MSE News: Disability and carer's allowance claimaints to suffer as inflation falls

kittykat17

I work but get PIP too. If I didn't get PIP I couldn't work! My PIP pays for a carer to come in and help me wash/shower & dress. It only just covers my care costs so doesn't pay for luxuries. In addition, I have to pay for care for my father from my salary during the hours I work - 25 hours/week. Even with working and the benefits I receive (inc WTC) I still can't afford holidays or luxury items. I get so annoyed and fed up with so many comments on here about the life of luxury people on benefits live - especially those of us having to live with disabilities. Put yourselves in our shoes for 24 hours and see how you like it.

scootw1

nannytone wrote: »

would you also like their disability to go along with their shiny new car?

and for your future information...
the tax payer DOESNT pay for the car.
the cars are provided by the charity motability.
the recipient pays motability from their disability benefit ...
money they would receive REGARDLESS of whether they trade it in for a car or not.
so it costs YOU the taxpayer NOTHING extra than they already receive.

as for disability benefits only covering basiscs ...
there are 2 types of disability benefit.
out of work benefits like ESA.
they are paid above the rate of HSA for a reason. it reflects the fact that the people receiving ESA are much more likely to be unable to work long term and that they need more than basic benefits as there are long terms costs associated with being unable to work. replacing white goods, furniture for example.
they are also intended to go a little way to compensating people for the disadvanyage they are at when it comes to gaining employment.

by your reasoning, someone who has been disabled since birth and never been able to work should NEVER be able to take a holiday, even though the reason they cannot work is none of their making.
the fact that they are physically at as disadvantage should mean that they deserve to live hand to mouth until the day they die? most would love the opportunity to work and provide for themselves and pay for their own 'luxuries, but unfortunately that is a choice that is denied them.
if you have no money, you have the ability to earn... yet want to force subsitance style living on those that arent fortunate enough to be as healthy as you?

people like you do make me angry!

I would like to point out that the taxpayer DOES pay for the car, they pay for DLA which is swapped for a car.

And taking a holiday somewhere is not a God-given right. I work and have never been on holiday abroad, just a couple of days in Rhyl. So I dont see why you think anyone, not just the disabled, has a right to a holiday.

matelodave

I'm not trying to force subsidence living on the disabled, I just feel that if the minimum wage is considered good enough for mum, dad and two kids who go out to work, pay for their rent, rates, holidays and travel then it should be no different for anyone else disabled or not.

There's got to be a way to incentivise those who could do more to get out and try, rather than just sitting back and taking. They don't have any more rights to a posh house, posh car or holiday than anyone else.

I don't doubt that there are those in difficult circumstances who do need more help and I would agree that they should get it but it should be targeted. Then there would more money available for those who genuinely need more.

There isn't a bottomless pit and it doesn't come from a faceless government it has to come from those who actually go to work to earn it and if they aren't getting rises then where does the extra money for benefit increases come from.

Redistribution of wealth is all very well but when we are all down to the same level there will still be those who demand more because they feel that they are a special case.

rogerblack

matelodave wrote: »

I'm not trying to force subsidence living on the disabled, I just feel that if the minimum wage is considered good enough for mum, dad and two kids who go out to work, pay for their rent, rates, holidays and travel then it should be no different for anyone else disabled or not.

JSA is not intended to be set at a level where it is reasonable to live it your whole life, or significant portions of it.
Is ESA (long term) paid at a higher rate - yes - 25 quid or so more a week.
But this can get eaten up really fast.

If you're on JSA, you can put off expenses till you get work - or reduce expenses by doing a lot of DIY or home-cooking, or searching round shops for bargains.
With ESA - many are not in this position to reduce costs.

As a concrete example - at the moment my health is such that I can't reliably make a bacon omelette.

About half the attempts end up with spilled food, or a burned mess.

I'm having to go to ready-meals, after simply not being able to cope.
Are there in principle other strategies I could use - yes - if fit - but those all take time and energy I don't have.

Same with house maintenance - at the moment I have a leak in the roof, due to an attempted repair making things worse.
If I was fit I wouldn't have screwed up the repair (leaving it in a partially completed state for over a month due to not being in a state to complete it safely).

There are oh so many extra costs over JSA that the real-terms reduction in around 10% or so (since the indexation was switched, and the several years lower than previously specified, and the upcoming freeze) really, really bites.

Indie_Kid

matelodave wrote: »

I'm not trying to force subsidence living on the disabled, I just feel that if the minimum wage is considered good enough for mum, dad and two kids who go out to work, pay for their rent, rates, holidays and travel then it should be no different for anyone else disabled or not.

Someone with kids on the minimum wage would be getting child benefit and tax credits.

You are comparing two completely different situations. Someone who isn't disabled has the option to better themselves - get qualifcation, a higher paid job, etc. Many disabled people don't have this option.

Those on minimum wage had a pay rise this year too.

wildwestfan

Indie_Kid wrote: »

Someone with kids on the minimum wage would be getting child benefit and tax credits.

You are comparing two completely different situations. Someone who isn't disabled has the option to better themselves - get qualifcation, a higher paid job, etc. Many disabled people don't have this option.



Those on minimum wage had a pay rise this year too.

