Benefits RANT!

[Bri w]

Dearest daughter no2, and little legs the G'daughter, are now on their lonesome. The thieving boyfriend etc...

She has a 16 hrs a week job and is now in receipt of all the benefits she's entitled to. After paying all her bills, including food, for the month she has approx £600 yes £600 left to play with.

She doesn't want a job with more than 16hrs in it coz she'd be loads worse off. Where's the incentive:mad:???

Wish I had a 16hrs a week part time job that left me with £600 a month to play with after all the bills are paid. The system's rollox! I went round earlier to give her a wedge to help out with Xmas, and she's got more than me.

[Reeder]

Wow. That's just plain wrong.

[DarrenSV650S]

Is she supposed to be looking for a job with more hours as part of her benefit entitlement ?

[timwilky]

I agree something is wrong. My daughter No 2 complains how much worse off she is now having gone back to work full time as a health care assistant at the local hospital. It is aditionally costing her a fortune in childcare when she is rota'd on lates/nights.

[Specialone]

Lol, I'm lucky some months to have that and I work full time and run my own business, I agree, no incentive.

Makes me angry as well, my mom had 4 kids to feed when my dad passed away in 1978 and got hardly bugger all from the DSS at the time and held down 3 jobs to survive, got it too fecking easy these days.

[Amadeus]

It could be argued that if she doesn't need that much money, she shouldn't take all the benefits available. Not sure many people in this day and age would choose that option mind.

[NTECUK]

I don't think if she has £600 a month as play mony that she has any reson to complain or incentive to do more .
But its not her fult and You can't blame her can you.

[maviczap]

too rights its too easy to stay on benefits for that kind of dosh

On the plus side at least you daughter has enough money to look after little legs and doesn't have to go to work, just because the scum bag has walked out on her, although to reduce the amount the state is paying out they ought to recoup it back from scumbag

[dizzyblonde]

Wow, more than I have left at the moment.....think I need to bump Pete off :lol:

[dizzyblonde]

although to reduce the amount the state is paying out they ought to recoup it back from scumbag

They do, they automatically put a thing on the system that contacts the CSA. IF they are successful in that, then its paid via whichever benefit you are on, you don't get the benefit and the CSA, one cancels out the other.

However.....you can, if you wish tell the CSA to bog off, which I have done several times in the past.

[maviczap]

It could be argued that if she doesn't need that much money, she shouldn't take all the benefits available. Not sure many people in this day and age would choose that option mind.

Think if you qualify then its all automatically paid out, whether you want it or not.

A similar thing where a multi millionaire was automatically getting sent a cheque for his state pension or winter heating allowance allowance because of his age he qualified.

He quite clearly didn't need it, but when he tried to pay it back, he was told that there was no mechanisum to do that. Crazy

[Amadeus]

Really? I thought you'd be given a list of things you're entitled to with an associated value and you'd tick what you wanted. Shows how much I know! (and I appreciate that very much indeed)

[Bibio]

blooooody hell. i wish i was left with £600 a month after paying everything. with me being tight and not spending nowt on luxury things like new suites, clothes etc.etc i get about £40-50 to a wk for nice things like a takaway meal and going out on the sunday. and i have 2 teens and a disabled wife...

[kellyjo]

The government consider being employed for 16 hours a week to be full time employment. As a single parent if I work less than 16 hours I lose everything over the first £20 so theres no incentive to do more. Once you work 16 hours you no longer qualify for Income support and move onto working tax credits so basically get to keep all previous benefits PLUS your wages. Im desperately trying to find something 16 hours or more but still want to be there to collect the kids from school, its not easy. I could put them im after school club but call me old fashioned, I'd rather look after my kids myself and know what theyre getting up to!!

[Littlepeahead]

I think Peter Stringfellow recently complained he was getting pension, fuel allowance and a bus pass and couldn't stop this payout. If he is a decent man then he'd donate the sum to Help the Aged.

My sister has two kids, the dad now un-contactable and the only thing she gets for them is the child benefit. For herself it's the most basic disability benefit as she isn't well enough to work at the moment. She lives with my mum but because the house has a mortgage in Dad's name my sister cannot claim any other benefits towards housing costs yet if she demanded it they'd have to give her a flat with housing benefit.

She'd like to work part time but then she'd be even worse off as she'd lose what few benefits she does get, including free prescriptions for her medication.

The system is all wrong.

[k1ngy SV]

I myself being 16 (17 in a month) attending collagedoing a full time course, no EMA or fund's avalible to me bit confused what's going on. it starts to get annoying that my wonderfull £2 dinner ticket is only good for a sausage roll and a small bottle of water.. for the hole day ? somedays from 7:00 in morning till 7:30 at night just isnt enough to be living on.. nevermind being with mates whome can quite happily go shop and buy a bottle of coke & a packet of crisps :/

[missyburd]

Wow, more than I have left at the moment.....think I need to bump Pete off :lol:
think I need a kid*!


*warning, this is not a request.

[missyburd]

I was talking/being ranted at about benefits this morning by a customer funnily enough. He'd been reading about a family managing to total up £37k a year from benefits alone, I was gobsmacked!

Found the story here: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/206606

[theboatman]

think I need a kid*!

