Relative almost proud to "have to" claim benefits

just as an addendum to some previous posts -

i have been on the dole, not as a mum, fortunately, but i have claimed at several points during my adult life. it is a pittance. about £45 a week. then i got £120 a month for housing benefit, and £120 council tax benefit. bearing in mind my rent was £500 a month, i was getting deeper and deeper into debt every month. then i got pregnant and realy f*@£$ed my chances of getting a job up!

if the people claiming benefits have an extravagant lifestyle, then they're probably getting into masses of debt, either from credit cards, or by overclaiming benefits, which will be found out eventually, and they will have to pay it all back.

ooh, yes! My phone reads bar codes (FREE PHONE btw. miffed freaks ) so I could 'read' my children.

GOOD idea UrbanD

newlife - why not have a barcode tattooed on their foreheads, then they could just be "zapped"? much simpler...

its VERY common, peachy, not to be better off.

its bascically becuase there are so many benefits and "perks" (sorry, can't think of a better word) associated with Income Support, that aren't actually equivalently means tested.

Also different benefits are counted as income re Housing/Council Tax benefit.

and lots of other niggles. So it is very common.

LOVE the if on benefits you should do community service bit

who would pay for the childcare? The Government? And who would adminsiter it? The Government? And how much extra would that cost then....

life

I'd really love to have a special queue at the supermarket actually where I can queue up for my 'just enough to survive on' shopping basket.

Then, I'd like a T-shirt that I can wear when claiming my free eye test and prescriptions. I'd like the T shirt to be colour coded like the tax disc so that everyone knows that I'm entitled and have filled out my forms for that year.

I'd like my children to have their hands stamped at register just to be sure that only they - and not some greedy lardy legged fraudster - get the free meals. A tattoo would be even better, because all benefits claimants fully intend to stay state dependent for lie OF COURSE!

sad that she feels she wouldnt be better off- she would (unless she ahs a stonking rent that is covered by housing benefits)

but this idea that everyone can work- bollox! I cant, fortunately I am studying but socials ervices put a ban on my ds1 (SN and aggressive) going into daycare, I may have to be at home to meet ds3's Sn bus, and we have no local family. Fortunately DH works, but you know when I was on mat leave he was sacked because he was depressed and unable to cope with his job, I was 36 or 37 weeks pg and couldnt return to work- we needed those benefits! And they were bloody ahrd to calim beleive me, housing benefit (we were in a 50 / 50 ownership, couldnt claim mortgae only rent) took months with all the aperwork needed.

Peoples situations change, nobody knows what will happen Tomorrow.

"Are there no prisons, are there no workhouses?"

Apologies for an only approximate Dickens quotation...

"and/ or benefits should be paid for in vouchers 'food stamps' for example, so that it cannot be abused by those who are blatantly taking the Piss. "

oh my jesus god

yes lets have them standing in line for soup kitchens while we're at it.

Rofl

But you know what the response will be......

Oh no we're too proud/would never do that, blah blah...

"me and others getting annoyed that someone who chooses not to work thus getting their rent and council tax paid for, can buy their kids more than i can, can go away more than me- we are so silly arent we for finding that wrong. "

well if you think its so great, go on the dole.

Simple

Sorted

Message withdrawn

i undertsnad the whole better off not working thing, i have family members who say the same and its true. but the point is if more and more people have this attitude then where does that leave society. and also why should i work to pay for fellow citizens (who could work) not to. if on benefits then you should do community service that way everyone is contributing, wether its through paying taxes or helping to keep society afloat

i.e i work you look after my kids 'without payment' and then you can get benefits...how does thats sound?

and/ or benefits should be paid for in vouchers 'food stamps' for example, so that it cannot be abused by those who are blatantly taking the Piss.

Spot on post, Fillydora.

Honestly, having gone through what we did, I'd rather be completely on the dole than EVER reliant on Working Tax Credit again.

They f*&^ these up. Very, very often. Even when you catch their mistakes, they don't recify them.

And we're not talking about those people who get a big lump sum and they know something's up.

Now, we're talking about a system that sent me and my husband a staggering TWENTY-EIGHT award notices in one year, each with an amount varying by a few pounds so you have no idea what you're supposed to be getting.

And then turn your life upside down three years later by issuing agressive demands for thousands of pounds.

The dole is far less complicated, unfortunately.

My aunt is on benefits, has been since she was 19 and she is now about 49ish. She hasn't had one single job in all that time, and she is a single mum. Her 2 eldest dd's are now grown up, and she has her 10 yr old at home. She is not well off, far from it, hasn't been on holiday since god knows when and does struggle to buy stuff, pay bills etc.
I am sure she knows that she would be finacially better off if he worked, but after so many years of scrimping and saving for things she is used to not having anything that she wants. She has no self confidence and that is what is stopping her from going back to work.

Personally, i'd rather poke my own eyes out than end up like her, but I can see why she has ended up in this situation.

If she has been on benefits for years and not worked, then she probably has the confidence of a knat and maybe feels like she can't go back now. I'm not saying that she should be able to sit on her backside for the rest of her life when she 'could' work. What I am saying is that it isn't as easy as you seem to think it is.

As I said before, if she seems to be loaded, then she is claiming more than she should be, as you are not loaded when on benefits, end of.

I know of someone who has been un-employed for some time, she has 2 teenage children at home.

Among her benefits, her mortgage interest is paid (and it was a big, interest only mortgage).

If she works over 16 hours a week she will lose that element of her benefits. That would be a lot of money to find.

Now we all know that she should take a full-time job, and put her largish house on the market to pay off the mortgage.

But, be honest, in that position, would you?

The only people I know on benefits, who can afford to buy whatever they like, are those that are playing the system and being benefit cheats.

I don't know one single person on benefits that doesn't play the system yet leads a fantstic and expensive life.

she would still get help i agree, but we were getting full housing benefit/council tax and then DP was awarded an extra £200 a month Industrial Injuries Benefit

that took us over the income threshold and we now have to pay £220 of our rent and £69 of our council tax, so we are now £89 worse off each month than before

I totally agree with your statement about not being able to buy everything/anything for your kids, i'm not quite sure where people seem to get this idea than benefits is an easy way out from

tellme- if she can buy her kids loads of stuff and go away alot then she isn't just claiming benefits, believe me I kow. I'm a single mum of 3, and yep I get my rent and c/tax paid, but certainly cannot afford to buy my kids everything that they need nevermind want, and certainly cannot afford holidays of any description.

hotcrumpets, if she only worked 9-2 she would still get help with rent and cuncil tax, free prescriptions and most other things (not free dinners though).

She would be better off working if she worked 16 or more hours a week.

Oh and for anyone that thinks you are loaded if you are on benefits, and can 'buy their kids everything', you are very much mistaken and have no clue what you are on about.

I doubt very much if a job working 9 to 2.30 would work out at more money than she is getting on benefits

ie full rent and council tax, higher child tax credit, free presciptions etc

from your post you seem to be saying that she isn't showing enough 'shame' for your liking for the fact that she is living on benefits? what would you like her to do, wear a sackcloth and put a sign round her neck?