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.

We would lose £100 a month Child Benefit. We would miss it but would just cut back in other areas. In contrast DP's brother and his partner would be in a dire situation. He works but earns a low wage, his partner is a SAHM and they have 7 children. No way could he support a family of 9 on a care workers wage.

@Mamajoycewig grandchildren aren't the grandparents responsibility though.

Both retired for many years, one disabled getting attendance allowance now. our private pensions alone would make everything very tight, we could probably manage but it would be grim. However without the welfare state, I wouldn't be here anyway, couldn't possibly have paid for 2 years of cancer treatment. I couldn't buy the drugs I need or pay for the equipment I use every day either. Fortunately we both worked hard all our lives in decent jobs so own our house outright so I guess we would take in a couple of lodgers and both try to work a few hours. We'd get by, we've had lots of practice

Maybe a better question would be 'how would you or your family be impacted if the Welfare state only consisted of benefits for people unable to work due to disability, those temporarily out of work and if every parent was financially responsible for their child (I.e. single mother or father received the prerequisite contribution from partner regardless of couple status)?
My answer would be NOT at all.

But with no benefits for disabled people or those temporarily out of work - that would impact us simply by an increasing number of poor/desperate people that would amass and the effects of that

It would have no impact currently, but I was very grateful when dying DH got PIP. That saw us through until I could reorganise things to be able to manage without his income.

Obviously I hope nothing like that ever happens to all the smugs on here...

I've seen some nasty comments in my time. How awful to be someone who thinks 'their' taxes shouldn't be used for a weekly treat by someone who probably works harder and has more stress that they have ever encountered amd writes it doen thinking it's ok!

How snotty and despicable

A few years ago, I'd have said no impact.

But in the last two years, DD has had a mental health breakdown, been diagnosed with autism, awaiting ADHD assessment and diagnosed with anxiety.

She's on middle rate DLA which is currently paying for private therapy due to huge CAMHS waitlists. She will likely need welfare support at least during her late teens unless the various types of social skills support, medication and therapy that I'm putting in place now work wonders in the next 12 months.

I didn't intend for her to be an only child, but that was the hand I was dealt. And in a way she's lucky because it means I can afford to spend what's needed, because the DLA certainly isn't covering the cost of everything.

National Insurance was created to provide for a welfare state; that everyone would be looked after. I've never understood the Tories cutting NI contributions whilst at the same time moaning that the welfare bill was too high.

No impact on our immediate family, apart from higher health insurance etc.

It would badly affect my sister who is a full time cadet to her very disabled child, and her husband is in fairly low paid work. They wouldn't afford housing etc. and I guess would struggle come retirement.

i would be screwed in the sense that DS receives pip which helps with all of his extra needs, because we were struggling before his diagnosis, but it’s helped in a major way. We only receive about £75 extra for universal credits every 4 weeks, we both work but it’s super helpful, although we wouldn’t be in dire straits without it.

It wouldn't affect us personally but I know many, many people (who work) that would be massively affected negatively.

@Werweisswohin but if there was no welfare state then family would be considered your responsibility of you loved them? If the alternative was if you don't watch them on a Saturday whilst your DC do a shift then they'd starve then what would you do? Just say 'not my responsibility live on the street?'

So that's why I think you'd probably have kids knowing you'd have a lifetime of supporting them and any future generations in some way, if they were unable to support themselves, because there would be no other alternative. So therefore your grandchildren would be your responsibility. The minute you have children you'd be accepting a lifetime of financial responsibility with no welfare state?

It wouldn’t affect me, I’m single and childless and don’t receive anything. I sometimes consider trying to have a child solo or adopting but they would definitely be off the table if there was no benefit system as the only way I could ever afford childcare on a single wage would be if I can get hep towards it.

No personal impact to my income (I'm childfree), but my MIL is renting and gets pension credit and housing benefit. She would need to move in, which would mean we would need a bigger home (which we would struggle to afford) and the additional costs she would have: the main one is heating, which she needs to have on all the time. Right now I'm fine with a cold house and just put on extra clothes. We would probably all survive, but have no money for fun stuff.

Has anyone else noticed the sudden influx of benefit bashing on here since labour got in. Curious indeed!

To add my input, I’m currently not massively affected by any benefits but my gran was severely injured at work in her 40s and relied on DLA for a long time. My best friend has an only child who is severely disabled with quadriplegic cerebral palsy, she has had to give up work to care for her daughter and take her to many many appointments. Her husband has a decent job but could never afford to support the whole household and buy all the equipment/modifications needed. Petrol to the hospital which is an hour away costs them a small fortune each month. I suspect that it would affect them greatly, but I’m alright Jack eh!