Unless I am missing something you need to talk to YC about this one, not the ORG.... ;-)

[missyburd]

Unless I am missing something you need to talk to YC about this one, not the ORG.... ;-)
yeah, you missed the asterisk :rolleyes: :-P

[Owenski]

So if not a request then must be an order Maria ;-)
Our couch is here Chris we can lock the doors if the womb'd one comes near ya.

[Bibio]

i'm afraid that 37K is not a lot when you have 4 kids and a house to look after as the cost of living in this country is spiralling out of proportion to the average wage.

house prices are stupid.
fuel prices are a joke.
cost of food shopping increase every week for no apparent reason.
interest rates on credit cards etc.etc are taking the pizz as the base rate is .5% from the BOE.
not to mention vehicle prices and the cost of running that vehicle.

i'm the same as i would have to earn a minimum of £60k a year if i were working to have an avarage life style.

[Mrs_giggles]

Here's me thinking I can't afford kids with that cash id be better off than just me n dave lol

[Dicky Ticker]

As a pensioner I will not comment apart from that is one load of money more than we get and if I do any work my money is reduced and I HAVE TO PAY TAX on what I get

[Dicky Ticker]

Mrs G------You already have one big kid-----just declare yourself as a single parent family ;)

[fenjer]

She doesn't want a job with more than 16hrs in it coz she'd be loads worse off. Where's the incentive:mad:???


There is no incentive. I'm in a similar situation.
I went to the Citizens Advice Service - they told me "get a job for 16hours and week and apply for all your benefits."

That is what they told me. those exact words.

I didnt listen, I got a full time job for minimum wage (and let me tell you it sucks) and I'm worse off than I was on benefits and worse off than I was as a student, it's only my pride that stops me cutting my hours and claiming for all it's worth.

It's all wrong, and it's a very very broken system.

[dizzyblonde]

He'd been reading about a family managing to total up £37k a year from benefits alone, I was gobsmacked!


:smt104



i'm afraid that 37K is not a lot when you have 4 kids and a house to look after as the cost of living in this country is spiralling out of proportion to the average wage.

house prices are stupid.
fuel prices are a joke.
cost of food shopping increase every week for no apparent reason.
interest rates on credit cards etc.etc are taking the pizz as the base rate is .5% from the BOE.
not to mention vehicle prices and the cost of running that vehicle.

i'm the same as i would have to earn a minimum of £60k a year if i were working to have an avarage life style.

Even with two. Pete won't get out of bed for anything less the 40k, and thats just to have the average just about manageable lifestyle, but then hes used to that sort of living........and its damn hard keeping a job paying that round here too. Yorkshire has **** wages compared to down south, with the cost of living just the same.:smt009

[minimorecambe]

The wages down South arent as good as you think. I have just secured a new job down South and when I was looking for jobs the wages were the same as what I am on now up North.

[DJ123]

The wages down South arent as good as you think. I have just secured a new job down South and when I was looking for jobs the wages were the same as what I am on now up North.
Since the credit crunch eveything has now taken a nose dive. Jobs wages are at least 20% less than what they were previously. I've been searching for jobs and some of the wages are ridiculously low

[dizzyblonde]

The wages down South arent as good as you think. I have just secured a new job down South and when I was looking for jobs the wages were the same as what I am on now up North.

Pete came from down South(Suffolk and London), I suppose it depends on your job. Its been a very big shock the last couple of years since he moved up here, its taken a lot of getting used to. Hes actually having to consider either working abroad, or working back down South again!

Its so bad, hes been offered two jobs recently, only to have the plug pulled on both couple of weeks later, as the companies don't have the finances to carry the vacancies through. These are very well known nationwide companies...and its quite disturbing.

[minimorecambe]

I was only looking in health care but in that the wages were very much on par with each other.

I have had to go into a much more challenging sector to get a better wage

[chrisinflight]

I have worked with unemployed people for the last 4 years during their mandatory work experience (ex-New Deal). I am currently on a fencing contract re-newing fencing on a large housing association estate. Most if not all trainees have new clothes, latest phones and sky tv at home. I also have about £50 a week tops freebie cash, have a cheap nokia and have never had cable tv so dont know what i`m missing there. I dont buy furniture, clothes or electrical goods and just about keep up with diy maintenance on the 1 car and 1 bike we run. Yes, it pees me off when I see tenants getting new kitchens, bathrooms and now fencing normally on a 10 year rolling system. The cliche "Taxed to death" is so very true. This government better start rewarding hard-working families better otherwise there will be a revolt.
Thank you- benefit rant over from me!
chris

[Bluefish]

600 quid a month spare mmm, I must be doing something wrong, oh yeah working. puts a different light on all these sob stories we keep hearing :rolleyes:

[Mrs_giggles]

Same at my work I've not had a pay increase in 3 years my work want us to do more hours for less cash, but still manage to pay for someone to get a new tv and. Cooker cus they smashed theirs, this all comes from benefits or our wages

[maviczap]

Watch prog about the Welfare state on Beeb2 right now

[andrewsmith]

Watching it too

I see a good discussion coming

[thefallenangel]

My wage is £32k but i have fixed o/t hours included and work 43 hours a week (average). It's not a family of 4 manangeable take home (£1800 take home a month is not enough).