To expect people on benefits not to be tricked out of their money

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Sorry for pinching the headline from this piece in the newspaper but couldn't think of a better way to put it.
here

I work with the unemployed and have seen so many cases of utter hopelessness brought about by this target (if indeed it is a target).

Once Job-seekers stops ,even for just one week,then the knock-on effect with regard to housing benefit ,council tax benefit etc is huge.

This is such a disgrace but no-one will o anything about it because ,somehow, the unemployed must deserve it.

But those who sit in judgement should know that any of the people I work with were once (and sincerely hope to be again) middle management types who lost out in the redundancy stakes.

It could be you next.That is the scary thing.

My mate was on JSA. She received a letter for a job interview at the same time as she was due to sign on. She went into the JobCentre, showed them the letter, went to the interview.

You guessed it! They cut her off.

She's single and had nothing to live on pay her private rent. Thankfully, a mate loaned her some money.

She had to get in touch with her MP to get things started again so she didn't get evicted.

Thankfully, she was only on JSA for 9 months, 6 of those on contribution-based, and is now doing agency work steadily and has a boyfriend with a good job who can pay the rent.

The way people with learning disabilites make easy targets is exactly scenarios like Bonkerz's BIL.

Furthermore, there are increasing numbers of people in their 50s being made redundant, a lot of whom have limited or no qualifications (from the days when you could actually get a decent job after leaving school) and/or have undiagnosed learning disabilities.

People who've never had to claim before and don't understand the system or who aren't good at filling out forms and don't know there are charities available to help them with the paperwork.

I just feel really troubled about the welfare/scrounger mind set that you hear and see printed in the Daily Mail.

For instance, the welfare rules are changing so rapidly in regard to lone parents.

Let us take fictional Tracy from Darlington, she had her 1st kid at 16, has 4 more kids. She has been let down by their fathers, more importantly her kids have been let down. Alright, she shouldn't have had more kids, but they do exist and someone has to look after them. And, the kids have no real Dads, only their Mum.

She has no education and the area she lives in has no jobs. Her kids are better off if she is left with what little resources she has to look after them.

She can save them from care, prison, un-met special educational needs if the state acknowledges that she is the best person to devote herself to her kids and the running of her house.

Maybe that is all she can do, but the bill to the "tax payer" could be so much higher if Tracy is at Tescos stacking shelves and isn't around to oversee her kids' welfare on a rough estate.

I just think it's all short term and short sighted.

People who can work, do work sooner or later.

Also, the defence bill and foreign aid bill is massively higher than the welfare bill. I grew up abroad and did actually see people lying in the street with begging bowls (and I don't mean "recreational beggars" (FFS)).

[I doubt they are all lying! But I doubt they are all telling the truth either.]

And that is the scary thing .You are not alone jade80 with those doubts and each person hit by a sanction,warranted or not,has to cope with similar doubts from the general public too.
But even if they appeal and the appeal is upheld i.e they really did no wrong, the effects of each sanction is frighteningly widespread.

I sincerely hope you and yours are in secure employment and will never feel the affect of this policy.

It's because people are stupid enough to fall for right-wing propoganda, Whatever. They buy into this 'the scrounger is the bad guy', the one you can see, not Big Business or fat cats safe behind gates in their mansions. It's classic, unoriginal wag-the-dog BS and plenty of people are misguided and ignorant enough to fall for it.

'Those who do not learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.'

Jade - "Learning disabled- I did notice mention of dyslexia in the article, but I fail to see how this makes someone an 'easy target'. If they are aware of an appointment and don't turn up, how is that in any way linked to their difficulty?"

I've seen dyslexic customers given written job searches, and when they don't produce them ? what a surprise ? they're sanctioned

That's why. They're being given targets which are harder for people with that particular disability to meet.

Also, people with dyslexia/dyspraxia/dyscalculia etc tend to have organisational problems (I have dyspraxia) so they're also more likely to forget an appointment. People with conditions like fibromyalgia and lupus, any conditions which cause fibro fog, are also more likely to forget an appointment.

I know someone who got in to trouble for not applying for unsuitable jobs - she has fibromyalgia like me, like me she also struggles to stand for more than about 10-15 minutes at a time without being at risk of collapse, severe pain or the need for a lie down. How is she supposed to be a barmaid!? She had to miss an appointment one day as she was bedbound... with fluctuating conditions like fibro you never know which days you can get out of bed and which you can't until you wake up.

I'm a single mum on Jsa at the moment, I worry all the time about finding a job as was a sahm for many years as my ex earned enough and wanted it that way,

He left 2 years ago, not seen or heard from him since, Left me and the 2 kids in a right mess. I find as I havn't been in the job market for quite a while my options are very limited, Most of the time when I sign on and they do a job search they send me away with nothing, I do my own searches at home and have applied for many jobs but with no success,

The few times they have found something that maybe suitable for me and printed me out the details, saying I have to apply as they check up ect, I have followed it up as soon as I got home only to find the job had be taken and I had to virtually beg the company to make note of my name before they hung up the phone on me as I am so worried about the job centre checking up and not thinking I bothered,

sorry - this is exactly what I mean. Your ex has pissed off and left you with the kids, they are probably shell shocked and you probably are too. They need you at home. You probably look after the house nicely, help them with their school stuff and feed them well. They have lost one parent and probably need some lee-way and to have you to rely on. You may be a bit depressed at being left but can run the house and look after the kids.

