Benefit cuts will cost the economy.

Ok, so taking this at face (ish) value:

how do we get people who can work to work?

first, let’s think about what we mean by people who can work.

university students can work. We don’t make them stop studying and get full time jobs because as a whole for the economy we want people with high skill levels and so as a country we’ve made the decision they don’t have to work and the government will at least partially fund their studies.

back in the 60s and 70s it was generally accepted that women with small children didn’t need to be made to work. Since then many more women work and fewer men work.

see https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn06838/#:~:text=The%20female%20employment%20rate%20was,compared%20with%2014%25%20of%20men.

lots of people who are retired can work. Most of them don’t want to and either have enough money coming in from private pensions and investments or state pensions etc that they don’t have to. Strictly speaking if you consider the state pension a benefit (which strictly speaking it is) this is by far the largest group of people on benefits who could be working but aren’t.

most of them don’t want to, and you’d have to really cut the state pension brutally to force some to go back because they need the money which would lose whichever government did it the next election.

then you are left with people of working age (18-67) who have not retired already and aren’t studying.

most of them have a job. The UK has a higher percentage of it’s population in work than any of the other European countries.
latest is 75.1%
https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9366/CBP-9366.pdf

(remember most of that other 25% is students and early retired people).

the current focus on cutting benefits is not about getting people into work. The government have a financial problem in that benefits spending (which is about half state pension and a lot of the rest is benefits for people in work) is going up and tax take is going down because we are on the edge of a recession (Covid, Ukraine, etc).

pip is an in work benefit. People get it who work full time. UC is an in work benefit. People get it who work full time.

none of this has got anything to do with getting people into work, it’s just about cutting benefits. Cutting pip actually makes people less likely to work because it’ll pay for wheelchair adapted cars, taxis to work, etc.

Listen to yourself and be ashamed.

Those aren't meals, are they? Or should someone just scoff 30 apples a day and stop complaining?

Where are the jobs? People are so quick to suggest shelf stacking and cleaning etc but don't seem to realise that being able to work isn't the same as being able to do any job. I worked in a supermarket one Christmas as a student; it was an incredibly physically demanding job. Ditto cleaning.

I'm on LCWRA, I desperately want to work but could only work from home, but those jobs are like hens teeth. I just had feedback from a recruitment second stage that I couldn't have done anything different; they just had a very limited number they could take through to interview.

The government needs to accompany their benefit cuts with requirements for employers to allow wfh unless there's a very good reason not to, and incentives for taking on disabled workers. Trying to find a job as a disabled person is hell.

I think the country is undergoing a massive lurch to the right, unfortunately.

It seemed to start with concerns around immigration, but we’ve very rapidly reached a point where the Labour Party is onboard and kicking disabled people is fashionable. Depressing times.

Sorry but too many people are not working. As a society we cannot cope with so many people not working, the burden on those left to carry it is too great.

There comes a point where if you keep trying to pile more and more and more on an ever smaller group of people, they'll collapse under the weight.

It is shortsighted. Employers don't keep disabled employees. I am already on a warning at work for my disability related sickness that leaves me bedridden every so often when it flares. Other employers won't consider WFH now, all hybrid and I can't work in an office without adaptions they won't do. Many friends report similar. All very well wanting people to work but providing no provision for them to do so won't work

@Thronglet I’m really sorry you’re struggling. No one can understand until they’ve walked in your shoes x

You really think disabled people and their carers are "raking it in"? Have you seen the cost of carers, disability equipment, etc?

I have read the article. It talks about how Universal Credit makes it hard for people to get into work and makes people homeless. This is true, especially rates for single childfree people. Affording housing, fares to the job centre and interviews, and suitable interview clothes is very challenging for many single people without family to bankroll them.

I read that thread. Even if it were to be believed (and I had my doubts, but of course that would be troll hunting people who start deliberately provocative threads to promote division and nastiness), there is no evidence that "this is very common". And if I recall wasn't it removed by MNHQ whilst they "had a look at the poster"?

Completely agree /thread on here recently about a poster complaining that her payment was being assessed because she and her ‘ex’ partner living on the same house were claiming separately fir one child each to maximize their income whilst working g only part time. And apparently this is very common. Shocking how people are milking the system.

Honestly, we need more initiatives like remploy back. There are some organisations active along those lines but they are few and far between. Special sschools are doing such a good job teaching job skills and then there is nowhere for those young people to go.

OFC if remploy-style businesses were encouraged then you could employ support worker of a similar age to facilitate. Could be win/win, but there’s no political will there.

Grapes are way out of my budget. Apples aren't very filling either, plus they need good grip, so I wouldn't choose those. The only suitably filling easy to hold fruit is bananas but they tend to go off immediately unless you can get to the supermarket to choose an unripe bunch.

I tend to stay away from anything that will perish fast. I'd love to have fresh fruit every day because it's one of my favourites but it's so expensive and it doesn't last.

It’s amazing how politics has become one big marketing wheeze.

What? This is a discussion about policy isn’t it?

Not everyone who is pysically well can work. I have a teen with severe learning difficulties. What job could they do provided they would need picking to, taking home and 1:1 support throughout?

Most of the people you are all talking about don’t tend to have many marketable skills due to their long time health issues. Most jobs they could apply for are physical and offer little or no adjustments for people with disabilities. So no you won’t find more people miraculously working as care workers in hospitality etc . These jobs require people to be physically fit able to stand for long periods able to lift etc etc. most people have long term conditions which flare up really easily. They are very unlikely to be offered a job in the first place and certainly won’t be able to keep it once the truth of their disability becomes apparent. I know this because i meet with these clients every week.

@Kindersurprising 'won't be pretty' indeed it won't be, many people will die.

The public also largely thinks that PIP is an out of work benefit, so maybe they mean people who are informed of the facts and not basing their view on tabloid headlines.

If DH and I could both work full time on NMW we'd be £6,000 a year better off than we are now.

We are not raking it in having a child with ASD, we get £400/mth DLA, that's it. DH could claim carers allowance but it's difficult because he gets paid in lump sums so we need advice which he hasn't had time to get because of working and caring for DS.

@MapCollector - "Accepting there will be a few who slip through the net"
90% are going to slip through the net. That's not a few, that's nearly all PIP claimants.

@Thronglet are you unable to eat fruits like an apple? Or grapes?