To think there will be many more disabled adults in 20 years?

Someone misdiagnosing themselves wouldn't find it to get benefits easily - even with support of a GP their decisions can be overruled. It's the assessors who make the final decision as to whether someone gets disability benefits based on the questions asked and whether people have enough points to qualify

It really is not as simple as someone rocking up to a GP and saying I have anxiety or depression or other issues. Because people who have certain conditions and evidence to back that up still get denied disability benefits

Sorry, I meant 'shouldn't be taken as the Gospel truth....'

There are people who have to fight to get benefits. The system is designed to put people off claiming. The adp process isn't as bad - but the majority of people who get Pip get it at tribunal. That is. They are told no and they lose the mandatory reconsideration - it can take a year for a tribunal - and some people give up at that stage

If someone is posting on here or anywhere else talking about their benefits and their mental health I'm not going to question that . They've been through a process and they have been awarded benefits.

Assessors don't always make the correct decision when it comes to awarding benefits

Very few people game the system. Just because everyone on here seem to know a family who are on the make doesn't mean it's the case. As for the post just telling people to suck it up and go to work - how do people do that if they are suicidal or suffering from psychosis? The staggering lack of knowledge about mental health issues is really apparent.

Yes, I agree. It works both ways, though. It shouldn't be taken as read that people really are as bad as they make out the same as an account of somebody gaming all night with eff all wrong with them should be taken as the Gospel truth.

Well i hope a benefits assesor would mske a proper assesmrnt
Rather than relying on mumsnet threads as " proof "....

A benefits assessor receives a skewed perspective of these things, though. By definition, those who actually are scamming the system are going to be known to benefits assessors, whereas it's not uncommon for people who are entitled to benefits to waive them.

This idea of people "gaming the system" is equated with anyone who is able not working to "stick it to the man" in such a childish way. That could be me. 57, widowed, 3 further bereavements last year, and all the sadmin for two of them, failed business, forced house move - massive downsize as landlord needed to sell up, not that I could afford to stay anyway, debts, etc etc and yes, ,"mental elf issues" plus a dearth of relevant qualifications for the ever changing world of work. On such a tight budget that having checked even a full time minimum wage job, if I could get one, wouldn't make a difference to my circumstances. My therapist says I'm not fit to work, and I feel trapped and a complete failure due to a series of unfortunate events that wiped out every bit of safety net I had.

I hate it. I hate myself. Every avenue I investigate throws up another road block. I have considered goung back to Uni to retrain, but all the things I thought might get me out of the trap are being consumed by the rise of AI. And the labyrinth around the finances is baffling.

When ones cost of living and "income" effectively cancel each other out, leaving nothing with which to pay for travel or other expenses associated with getting or keeping a job, it becomes a case of just keeping oneself off the streets and trying not to be a bigger problem or burden than I already feel I am.

No inheritance to buffer me, nothing worth selling, and fighting passive suicidal ideation every day.

And so many people are in this trap, and so many are much worse off - and some of them are working.

So is it "gaming" the system or survival in a world where keeping up is a constant headfuck and one feels as if it's just getting worse?

So none of that's based in reality or could even be partly true, then? Here's a tip, don't get a job as a benefits assessor because they'll be queued up down the street and fighting to be assessed by you.

I know this post was a while back, but it's simply not true. No pensioner is surviving on that amount (some non pensioners are, but who cares about them, eh?🙄)

They would get housing benefit to pay their rent and council tax support to pay that.

Without a full state pension they'd also get pension credit to top it up, and that comes with various extras.

If £1000 a month after housing costs are covered doesn't sound like plenty to you, you have no idea how so many of the working population are living.

Many people understand the problems but don't buy into over simplification or unrealistic assumptions.

Fairness and trust works both ways. If you work, pay in and save, you should absolutely see the benefit. Changes shouldn’t break the link between what you contribute and what you receive.

Not RTFT but there'll be a crashing silence after the local elections because this is a shit-stirring Reform bot's dream of a thread.

Totally. And it's funny how every benefits basher seems to know a 'Mandy', too, yeah course they do. 🙄

People promoting healthcare systems from abroad. You cannot necessarily compare what works elsewhere with here. We have often a completely different society. Older, diverse, poorer often with different health needs.

