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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

David Cameron welfare reforms-no family will receive more than £25,000 a year.

748 replies

Hammy02 · 11/06/2011 16:12

Good idea? I think so. I can't believe a single family receives this much already in benefits. It is about the same as the average income so it would be ridiculous for any one family to have more in benefits than someone that works?

OP posts:
zukiecat · 13/06/2011 17:58

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Glitterknickaz · 13/06/2011 18:03

Err.... Rob..... Peachy has already answered your question in her 15.57 post.
I have three with SN.... what of it?

lynehamrose · 13/06/2011 18:06

I don't know why you're yelling peachy- surely the point is the same? If a working low waged person who receives hb is able to reside in an area which people on a higher wage but no benefits whatsoever would never be able to move to, how on earth can that be right? And I know not everyone on hb is living in wonderful areas , but some DO live in expensive houses in expensive areas - hence the uproar from some people about the caps.

zukiecat · 13/06/2011 18:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Riveninside · 13/06/2011 18:16

Once all the poor in london are 'cleansed', who will be left to do all those low paid jobs. Shop assistants, cleaners, bus drivers, nurses, etc. Many will be working and recieving HB for some crap but ridicuously ovwrpriced house.

Al0uiseG · 13/06/2011 18:19

Most London jobs have London Weighting applied. Which just about covers the cost of commuting.

lynehamrose · 13/06/2011 18:31

What about those in the 'middle paid jobs'? Many of us are in equally important jobs , but cant afford to live in the south east. Dh and I are both graduates. We work in reasonably well paid jobs. We could never in a million years afford to live in the south east. Or have the luxury of one of us being a sahp . It just seems daft that anyone on benefits (whether unemployed , or being topped up in a low paid job) can afford those things when we can't. I don't see how anyone can deny that! What is the incentive to work at getting a better paid job ( with the extra hours, work and responsibility that involves) if it doesn't make you any better off, or broaden your choices, in reality?

Riveninside · 13/06/2011 19:58

M waiting to see how the capital will function when all the low paid are forced out. Rubbish collection, cleaners etc

Riveninside · 13/06/2011 19:59

Papers today estimated working poor families will be £5k worse off in london.

mumblechum1 · 13/06/2011 20:18

I don't personally think it's a big deal not to afford to live where you grew up, nor is it particularly healthy in a non-character building sort of way.

DS won't be able to afford the £250k plus he'd need to buy a flat in our nearest town, but it would be a bit weird if he stayed living within 5 miles of where he spent his whole life anyway imo.

Al0uiseG · 13/06/2011 20:39

The employers in the capital will have to pay living wages, which they have been let off for the last decade because of tax credits! Tax credits have undermined employer responsibility for years now and it's left a bad taste in everyones mouth and our artificially inflated economy.

lynehamrose · 13/06/2011 20:49

Mumblechum- I am inclined to agree in many ways. I think it can be a very positive thing for people to move around rather than remain within a few miles of their birth. It can inject new life into communities as its often the incomers who make an effort to get involved.
My point really,was not so much that everyone should remain where they were born, but that it's ridiculous that some people claim it as some kind of divine right, and argue against moving away to find work etc , while others just get on and find work wherever it is, whether its convenient or not. One rule for one.....

mumblechum1 · 13/06/2011 20:51

Exactly. At one point we'd lived in 5 different counties in 7 years, moving around for dh's job promotions. Didn't do us any harm, and forced us to make the effort to make new friends.

xstitch · 13/06/2011 22:55

I don't have assured tenancy, after August I will be on a monthly rolling tenancy so may chucked on street at any time. Its not big, its 1 bed, I sleep in the living room. I don't live in London, anyway I am not allowed. I have a part time job because I took all I could get but it doesn't pay a living wage. I am not complaining I am just trying to dispel the notion that everyone on benefits is living in luxury in big assured tenancy houses in London, because they aren't. BTW I would love to live somewhere else other than where I grew up, I would have a better chance of employment. Trust me I did not chose to live here.

