What would happen to you/your family if there were NO benefits/welfare system?

[Mamajoycewig]

As there's been a lot of talk around benefits in the news and a lot of strong opinions on it I was interested to know what would happen to most people if there were no welfare system in place?

Would your family suffer? Would you be on the streets?

Would you have still had kids knowing if you couldn't work there'd be no government backup?

Would you have made different life choices?

Personally, if all benefits were to be removed tomorrow then we'd be the same financially other than losing child benefit which we use for nappies/wipes etc.

My mum and brother would be screwed as he's disabled. Although if I'm honest I don't think she'd have had as many kids as she did without any top ups (4 kids). She's always worked but needed top ups.

I would be starving living on the streets

What's your point?

What's your point?

No impact for us but my brother would have to get a job instead of playing his PlayStation for hours a day and earn money to fund his weed habit.

@Kendodd what are you disagreeing with? I said top ups benefits are needed due to wages being so low? Didn't say it was a good thing..

We are fortunate in that it wouldn’t affect us but I know a lot of people who would really struggle. However, I think that the benefits system is just truly messed up. There are so many people out there struggling to make ends meet, but a girl I used to work with got a full time wage and approx £700 a month on benefits because she faked adhd and autism assessments. It makes a mockery out of the system really, as I am sure there are thousands of other people who do this. I think it should be totally overhauled and that only people who genuinely need it receive it.

As a single parent in an expensive South East town in private rented accommodation without family support, life would be a hell of a lot harder.

Yes, spot on.

It wouldn't affect me at all. And I think the country would be much improved in the long run.

No change fir us, we would likely be better off as the government could reduce taxes with all the money saved.

It wouldn't directly impact us as we don't claim anything. I suppose we would have more money as we wouldn't be paying towards the welfare state.

But I imagine it would impact so many other people that there would be many knock on effects, making life worse for everyone. We have to look after everyone, it's part of living in a decent society. Things need to be better though.

I don't think I would have had kids in a place that doesn't look after others.

Literally nothing.

Because of population control? All the people in desperate need of it would just die?

This is utter nonsense, most people claiming benefits are working, by a large margin.

How would things be 'much improved' for disabled folk, carers of disabled folk, the sick, the bereaved, the suddenly short-term unemployed etc?

No impact on us presently (dont qualufy for child benefit if we had a child) but if dh lost his job, new style jsa plus my 3k take home pay would mean we don't need to dip into our savings to pay our mortgage and expenses.

Dh would have had a far more miserable childhood without EMA and the top ups. Perhaps his sister would be dead as she ended up in ICU which would have cost a lot of money without nhs. her youngest would have no medication for her crohns (ditto)..

I am in my 30s but as we only earn 121k combined I don't see how we can afford private healthcare when we are old and no longer employed..

If it happened right now, we would be ok. Although, I would end up buying even more breakfast bars and snacks for hungry children in my class.
If it happened when my dad left my mum whilst she was undergoing cancer treatment and she couldn't work, we would have been homeless and starving. Although we had a family business. Dad went out of his way to not give mum her share...we lived on benefits until the solicitors managed to find the money.

I’d be screwed as my part time wages and child maintenance would only just about cover the mortgage and bills but then no money for everything else like food and petrol so I guess we’d starve!

@Zebedee999 yes I think multi generational living would come back.
Community would certainly be stronger but there would be slums/ghettos.

The impact would be bigger than just finances too.
Peoples mentalities would certainly change. A lot of people don't see grandchildren as their responsibility so won't even offer a nights babysitting. But if their DC couldn't work so would literally starve or live on the street unless they watched grandchildren whilst they worked they'd maybe have a different perception.
Going into having children you'd have them knowing this though.
Also you'd likely be trapped with toxic family members if you depended on them for a roof over your head or childcare.

I don’t mind buying the poor cow a coffee. Consider it my taxes paying for it rather than yours and leave off.

Many are vulnerable but drug users who are in & out of court/A&E and burgle houses are not ‘vulnerable’. And there are many of them

If you look at their life and childhood, they usually have been disadvantaged, abused, neglected etc. It's often generational trauma, neglect, abuse where the cycle continues. Until that's addressed, things won't improve.

It would have no impacf whatsoever. Not entitled to anything.

Might have been earlier in life when i was in a low paying job and with my ex who was a waste of space but the process to find out was so much hassle we didn’t bother!

I couldn't have taken the risk of adopting DD. As she was an older 'hard to place' child she would have grown up in care, with the cost to the state and probably be facing a (short) life on the streets.

Instead I have saved the state £100,000s and DD is on track to living a healthy, constructive life and contribute to society financially and non-financially.

That is awful. What a terrible thing your father did. I hope he came to understand that