arrears have increased by 340% following the housing benefit cuts

buttscratcher

CLAPTON wrote: »

sorry, I really don't understand what you are trying to say.

just saying I wish I had studied harder at school and had a better paying job as it seems more important now than before-

Delara

dori2o wrote: »

This really annoys me, not only with the lies etc that come from IDS, Osborne, Cameron, McVey etc, but also those benefit bashers on here. They all seem to imply that only non-working people or rather non-taxpayers are the ones receiving these benefits, when the reality is that the majority of housing benefit claimants are 'hard working taxpayers' who have been caught up in a period of rising rents caused almost entirely by Landlords greed.

Exactly right. Low paid workers are needed in the cities. The rise in rents over the last 10yrs has made it impossible for these low paid workers to live there without housing benefit which is what pushed the rents up so much in the first place.

5 million households in the UK getting housing benefit, say average of 4 people in each thats over 20,000,000 people relying on the very housing benefit which is what pushed the rents up so much in the first place.

Delara

buttscratcher wrote: »

just saying I wish I had studied harder at school and had a better paying job as it seems more important now than before-

On the other there are more uni grads than ever before finding it hard to even get a job in McDonalds.

Getting a better paying job, just means you are paying more taxes and have more to lose as the global financial crisis worsens over the next few years.

Its looking more and more like it was a bad decision in 2008 kicking the can down the road. Instead of facing the mounting problems the central planners postponed them and made them worse. The crisis has got worse, and soon can not be postponed any more.

We live in very uncertain times right now. There will be more cuts and extreme austerity all around the world. There will be more squatters in the UK as housing benefit gets cut more and more and people can not pay their rents.

In Spain and the others the numbers of people squatting in their homes is more than the authorities can deal with, so they just stay there.

OffGridLiving

Delara wrote: »

Getting a better paying job, just means you are paying more taxes and have more to lose as the global financial crisis worsens over the next few years.

If you earn more then you pay more tax and social insurance, but it only represents around 30% of your income if you are a low rate taxpayer. 70% is therefore available to put into savings to cushion yourself from any future financial crisis.

wotsthat

Delara wrote: »

On the other there are more uni grads than ever before finding it hard to even get a job in McDonalds.

I hear this a lot.

Usually from people trying to justify their under performance at school rather than university graduates.

grizzly1911

OffGridLiving wrote: »

If you earn more then you pay more tax and social insurance, but it only represents around 30% of your income if you are a low rate taxpayer. 70% is therefore available to put into savings to cushion yourself from any future financial crisis.

70% (before or after direct taxation?)is therefore available to live off .

Graham_Devon

buttscratcher wrote: »

1.The number of Housing Benefit claimants reached a new high of 4.95 million in December 2011

It's 5.078 million now. Well, that was in February, so probably closer to 5.1 million today.

An increase which simply isn't sustainable. We keep cutting stuff, but the amount of people claiming just keeps increasing, so any cuts are wiped out by increased numbers claiming the benefits.

I think that's 16% of all households in the country claiming some support for their housing costs, which is an obsurd amount and as you say, has increased rapidly over the last couple of decades.

It's not even the taxpayers supporting it anymore, the government is borrowing on the taxpayers behalf in order to pay the bill.

OffGridLiving

grizzly1911 wrote: »

70% (before or after direct taxation?)is therefore available to live off .

Exactly, which is why I'm struggling to understand why anyone would be opposed to increasing their income. Yes, you pay tax but the majority of the extra income is available to do whatever you like with.

It's an odd sort of statement that's more akin to Labours Benefit Bonanza than these days of austerity and benefit cuts. The free rides are ending, if people can work then they should work. If their job doesn't pay enough then they need to get one that does, even if it means doing some courses, learning a new skill or getting a second job. Taking in a lodger is tax free upto a certain level.

N1AK

Graham_Devon wrote: »

It's 5.078 million now. Well, that was in February, so probably closer to 5.1 million today.

I think that's 16% of all households in the country claiming some support for their housing costs, which is an obsurd amount and as you say, has increased rapidly over the last couple of decades.

It's not even the taxpayers supporting it anymore, the government is borrowing on the taxpayers behalf in order to pay the bill.

That really is crazy isn't it? We tend to think of a roof over our heads as a basic necessity (which I agree it is) yet millions need government help to get one. We as a society seem to be in denial about how big a problem we are facing

grizzly1911

OffGridLiving wrote: »

Exactly, which is why I'm struggling to understand why anyone would be opposed to increasing their income. Yes, you pay tax but the majority of the extra income is available to do whatever you like with.

As you say if you can increase your income then I do not see a problem paying a fair share of additional taxation. Indirect taxation does hut those on the lowest incomes disproportionately. For some they may not do what they like with it, they will just pay it out on the next necessity of life.

OffGridLiving wrote: »

If their job doesn't pay enough then they need to get one that does, even if it means doing some courses, learning a new skill or getting a second job. Taking in a lodger is tax free upto a certain level.

Easier said than done for many and not just because they aren't willing. Getting one "decent" job would be start.

It does beggar the question of who would do the basic jobs if everyone unskilled and got the better jobs. Presumably there only a certain number of good jobs so increased competition would lead to fall out somewhere else.

I am not endorsing a layabout/scrounge culture but choice and opportunity are limited, for all sorts of reasons, for good chunks of our society, well educated or not.