We had our first 2 children abroad where there was no child benefit and we weren’t entitled to any benefits at all due to our citizenship status. I’d actually forgotten about child benefit until we moved back. I was in a particularly good position with my career, insurances including job loss insurance so benefits weren’t even on our radar.

Loosing the benefits system wouldn’t effect us in our current position, but whose to say that won’t change. I don’t work and have been told to continuously apply for pip. I did once it was declined which I hear is normal but didn’t appeal it as we can survive without it. If I was to break up with my DH I would absolutely be reliant on some for of benefit as I’m unable to work and certainly would never be able to support my DCs without help. I don’t think my DH would see me & dcs struggle but we all see every day on MN how perfectly happy couples end up tearing one another apart during a divorce.

DH has also been through two restructures and been saved from redundancy twice in the last 2 years. Given the current economic climate we wouldn’t be confident he’d get a job straight away if he was to be made redundant next time. So again, we might find ourselves wondering if we would need to claim benefits. I don’t think we would, but knowing it’s there is I suppose a safety net.

I have a cousin, worked all her life in physical jobs, can barely read or right so is not capable of just any admin or office job. She is now completely incontinent and has been wearing adult nappies since age 45 due to massive mistakes during a routine operation. She will now be on benefits for the rest of her life. She will also get compensation at some point but she has no idea when that is and the error after error has also given her mental health problems too, something she never had before.

Scrapping the entire benefits system would feel very wrong. Restructuring it so it’s actually beneficial for the right people is what’s needed, but the politics around that means I don’t see it ever happening.

It would be the same as it was before the welfare system was introduced. People had no choice, work or starve.
And they did starve and they died of terrible illnesses because they couldn't afford a doctor.

Loving a grandchild doesn't make them your responsibility.
Many grandparents are also still working.

I am from a southeast Asian country without a welfare state. If there was no welfare system people wouldn't think like that. My grandpa had an old style civil service pension based on the old British system-50% of last drawn pay and free healthcare for himself and his spouse. He was also a homeowner of a terraced house (quite rare in a country where most live in government housing).

He still understood that because there was no welfare state, he needed the support of his children..so he and my grandma cared for his 4 grandchildren for a nominal allowance plus bought a house with my parents so they would be covering all bills. Unlike the pension, my parents pay was tied to the country's economic growth which was rapid and meant prices increased rapidly.

My parents paid for my grandmother's health insurance (her entitlement to free healfhcare ended when my grandfather passed on and she got only subsidised healthcare like everyone else), domestic helpers and then finally care home fees. Plus all bills and everything they needed.

My grandparents didn't have a good relationship with my father but they did that mainly because they had no choice and those were their options. Though they did love their grandkids dearly.

3 of my aunts back home now rely on their children for their retirement (no state pension, only mandatory savings but poor people dont save enough) in the sense they get an allowance from their kids and live with their kids while renting out their flats. They give back by caring for their grandkids

This is just the way in countries with no welfare state. My home country is very wealthy, average salaries are higher than London (and a lot of things are cheaper if you are a citizen like housing; plus cheaper food) if you take into account the single digit tax rate plus 89% home ownership but we need to pay for healthcare though there are subsidies and no state pension, only forced savings of 36% (but this also goes to healthcare and housing).

How does this sound like to PP who prefer no welfare state. For many (anyone who isn't well off) it means relying on people and trying to pull together. All you have is each other.

Oh come on. Yes there are people in desperate need that should receive help. However, there are a great number that are working the welfare system.

Don’t be so dramatic & blinked.

it would be a complete disaster. My mother is severely disabled, she and my dad live in an adapted council house and he is her main carer. They receive pension credits, PIP and carers allowance and have carers visiting 4 times a day. I thank my lucky stars that we live in a country where that is the case

Again, a grandchild is not a grandparent's responsibility.
Again, a grandparent may well still be working.

Have they looked into claiming travel expenses to and from appointments, I'm not sure if it works the same in England but in Scotland there's usually a finance office within the hospital where you submit your expenses. Just a thought ☺️

@Werweisswohin but if you lived in a country with no welfare they would be. That's why countries with no welfare have multi generational living. What's the alternative?

@StarDolphins it was tongue in cheek. But it's not that far from the mark to say that people would die. Entirely up to you whether you give a shit about that.

We'd have to pay the cleaning lady a lot more but besides that not anything directly.