I don't want to pay more fucking tax!

[marthainthemarket]

I am the sole earner in a family of four, earning just under 40k a year and getting probably fuck all or below inflation pay increase next year, if I am lucky enough to keep my job ( public sector and employer needing to make massive budget savings). I barely cope now.

I am so fucking angry that Labour fucked up the disability benefit cuts. Other countries don't have run away disability benefits crises because they have a proper assessment process that means they keep a lid on people getting disability benefits who don't really need them. But instead of dealing with that, they came up with a crap proposed cut that wouldn't have dealt with the actual issues and they couldn't defend.

And having fucked that up they are now raising everyone's tax. I hate them!

and if everyone on UC did that, who would be the childcare workers, cleaners, shop workers etc that society needs?

But at the moment those number over 50% of the population. What if this rises - again and again?

And as a poster observed elsewhere on MN, you get a situation where the democratic process empowers voters to demand more with no restrictions. We have seen that Labour backbenchers - through ideology and the knowledge of their voter base - will not support any reform of benefits.

We will arrive at a perfect storm of if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. No one will save for a pension, no one will want to earn above a certain amount, etc. You can only raid a piggy bank once before people learn not to put anything else in it.

They hire it. It’s not for the state to pick up every tab.

The money you save on welfare could go towards untra strict prisons.

Over time, when people realise this is the consequence, their behaviour would change.. (male and females would think carefully before having children)

What about introducing a lifetime maximum benefit cap. Introduce it to all 18 year old going forward.

This

Wonder how much money we could save as a country in this area!

Yes, the average family is going to be able to afford to pay for specialist 24 hour nursing care!

But this is another problem that our welfare system has led to imo… lots of people deciding to have loads of kids they can’t afford and staying unemployed (cyclical). Perhaps we need to encourage more contribution from the people in this country. I know many people around me whose attitude is “what can I get from the state?” It is extremely poor! We all need to be more responsible for ourselves.

*This post does not apply to honest individuals who are disabled or fall on hard times.

Where is the 50% figure from?
Do you need a bit of time to visit the loo to retrieve that figure?

The Motorbility scheme needs an overhaul. Nobody needs a BMW. Perfect example waste. It is greed over gratitude.

I knew someone who was a cleaner. She also has a second job at Sainsbury's. Did cleaning and did shop work.

Most times I've been to a coffee shop I've been served by students working part time. Even at the shops I've been served by the young-uns

Again. What money would an overhaul be saving exactly when PIP is the same amount no matter what car you get and if you don't get a car, you get the cash?

What car would you recommend that is big enough for wheelchairs, other mobility aids etc and is able to be adapted?

A lot of cleaners have multiple jobs because unless you work in a hospital or hotel, there are not enough hours for it to be a full time job.

The coffees shops were I live have a mixture of staff in. The staff that have been there for years are the middle aged ones.

The low paid jobs should not be seen as "entry level" or just something that young people/students/retired people do. Some people are not capable of more, and deserve to have enough to live on. Life is not a race to see who can earn the most. No one on their death bed regrets not working more.

Not everyone is capable of high paid work. I suffer depression/anxiety and work full time, just above minimum wage. I haven't the skills and confidence to do higher paid work and im in my 40s. Not currently on benefits due to some inheritance but...

I hate the mumsnet attitude of everyone can earn enough to not need any top ups. Neither of my parents had a career, both have been in mental hospitals in the past. If rent wasn't so extortionate, people wouldnt need to earn silly amounts to get but either.

How about nurseries? Should our children only be looked after students waiting to move on to what they actually want to do with their lives?

I'd much rather someone with experience choosing to do it despite the poor pay even if that means they also get UC.

Why can't they bring back the old pale blue three wheeled motobility cars?

What is your view on increased taxes and public spending?

Exactly.

The low paid work is still vital. No one should need top ups but we are where we are.
I hate the attitude on MN that seems to acknowledge that the low paid work is important, but you should not expect to live in anything other than poverty if that is the work you do.

There does not have to be just one crappy option but If you narrow options you often get better value.

'The habit of going out and doing work'? Hopefully you can confirm that you're talking specifically about genuine work-dodgers here as opposed to people who are doing their level best to find work and simply haven't been successful?

In any case, workfare isn't a solution. It would only cut down on the amount of actual paid work available and trap more people in the vicious circle of poverty.. Do you not think employers would be jumping for joy at the thought of cutting down their salary bills by palming part of them off on to the DWP? It would become the norm and then some people stuck in the poverty trap would be stuck in it for keeps.

They'd be useless to wheelchair users for a start.

Is this a joke? They were dangerous!

How would you fit a high backed fully electric wheelchair to go in one? Oh, and the hoist needed to get it in the car? And then a passenger to help the wheelchair user get in and out the car.

@Kirbert2 I don’t think people are complaining about those requiring adapted cars or needing to put a wheelchair in.

But I would say a) you must buy British, or at least one manufactured in a factory here and b) overhaul the entitlement. It needs to be much tighter - I know for an absolute fact two people with cars who do not have physical conditions.

Why do you want them to be? To make it even easier for people to stigmatise the disabled? They weren't safe ffs.

Have you ever considered using Google to broaden your general knowledge?

It would be done as part of a review of the whole system.

Do you think a BMW is the only car that is big enough for a wheelchair or mobility aids?

Out of curiosity what are these unique characteristics which are not available in an other brand of car than BMW?