Work or be homeless!

N71

FairyElephant wrote: »

OK - let's get radical & controversial here!

It's a fact that loads of teenage girls get pregnant pretty much just to get council flats (this is NOT an 'urban myth' - I know people who have done it years ago, and have recently heard it being discussed by a group of teenage girls on the bus!).

It's also a fact there are not enough babies available for adoption by all those who would wish to - most of whom have stable, loving homes waiting for said babies. There are lots of older kids wanting adoption - many of whom are the product of earlier mentioned teenage girls, who finally couldn't cope and had the kids taken away from them. People are less keen to adopt them as they often have more behavioral problems etc. than babies & younger kids. This I also know about from personal experiences and those of close friends.

….See where I am going here?....

So - how about - if an under 18 gets pregnant, she has three choices:
Don't have the child at all (not going to debate abortion here - too big a subject)
Show that she has a stable home & financial ability to bring up the child (whether with it's father, her parents, or on her own).
Or - Give up the child for adoption at birth.

Results - Less Council housing needed. Less children's homes/foster care needed
= Less of a drain on the poor old taxpayers! (and hopefully better brought-up & well-adjusted kids!)

Should I stand for Government or what?!?

FE
(Tongue almost-all-the-way in cheek!)

Excellent idea!! When you're prime minister, can i be your deputy?


Seriously though, I'm one of those dreadful single mothers living in a council house - suprisingly though, i'm working, and always have done since leaving school.
I took standard maternity leave to have both babies and adjusted my hours of work when necessary. I see no reason why anyone shouldn't work once there child is 5. My 10 year old is severely disabled, but I still manage to work so i can't accept any excuse for other parents not working.

As for the council house, I work hard to make our little house a nice home for my children. I pay full rent and council tax because my earnings +wtc + ctc puts me over the limit for benefits.

The house was a mess when we moved in 5 years ago, but now its a lovely home which i'm very proud of.

However, next door to me, live 'The Clampits'. Mum, Dad and two scruffy children. They're living on benefits, rent free, council tax free and sitting on their a**es all day. There is no reason they can't work, apart from idleness. We should be proud to know that are taxes are paying for their weekend parties, which result in me collecting empty special brew cans and lambrini bottles out of my garden most weekend mornings.

The council who we rent our houses from, are currently updating their housing stock. They sent out surveyors last year to see what work needed doing. My neat, tidy home is at such a good standard, I don't need any work doing. However, next door (identical house/same age/same age kitchen/bathroom/heating as mine) is in the process of getting a new kitchen, new bathroom, new fire and new combi boiler fitted as there home is in a worse state than mine - no sh*t sherlock!

Rant over! No i'm starting to wonder who's the stupid one? What exactly is the point of working?!?!?! :mad:

affordmylife

N71 - brilliant well done you. Must be really tough but it just shows what can be done.

I wish other people would take a leaf out of your book and have some pride n theirselves.

As you say there is now reason why people cant go to work they are just lazy.

N71

affordmylife wrote: »

N71 - brilliant well done you. Must be really tough but it just shows what can be done.

I wish other people would take a leaf out of your book and have some pride n theirselves.

As you say there is now reason why people cant go to work they are just lazy.

Thank you! I really believe its the way people are brought up. I want my kids to see their mum going out to work, so thats that is what they will see as normal when they're adults. My mum was also a single mum with just me, which was quite unusual in the 70's, but when I was young she went to college, and by the time I started school, she'd qualified as a teacher.

You see hundreds of these idle people who choose not to work, and in 15-20 years time, their offspring will be doing exactly the same.

Also, getting my council house was a last resort. My and kids dad owned our own home, but for reasons i won't get into right now, me and the kids had to leave for our own safety. I couldn't afford a mortgage on my own wage so the council was our only option.

SquatNow

There's no need to have pride in yourself anymore.

If you are unemployed, the council will pay someone to do it for you.

Thomas99

N71 wrote: »

Rant over! No i'm starting to wonder who's the stupid one? What exactly is the point of working?!?!?! :mad:

Thanks for a good post, i wish you luck. With people like you, not all is lost. You are NOT one of the dregs of society!!!

fc123

N71 wrote: »

However, next door to me, live 'The Clampits'. :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: Mum, Dad and two scruffy children. They're living on benefits, rent free, council tax free and sitting on their a**es all day. There is no reason they can't work, apart from idleness. We should be proud to know that are taxes are paying for their weekend parties, which result in me collecting empty special brew cans and lambrini bottles out of my garden most weekend mornings.