Major problem is that there are just so many people now who label themselves disabled and expect other people to pick up the tab for them.

Non disabled people do not always have the option to earn more money, very easy for you to say get more qualifications etc. I expect you could get the Open University free, my daughter had to give up despite doing well because it was simply unaffordable as she works. there are concessions/freebies for non workers of any stripe that working people would love to access.

I think we are all in favour of supporting those who can't support themselves but all the moaning that it isn't enough, (and it never will be will it?) is in danger of of turning opinion against you.

nannytone_2

scootw1 wrote: »

I would like to point out that the taxpayer DOES pay for the car, they pay for DLA which is swapped for a car.

And taking a holiday somewhere is not a God-given right. I work and have never been on holiday abroad, just a couple of days in Rhyl. So I dont see why you think anyone, not just the disabled, has a right to a holiday.

and i would like to point out that by trafing the mobility componant of SLA/PIP in for a car costs the tax payer NO MORE than if the person chose not to get a motability car...

or are you complaining that they get the money at all, rather than just them having a 'shiny new car'?

Indie_Kid

Can I just point out, that the rise isn't that much? It's just pennies for a lot people.

belladonna13

matelodave wrote: »

Benefits are there to help people not starve, they aren't really there to enable them to live in a manner better than the poor bloke down the road who goes out to work every day to pay for them.

I note from #13 the comment about motability - I'd love to have a shiny new car every three years (all expenses except fuel paid for) and I know a few who both get a nice new up-market motor on the scheme. In my view the motability scheme should be for a basic car without all the lights bells and whistles.
It's not up to the rest of us to fund a BMW or ginormous 4x4 when we have to go to work in a 10 year old Fiesta to pay for it.

Likewise short holidays - why should we fund someone to go on holiday when we can't afford it ourselves even though we are working.

The whole idea is to live within your means, not someone else's means. Benefits should be at or preferably below the level of the minimum wage however many kids you had or wherever you lived or whatever you think you need so there's an incentive to go out an earn.
You wouldn't be any worse off than the bloke who earned it for you but you wouldn't or shouldn't be better off either.

My friends son could not drive so used his mobility benefit to buy a 'shiny' white mobility scooter because he could hardly walk. Which left him some money over to buy the odd pack of baccy. He was far too ill to go on holiday or to go very far at all.

Its OK though for the taxpayer is now saving money because he died last year at the age of 36 and joined his brother who had died 3 years previously at the age of 38 or so with MS. I am sure many disabled live comparatively short life spans to the non-disabled.

It amazes and sicken me that people can begrudge or be jealous of those who are disabled using their benefits to 'lease' a car.

I have a friend who is paralysed from the waist down and needs such care that he is embarrassed on a daily basis and feels he has lost all dignity. His one pleasure is driving around in his 'leased' adapted mobility car which is a 4X4 because he needs to get his wheelchair in and out when he is alone. He says that is the only time he feels 'able bodied' and independent. I understand that so much!

You never know what tomorrow brings. You may get to have a 'new shiny car' real soon, but I'd bet everything I own that if you had the disability to be eligible for the benefit to 'lease' it for 3 years at a time you would soon be wishing you still were driving a 10 year old banger and was working and fit. I know I would!

I worked for 30 years. Did I ever whine about those who received the disability benefits when I was working? No, because I do not believe everything I read and I was wise enough to know 'you never know what is round the corner'. So had I have criticised without the whole truth and begrudged paying taxes for those who needed disability benefits. How would I have felt when I was in need? More ashamed than I do because I need the benefits - believe me!

I also worked with severely disabled children in my working life and quite a lot died very young at 6 or 7 or so. Their parent or guardian would have had the ability to 'lease' a 'shiny' car with special adaptations to take them out for days or to hospital or to a day centre - do you begrudge that? When they died the 'lease' would have terminated within a few weeks!

I know there are some that 'pretend' to be disabled, but they are few in number compared to those who are genuine and who get independence from their 'shiny leased' cars!

I would like to wish that you get a 'shiny' car, but I have compassion so I will not. I suggest you do what I once did and that is work and study hard and I mean hard in order to get a career that pays enough for you to 'lease' or buy a 'shiny' car while you are fit and able to do so!

To be honest all of you who are fit and well and able to work should get off your backsides and study p/time while working and climb up the career ladder of your chosen profession and stop whining that you do not get much more than those on certain benefits because you will be earning so much more! Although some of you will no doubt continue to whine because you will be paying higher taxes or maybe its just because its in your nature to constantly whine!

I once could earn more in 3 days back in the 90's than what I receive a month off DLA now. So I did once 'own' a 'shiny' car all off my own back. Stop whining and go do it it feels real good better than being disabled. I should know!

Tropez

To be honest, I know a full-time carer and the amount of work they have to do is astonishing. It's a full time, 24/7 job. People knock those on benefits but the amount of effort those who are full-time carers put into it for the low amount of money (massively below minimum wage) they receive is staggering and the person I know barely scrapes by from what I can tell.

I know there are those who somehow diddle the system and get far too much. It is a shame that those few (and they are a few, the statistics prove it) sour so many against those who are just as hardworking even though they rely on the government for support.