most in need.
If you support a system that encourages people to not work and contribute as much as they can, thus taking away from those genuinely in need, then I think you need to take a look at yourself and your attitude.I have a simple philosophy:
Fill what's empty. Empty what's full. Scratch where it itches.
- Alice Roosevelt Longworth0 -
Georgiegirl256 wrote: »Benefits are meant to be there as a stop gap, or for people who genuinely can't work due to illness or disability....not as a lifestyle choice.
To choose to give up a job to choose to go on benefits, is simply disgusting....:mad:
Honestly, this is what i used to think. i am just not so sure anymore. we have always done what is morally right but when i see people who have worked less hard than my husband and work less and earn less getting the same as us, I kind of think "what's the point"? Who am i trying to prove? We could do what is morally right or we could do what will be better for us as a family. And the politicians send out mixed signals. On one hand they say work hard, better yourself, don't rely on benefits but on the other hand they reward both long term unemployment and part time work with benefit top ups.
For example why do people who don't work get paid more when they have another kid but those in good jobs don't. That is like rewarding laziness and it seems like the government wants more of these people because they are paying people who don't work to have more children who are likely also not to work while the ones who do work get punished with losing child benefits. I don't know what to think to be honest, i feel so sad and confused for my husband right now.0 -
normajeans wrote: »Honestly, this is what i used to think. i am just not so sure anymore. we have always done what is morally right but when i see people who have worked less hard than my husband and work less and earn less getting the same as us, I kind of think "what's the point"? Who am i trying to prove? We could do what is morally right or we could do what will be better for us as a family. And the politicians send out mixed signals. On one hand they say work hard, better yourself, don't rely on benefits but on the other hand they reward both long term unemployment and part time work with benefit top ups.
For example why do people who don't work get paid more when they have another kid but those in good jobs don't. That is like rewarding laziness and it seems like the government wants more of these people because they are paying people who don't work to have more children who are likely also not to work while the ones who do work get punished with losing child benefits. I don't know what to think to be honest, i feel so sad and confused for my husband right now.
Try and focus on the long term, the future. As others have posted, ultimately your husband will be better off staying in employment. Your children will have a good role model to learn from and their futures won't be mired by the benefit trap.
You can't rely on the benefit system always being so generous. It's already changing and it's likely to get tighter and less generous in the future.
Stay employable.I have a simple philosophy:
Fill what's empty. Empty what's full. Scratch where it itches.
- Alice Roosevelt Longworth0 -
Angelicdevil wrote: »Try and focus on the long term, the future. As others have posted, ultimately your husband will be better off staying in employment. Your children will have a good role model to learn from and their futures won't be mired by the benefit trap.
You can't rely on the benefit system always being so generous. It's already changing and it's likely to get tighter and less generous in the future.
Stay employable.
Thank you Angelic devil but i still don't think anything will change. we have the Tories in government now and ever they are not going to crack down on these silly levels of benefits. I have just been reading about Universal Credit that has come in and guess what, they are not even going to be reducing benefits. It will have no effect whatsoever and people will still be able to claim if they have kids and they will get even more money than they do now if they work a few hours as it will get topped up. If Labour get back in, then i don't think the system has a hope in hell of changing, they will probably give even more money and make it all much worse. I am totally dispairing of the whole situation to be honest.0 -
Think of the big picture...kids grow up and leave home.
You might have 20 years of retirement to enjoy, have a look at the state pension.
Your husband would resent earning half his current wage. He wouldn't be happier. Maybe you'd want some employment when the kids are older, would make a big difference.,0 -
I do not think it is a good idea to rely on Benefits for your income if you don't have to, they can be removed at any time with a change in legislation.
Be as self-sufficient as you can.(AKA HRH_MUngo)
Member #10 of £2 savers club
Imagine someone holding forth on biology whose only knowledge of the subject is the Book of British Birds, and you have a rough idea of what it feels like to read Richard Dawkins on theology: Terry Eagleton0 -
That is how you see it.
What then do you propose should happen to those that are physically and/or mentally unable to work? Put them in an institution for the rest of their lives feeding them once a day with scraps given by charities?
What do you envisage when benefits "can be removed at any time with a change in legislation"?
I said don't rely on them if YOU DON'T HAVE TO.
Some people have to. The OP doesn't.
And of course they can be changed , e.g - Incapacity Benefit to ESA, DLA to PIP, the 'Bedroom Tax' - all have different rules and consequences. Someone who qualifies for one may not qualify for the other. My husband gets IB. I'm pretty sure he would not qualify under ESA as the mental health descriptors have changed. (Luckily he gets his State Pension in January, so he will not be migrated).
I was saying that IMHO it is not wise to CHOOSE to spend a life on Benefits.
No need to get shirty.(AKA HRH_MUngo)
Member #10 of £2 savers club
Imagine someone holding forth on biology whose only knowledge of the subject is the Book of British Birds, and you have a rough idea of what it feels like to read Richard Dawkins on theology: Terry Eagleton0 -
That is how you see it.
What then do you propose should happen to those that are physically and/or mentally unable to work? Put them in an institution for the rest of their lives feeding them once a day with scraps given by charities?
What do you envisage when benefits "can be removed at any time with a change in legislation"?
willber, you're back. Are you ready to tell us exactly what benefits you claim? After all, you love to boast about how much money you get each week.
For example, I could say that my family has £700 a week coming in each week - in wages after tax & NI (very rough calculation_0 -
I had the choice of working and earning an excellent salary or remaining on benefits. I get more than enough from the state so why work?
Willber (or should I say Andy?), I think both you and the OP are trolls.
I was a high earning corporate solicitor with excellent prospects when a maniac driver concertina'd my car and left me with a life on sickness and disability benefits in my 40's. I know a lot of professional people and I do not know a single person earning decent money who would willing give up their career for a life on benefits.
And for anyone who thinks benefits are secure or an easy ride - have you been living in a cave in outer mongolia? The change to ESA with its kafkaesque descriptors and assessments is a living nightmare to many vulnerable people. I know personally of two genuinely sick young people who tried to take their own lives and ended up sectioned on psychiatric wards because they could not cope with the process (now are both in the support group, but not without the anxiety and stress of lengthy appeals).
I am a qualified solicitor, and even I found the transfer from IB to ESA stressful, worrying for months about what I would do if I was placed in the wrag group, and lost my benefits after 12 months - I would have had to sell my specially adapted home and I would have had to live off the money which is set aside to pay for my carers. I am now in the support group, but it has been a very stressful couple of years, which has had a detrimental effect on my health.
And I continue to live in the knowledge that I could be recalled for re-assessment at any time. One of the young people referred to above received an ESA50 for review just THREE WEEKS after winning her appeal and being placed in the support group.
Yes, for some single parents and parents of young children, struggling on minimum wage in high rental areas, work does not pay, and that needs addressing by raising the minimum wage, and in work benefits. But for most people in a good job on a decent wage, benefits don't even enter their consciousness.I'm a retired employment solicitor. Hopefully some of my comments might be useful, but they are only my opinion and not intended as legal advice.0 -
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