Better off working or not?

pebbles88

HC wrote: »

As you yourself know, you have nothing at all to feel uncomfortable or ashamed about. That's why the system is there, to provide a cushion of security for genuine claimants.

Nobody wants to go back to the days of the workhouse, for heaven's sake.

I Know i dont have anything to feel uncomfortable about, i was just trying to say people even get on there high horse over genuine claimants sometimes.

I must admit, i dont know what a workhouse is , never heard of one??

MrsE_2

Pebbles, the OP is fit & well, has a job on offer, childcare sorted & the skills to do it.
Rather different.
Prefers to maximise the benefits, rather than work.
Not can't work, but won't work.

HC_2

pebbles88 wrote: »

I must admit, i dont know what a workhouse is , never heard of one??

Workhouses were where those who couldn't support themselves could live and work. They were pretty horrible places - had to be, I suppose, otherwise they would have been overflowing. It was probably the first example of state aid.

pebbles88

HC wrote: »

Workhouses were where those who couldn't support themselves could live and work. They were pretty horrible places - had to be, I suppose, otherwise they would have been overflowing. It was probably the first example of state aid.

oh crikey, thanks.

pebbles88

MrsE wrote: »

Pebbles, the OP is fit & well, has a job on offer, childcare sorted & the skills to do it.
Rather different.
Prefers to maximise the benefits, rather than work.
Not can't work, but won't work.

Well its her choice.

She asked for advice, not a character assassination.
Everyone has their opinion, its one area where everyone is divided and they will never agree.

HC_2

pebbles88 wrote: »

Well its her choice.

She asked for advice, not a character assassination.
Everyone has their opinion, its one area where everyone is divided and they will never agree.

To be fair, the OP sounds like an intelligent woman. She started a thread saying, essentially, 'I could work, but I think I might claim benefits instead. What do you think?' so she surely must have realised that there would be some pretty passionate comments in response to such a provocative question.

I don't think she's had her character assassinated at all. She's even had a lot of support with regard to claiming benefits rather than working. Nobody has lumped her in with the lifelong dole scroungers.

cornishfairy

I know I shouldn't reply again but I think the quote from MrsE of "Not can't work, but won't work" is a little harsh. That was the point of my original post. I did not come on here saying that I don't want to work, if my comments are read thoroughly you can all see that I have worked all my life and am therefore not work shy. I think this is an interesting discussion but I don't want my words twisted. I think most of us agree that it is the benefits system that is wrong and how each person uses it or doesn't use it is up to them if they are honest and above board.

Loopy_Girl

HC wrote: »

As for Child Benefit, remember this is not means-tested; everyone gets exactly the same amount whether they are unemployed or earning a million a year. So it is in quite a different category to claiming benefit instead of working.

Not really. Do you think there is a special pot that it comes out of? No, it comes out the pot that all the tax payers pay into. But if it makes the people who have moaned about benefits feel a little better to think like that then go ahead. It's still a benefit and you make the choice to have it - you have to apply. It doesn't magically appear in your account so if these people felt that strongly about 'not taking money from the Government' then I'm assuming that they did not apply for it.

HC_2

Loopy_Girl wrote: »

Not really. Do you think there is a special pot that it comes out of? No, it comes out the pot that all the tax payers pay into. But if it makes the people who have moaned about benefits feel a little better to think like that then go ahead. It's still a benefit and you make the choice to have it - you have to apply. It doesn't magically appear in your account so if these people felt that strongly about 'not taking money from the Government' then I'm assuming that they did not apply for it.

No, I don't think it comes out of a 'special pot'. I'm not stupid.

But I do think that when someone objects to people claiming benefits rather than working if they have the opportunity to do so (provided they are fit to work, of course), the Child Benefit thing is immediately brought up by the opposition, seemingly as their only defence.

It's as though if someone claims Child Benefit (99.9 per cent of parents do, I suspect) then that means they've been sucked into the benefit system and have no right to question or comment adversely or object to the idea of people choosing to claim benefit instead of working.

It's used as a stick to beat us with! 'You claim Child Benefit, therefore you are "on benefits", so you are just the same as the fit, healthy guy down the road who's never worked a day in his life, and who claims full whack for himself and his nine children.'

I think it's a weak argument.

And it's really not about not 'taking money from the government'. I've not objected to WTC, IB for genuine claimants, help for hard-working single mothers, short-term support for anyone in difficult times.

My point is, as I said above, not working when you have an opportunity to do so, and claiming benefits instead.

krisskross

I'm not in favour of ANY long term benefits except to the totally unable to do any job and I don't reckon there are many of them around. I believe in only having children if you can afford them without taxpayers propping up the family finances.

However in the OP's position not sure what I would do. I know I hated having to find and go to a job when my youngest was 6 weeks old. There were no benefits to enable me to stay at home with her and her 3 siblings, all under 8 years. I am happy that life is easier for families but do think there is far too much emphasis on them, sometimes to the detriment of other hardworking members of our society.