Means testing the state pension. Be careful what you wish for. All that would happen is this. The cost of doing so would be very high. And over the years the threshold would reduce. Either literally or be frozen so it reduces that way.
And what you think is a good threshold now might not be the one that exists when your time arrives to get your pension. Invariably, it will be for the very poor only. Not your average bod.

No thanks.

How do threads on here prove people game the system?
Just because some posters think that Mandy next door with her spray tan and gel nails is gaming the system doesnt mean she is and isnt proof of anything
I also take what some posters say about people they know ,telling all and sundry about their " Benefit fraud " with a large pinch of salt .@

You have oversimplified things. Several different issues,with different drivers and trade offs. These don't just neatly tie up.

It matters, but not in the way you’re saying. The bigger problem isn’t pensions, it’s fewer people working. That means less tax and weaker growth. Fix health and help people stay in or return to work — that’s what will do most to improve the economy.

France is not perfect and will end up where we are even, with its current syatem,unless there are changes. They just have a buffer because they have managed healthcare a bit better than us - dont forget they also have a system where children may have to contribute if their parents can't afford care cost.

Same for Australia, they are fortunate to have valuable natural resources which contributes towards a buffer. They will still face the sane issues with an aging population. Again just delayed unless nothing else changes.

,

Yes I do. There is nothing incorrect in what I said.

The government's latest stats would disagree that people are gaming the system. I can't believe you've said "threads on here daily proving it". But no one talks about the billions saved by unpaid carers or that goes unclaimed every year

Its interesting on what turned in to yet another benefit bashing thread how quiet certain people have suddenly become when they have realised they will likely be unemployed themselves in 20 years with advances in technology and will be begging for benefits themselves.

No, I won't. I said 'some people', and I added 'I'm sorry for those who are genuinely disabled.' I used modality, which means I restricted my comments to those who are not disabled, but misdiagnose themselves as such to avoid taking responsibility for their lives. Perhaps the person who deleted it did not notice that I avoided absolute statements. Hedging language (modality) means I was addressing a specific group, not everyone. I feel for anyone who has a disability, and sincerely hope they will get the help and support they deserve.

Presumably that is why is was subsequently deleted. Are you going to apologise?

Hahaaa do you even know what these words mean?

This thread has been a masterclass in ignorance.

Thank you for engaging with what I’ve said! I’ve worked in economics for over two decades but often it feels like shouting into the void.

People start threads here or elsewhere online saying they want to discuss an economic issue but the moment you try to highlight the data and numbers and the actual problems that need addressing it is met with tumbleweed, or the Four Yorkshireman sketch and personal anecdotes, so it really does make me despair of any hope for the future and it is nice that your question was genuine and you were actually interested in and willing to consider my answer.

There are solutions to these problems. There is no perfect system because we are humans, but we could easily make things many times better than they are with some quite simple reforms. It’s sad that people keep voting for things which will accelerate the decline and refusing to engage with the obvious solutions to the main underlying causes of our economic problems.

There is still time to turn the UK around before the doom loop that has been instigated over the last few decades becomes a vertical drop from which there is no coming back and I just hope that the electorate will wise up to the reality of what needs to be done rather than being distracted by all of these “squirrels” about disabled people/ immigrants/ SEND spending in schools (which, incidentally, is one of the best public expenditures in terms of value for money and return on investment that is available to a nation, if done competently - i.e. the opposite of what Bridget Phillipson is proposing to do…! - or whatever other arbitrary target is the flavour of the day) in time to turn things around, otherwise the country will become increasingly impoverished and divided and I will be encouraging my children to use their EU passports to escape.

It’s not conspiratorial. That’s precisely what the nefarious and extremely wealthy people funding political parties private companies like Reform are trying to do, hence the enormous discrepancy between the interests of the “party” (aka Farage’s pocket) funders and the messages in the advertising/ propaganda directed at those to whom they are trying to appeal, which bear no resemblance to their actual motives.

One would think that people would at least have the sense to question why multi-millionaires/ billionaires want to pay so much money to fund the politics of a country in which they do not even live, and whether they genuinely believe these wealthy people are buying this influence over UK public policy because they have interests aligned with those of the average person living in the UK and care deeply about our living standards.