Rant over! No i'm starting to wonder who's the stupid one? What exactly is the point of working?!?!?! :mad:

For 20 yrs I've watched my SIL work every scam going (and be referred to as "poooor xxx, she's on 'er own,bla bla bla) whilst I worked until I dropped and felt like a dreadful mother as the work always had to come first.
The bills had to be paid.

However we are now all early 40's.
Her allowances have reduced as 2 kids ( 2 @ 13 remaining) have left home (OK, one is 18 + baby in a riverside council place with a fully funded lifestyle but has discovered it's really hard work.....and I acually feel some sympathy for her. She did chose to fall pregnant and wasn't educated enough to see that there were other life choices out there)

SIL is now being "done" for benefits fraud and looks like she is going to get a criminal record.
She resisted all "New Deal" type things but now it's all collapsing around her ears.
At 41, she hasn't worked for 19 yrs and has no skills. Ironing for cash in hand is a great top up to benefits but is not adequate as a standalone job.

So I am now "so lucky" as I have an established career and choices when my last one leaves home.......and we managed to stay on the housing ladder which was a massive struggle through the early nineties....so I am also called "so lucky" as we own a home...yet we started out life in a grotty LA high rise and she had a nice flat from the start.

What can seem like an "easier" lifestyle in ones 20's, 30's, even 40's is not so great as life moves on.

Living on benefits isn't easy at all for honest families...but if you know how to top it up (as she did) ...it's ok.

I confess to having envied her for many years plus used to get knotted up with fury as I struggled to pay my taxes as she sat on her buttt.........................but I think I may end up with the better deal.


That's my rant:mad: :mad: :mad: over.

Generali

SquatNow wrote: »

There's no need to have pride in yourself anymore.

If you are unemployed, the council will pay someone to do it for you.

People should pay their own way, not expect others to do it for them.

In the US under Bush and a Republican Senate, a law was passed allowing welfare to be paid for 2 (3?) years and then that was it, work for it or get nothing. The left kept on about how the poor impoverished would be sleeping under bridges or be forced onto chain gangs. It didn't happen.

Instead, people saw the writing on the wall and got themselves a job. For many it would have been flipping burgers or carrying bricks up a ladder but if you're working then you can (and are motivated to) improve your lot and that's what seems to have happened.

PS Good signature. I've been trying to find out whether BTLers face margin calls or not on BTL mortgages. The best answer I can find is 'Probably not, in most cases.' But they are in at least some of the contracts I think. Unfortunately the full T&Cs of BTL mortgages don't seem to be on websites so I can't find out for myself. The CML guide to BTL doesn't mention it in the possible costs section.

BobProperty

Two points: The original "government" suggestion of "not working" means "no council house" is just posturing. Even if such legislation were enacted it would be easy to get round and it would probably be overturned by a "Human Rights" case or similar.

The problem with benefits is simply that they are too close to the minimum wage level. I leave it for the reader to decide which should be cut and/or which raised, but I suggest that, for simplicity, the reader imagines the economy (and the consequent effects) with a minimum wage significantly higher than at present.

ixwood

I remember a moneyweek article ages ago mentioning margin calls for BTLers, and how shocked everyone would be. I think it said that if the LTV limit was breeched due to falling value, it could happen.

Not sure how they'd know, or if they'd be proactive about it. You think you'd have heard about it happening to someone already if it was a possibility though.

whowasthat

I am one half of a working couple - we both work full time and have a young daughter at school, all living in a council semi. We pay full rent, council tax etc, and to be honest, if we had job security, be'd be far better off buying. On both sides of the family we have close family members who live in coucil houses - who don't work and claim housing benefits etc. I have wondered on many an occasion why we bother to work so hard, miss out on time with daughter and struggle to pay our bills, but at the same time, I know that we dont owe anyone for what we have, either financially or morrally. I think the idea of putting people in hostels because they are not working is rather extreme, but I have always said that if there are no paid jobs then why not give people comunity work? Everyone (In my opinion) need a purpose and there are is always work that could improve the community. Also, Im pretty sure the 'shirkers' would get off their bums and get paid work if they were given a brush and told to clean the streets for their 'dole' money!!