But, on top of that, you are scared about JSA.

I don't think it's good long term financial sense.

You will find work, at some point, when you feel able. Or when you find it.

You don't need the Gestapo giving you a nervous breakdown in the mean time.

This is absolutely disgusting. Using people's vulnerabilities in order to meet benefits targets (if only for a few weeks) proves that this government couldn't care less about the poor. Real savings are not being made as appeal often means that the benefits are re-instated, but greater poverty and distress are caused to those with the least resources to deal with them.

Benefits Agency Workers, I urge you not to do this. Do not sacrifice your principles and ethics for the sake of targets, not savings.

If your post was directed at me whatever17 then you are spot on. At the moment I rely on housing and council tax benifit to keep a roof over our heads,

I do struggle with the normal bills but I have sorted out payment plans with gas/electric/water A few weeks without the £60 a week they pay me I could prob manage without, my freezer is full so we wouldn't starve but its the rent that really worries me,

I also have a catolouge bill that he put alot on which I have to pay back, I just worry every time I go to the jobcentre that they will find some reson not to pay me, although I must admit i have had a advisor regularly for the the last 3 months who is very nice and does seem to understand about me having kids and the public transport around here, (no buses before 7am) so doesn't put me forward for jobs before at least 7.30 (thats in town) any further then starting time would be later.

I feel that the only "boom-industry" at the moment is in policing these welfare targets.

sorrytosay - yes, my post was aimed at you. Don't forget that on top of the £60 you should also get Child tax credit of about £50 or £60. Which should make it the same amount as income support.

I would say don't pay any secondary debt - ie catalogue etc.

Only pay primary debts like gas, electric, rent - stuff you need to live. And strike deals with them if you need to.

If you have been left in the shit financially by the ex - go bankrupt. It is the best days work I ever did. He left me £20k in the shit and I owned nothing and (praise God) had a council house and was on income support. I filed a bankruptcy order for £300 and was free of all credit cards etc (which he ran up in my name).

Sorrytosay - my point is, you are probably doing a really good job with your kids and the house that they live in and feeding them well and maybe that is all you are capable of right now. I am sure you will work when you are ready, and when your kids are ready.

Maybe your kids are well looked after and saving the state a fortune that they would have to pay if their mum collapsed.

Ahh thankyou |whatever I Thankfully am not in that much debt, Housing Assotiation house in my name, catolouge is mine so my responsibilty, As are household bills, I guess I wanted it that way as we wasn't married and I felt more in control.

I had water, gas and elec bills come in at the same time and really panicked as it was nearly a grand but called them and sorted a weekly payment thing, still behind with the catalouge but hope to get up to date next week as that is my jsa week, all going well, My mum has offered to help but tbh I would rather try to do it without them and if it comes to a point when I can't do it then I won't feel so bad about asking for help iyswim

I am trying to find a job that is fairly local cos of kids, They are both in school full time, but there is just nothing, the local supermarkets just dont seem to ever put anything on their sites although I know jobs are being taken by family members of staff, my dd is in year 11 and many of her friends have landed pt jobs as soon as they have their national insuance number in the local Asda and Sainsburys,

These jobs havnt been advertised on their job sites, I check all of them at least twicw a day.

why should tax payers money pay for catalogue bills??? thats a luxury not a nessesity, thats why tht country is so much in debt

BabbyEdensMummy, read the post. Her Ex left her and left his debts with her. Also, many people on benefits use catalogues to clothe their children. It's more expensive but the cost is made more managable as it is spread.

sorry my fault i didnt read whole thread of your circumstances

babyedensmummy

read the thread!

oops cross posts.
apologies

but i work hard and dont get benefits but still have to clothe my child, there are places like primark and asda for cheaper clothes rather than catalogues

Babby My catalogue bills were made while I was with my ex, He worked full time and we didn't claim any benefits apart from cb, he left 2 years ago and left me with the catalogue debt,

I still have to repay it whether i am working or not,

lets not talk avbout catalogues - it is not important.

it is the jobseekers allowance, and cutting of it that is the issue

the catalouge was used for big items like a fridge freezer and a cooker, not for clothes

no sorry sorry to say ive been there i wasnt refering to that, i apoligised when i actually read that its was your dh,,,, i was just replying to dione about coment of catalogues to clothe children

I am a regular in primark lol

Sorrytosay - my DS2 is in Year 6 about to go into Year 7 at a specialist dyslexia school. I am trying to set up my own business which I will be able to do around DS2's SEN and my depression (caused by trying hard to cope alone since the ex pissed off).

I know that I have really, really put in a lot of effort into raising my kids and they will become useful members of society. I have run the house on a good budget and fed them well.

I think that people like us who are raising our kids well SAVE the "tax-payers" money. I have paid tax, I will again and my father, my grandfather and my kids' father has too.

Primark is ace! DS2 goes through about 1 pair of trackies (wears for school) a fortnight. Thank God for Primark.