Benefits Street

silvercar

Glen_Clark wrote: »

would they look after it as well if it belonged to some sleazy slum landlord who was trying to evict them for not being able to keep up with the unaffordable rent?

Most people renting view their home as their home and keep it tidy and clean.

They also prioritise their rent payments.

DO you think the sleazy slum landlord is a charity?

thegirlintheattic

Glen_Clark wrote: »

I got the impression the unsavory characters were out on the street all the time. So the alternative would be to keep the kids locked up in that tiny house.

Then you 'parent' and either go out with your child, or try to discourage them from hanging out with the drunks/druggies. As for tiny house, the house looks bigger than mine, and I'm sure if it was that much of a problem the mother could take them to the park or playing fields.

Glen_Clark

Angelicdevil wrote: »

I'm sure people growing up in tiny houses weren't adversely affected by growing up in tiny houses......

Well I grew up in a tiny house and I wasn't adversely affected by it because there weren't drunks and drug addicts *effing and blinding right outside the front door. I was not trapped in the tiny house, I was able to go outside to play in civilized company. That was the point I made but you chose to ignore it and focus on the tiny house comment to try and make me look like a snob.

poppysarah

You can get normalised to seeing that sort of lifestyle. It is bizarre and it's only when you are away from it you realise just how crap an existance it is.

Glen_Clark

So nobody has come up with a solution to the problem of people having kids to get benefits. Perhaps this forum s full of BTL landlords who are happy with that situation.
But if you were in charge of the benefits what would you do?
Is is no longer acceptable to put women and children out on the street.
All this talk of cutting benefits is just cutting benefits for single adults, who then turn to crime or farm babies like Mick Philpot.
Its raising the benefit bill and making matters worse.
Fact: Britain spent far less on benefits when it was easier for a single person to claim unemployment benefit. If we went back to that they wouldn't need to do things which are costing us a lot more.

SnooksNJ

Glen_Clark wrote: »

So nobody has come up with a solution to the problem of people having kids to get benefits. Perhaps this forum s full of BTL landlords who are happy with that situation.
But if you were in charge of the benefits what would you do?
Is is no longer acceptable to put women and children out on the street.
All this talk of cutting benefits is just cutting benefits for single adults, who then turn to crime or farm babies like Mick Philpot.
Its raising the benefit bill and making matters worse.
Fact: Britain spent far less on benefits when it was easier for a single person to claim unemployment benefit. If we went back to that they wouldn't need to do things which are costing us a lot more.

I never collected benefits but I believe everything is direct debit so I would have something like the US EBT card that can only be used on food and rent subsidies are paid directly to the landlord.

FR_262

Glen_Clark wrote: »

So nobody has come up with a solution to the problem of people having kids to get benefits. Perhaps this forum s full of BTL landlords who are happy with that situation.
But if you were in charge of the benefits what would you do?
Is is no longer acceptable to put women and children out on the street.

I'm a buy to let landlord. I find it more than acceptable to put women and children out on the street if they don't pay their rent.

This is because if they don't pay their rent I can't pay the mortgage on their house. If they don't pay their rent it leaves me short of money. I only make £30 per week on the house.

Of course if you think it's wrong that women and children are put out on the street go round and make them pay their rent, or pay their rent for them. They choose not to pay their rent so they choose to be evicted. Simple really.

Glen_Clark

poppysarah wrote: »

You can get normalised to seeing that sort of lifestyle. It is bizarre and it's only when you are away from it you realise just how crap an existance it is.

Well of course. If the kids see that every time they step outside the door they are bound to think its normal and do the same.

SnooksNJ

zarf2007 wrote: »

You're not...its the 800,000+ that work for lower than minimum wage, dont pay tax and send most of their money home whilst using the NHS/other facilities that are...

On the US EX pat boards we tell people who inquire about UK benefits that they should go back to the US and go collect them there.

kronenbourg

deannatrois wrote: »

I am a scrounger in most eyes. Been on benefits since 1999. Tried to work but couldn't get a job that would pay childcare.., and couldn't get childcare (phoned for three days solid even asking if they knew someone who could do childcare. Even moving didn't make any difference. Then it became obvious my older son had ASD. Spent 8 years trying to get the education system to work for him. Pulling my hair out at times, this was on top of the constant sleepless nights because he couldn't sleep. Moved 130 miles to put him in a better education system. That helped but he still needed a lot of one to one tutoring from me. But he got 7 GCSE;'s instead of the two he was expected to get. But I had to give up our secure council house. Now have an iffy private landlord who tries every trick in the book to avoid repairs, forced me to sign up to a two year contract. Local housing authority no help at all. But, once we moved and he was in another school he started sleeping most of the time (it wasn't my bad parenting as I'd constantly been told) it was the stress of the bullying from teachers and peers at the schools he'd been too. As soon as that was removed, he started sleeping more.

And at times, I was depressed and overwhelmed and my place didn't look tidy. I'd clear it up eventually, but not every day like I should have done.., at times.

Now it turns out my younder son has ASD too.., but I can't even get him diagnosed (school says GP needs to refer him, GP says School needs to). He goes into meltdown too.., my older son still gets night terrors and needs additional support, regardless of whether its there or not. If not, as is usually the case, the buck stops with me. And I accept that, I'm his mum, I really do do it with love, but it makes me a scrounger.

And my health has broken down. I have had one heart attack, have arthritis and asthma. Constantly tired. I worry constantly what is going to happen to my kids if anything happens to me. My youngest is only 7.

And yes I have a 47inch LED TV I got cheap through Amazon warehouse. It won't be replaced for many years.

My son had an 18th Birthday recently and I put everything I had trying to find a way to get him to a hotel and theatre show in the West End spending as little money as humanely possible but still wanted to show him life doesn't have to be the daily grind we know. Normally he gets a tiny thing for his Birthday but yes, this year I thought, no, whatever I have to do to give him something that removes him from this world of a constant struggle for food, paying bils etc, I'm going to do. But the day of his birthday I was so worn out and stressed I had angina all day.., gtn used frequently. Got through the day with gritted teeth so he'd have something to remember. It was worth it, even if he doesn't really understand. I felt he needed to know there was more out there than our lifestyle.

My older son is in College but he was NEET last year. I fought and I fought to find alternatives for him (Sixth Form turned out to be a disaster). Now he's in college doing exactly what he wants to do and hopefully has a future not defined by his challenges.


I may, by being on benefits have saved the 'country' hundreds of thousands of pounds because I've not given in/ But because of that, I am a scrounger. It does make it hard to look in the mirror. Years ago I was a workaholic, worked at least 18 hour days.., now I'm a scrounger in every accepted sense.

I'm lucky the little that is there is there, I don't know what would have happened to my children if there hadn't have been benefits at all. I've had to drop everything at times because of problems .., lost every job I had because of it (didn't know he had ASD then).

So don't judge everyone on benefits because of one TV programme .., or by stereotypical propoganda. There is a good proportion of us out there who are doing our best. I'd LOVE to have a job, stacking shelves.., but I probably can't do that and in spite of what you think, those jobs aren't around the corner.. in the past I have done every job going, including cleaning, shop work, up to and including office management but my choices as a single parent with kids with special needs are a bit more limited than it might seem and jobs aren't easy to find. And I have found jobs when everyone said there was a recession on in the past. But in spite of the way I have spoken, and in spite of how I feel about being a scrounger, I don't regret the choices I have made. There was no alternative.., and I have looked and looked for options.

goes to show the worse off you are the bigger telly you own


i am a white single working taxpaying male ( a minority thesedays ) and i can only afford a 32inch LCD telly ( unbranded )