I have to say IME the benefits people treat you a lot worse if you have previously worked. I have found them to be very rude, eager to publicly humiliate you and absolutely look down their noses at you.

Gooseberrybushes · 13/06/2011 23:10

Small people with a lot of power over those they consider need to be brought down a peg or two, I'm sure. Despite the fact that they've been paying their wages.

Gooseberrybushes · 13/06/2011 23:12

I would love to see an end to the culture where contributors are loathed as sharp elbowed, selfish, prejudiced, judgemental, and everyone else is a victim.

lemonadescented · 13/06/2011 23:15

Not all of the lowest paid workers in London will be forced out to the suburbs. I live in London on a council estate and most of my neighbours do low paid work like the shop assistant and cleaning jobs. There is actually quite a high proportion of council/HA housing in London compared to other parts of the country - so there is enough of a low-paid workforce here. The rent in council flats is low so for most families, it won't reach the maximum cap, e.g. a 2 bed flat near Angel is about £83pw.

It's more likely to be the middle income workers who will be driven out, as they won't be eligible for social housing and the LHA on private rentals will be high due to the high cost of rent here. Keyworkers like nurses and teachers do get offered some good shared ownership flats though - my friend has a very pleasant affordable HA flat in Camden as she is a teacher.

Most of my friends who are non-keyworkers but with graduate jobs have to live in shared flats if they want to live centrally - even some married couples. Obviously not suitable for those with families - all the families I know here have either moved quite far out (zone 3 or beyond) or have had a council/HA/shared ownership home.

xstitch · 13/06/2011 23:15

'I would love to see an end to the culture where contributors are loathed as sharp elbowed, selfish, prejudiced, judgemental, and everyone else is a victim.'

I only think that of people who make nasty, judgemental comments.

Otherwise I envy people with full time jobs but I don't hate them.

Gooseberrybushes · 13/06/2011 23:24

Xstitch I know people have been unkind to you.

I feel as though one can't say anything about any abuse of the system with being called judgemental, cruel etc. Total taboo.

xstitch · 13/06/2011 23:27

The problem is people say phrases like 'benefits claimants are scum', benefit claimants are this, benefit claimants are that. They generally don't have the decency to differentiate between fraudsters, flaws in the system and the vast majority trying to do the best they can to get on in life.

buttonmoon78 · 13/06/2011 23:33

Ah now, we're not all like that Xstitch. Any more than all benefits claimants are scum.

We are all victims of media portrayals and at the mercy of the media for much of our information. Hence my surprise at what I learned as a 'sharp elbowed, selfish, prejudiced, judgemental' contributor('s wife) turned claimant 'scum'('s wife).

And, gooseberry that is also true - although I did have a good go at saying that earlier I daresay it was still offensive to some!

xstitch · 13/06/2011 23:36

Didn't say everyone. I was just trying to explain to gooseberry why I hate some of the people who feel the need to bad mouth me and others. I hate fraudsters as much as the next person but I also believe that they are in the minority. The fraudsters make life difficult for the genuine claimants just as much as the bad mouthers do.

TheFrogs · 13/06/2011 23:40

I'm a benefit claimant xstitch, the way i've been spoken to in jobcentres is appalling. I've worked ever since I left school but that matters not, I have suddenly become a lazy biatch since redundancy (must have been that taste of the high life on benefit). I'd normally never let anyone speak to me that way but if you say one (polite) word back at the jobcentre it's a big PV mark on the file.

xstitch · 13/06/2011 23:44

Yes the told me I lack flexibility, that was the politest thing they said to me Angry. So humiliating and I want to work. I also asked for help and advice on my CV, application letters to improve them and they told me if I was that thick I didn't deserve a job.

buttonmoon78 · 13/06/2011 23:49

No, I know you didn't. I was trying to be nice Smile

We were very fortunate - dh didn't stay on benefits for long. I truly feel for you if you're trapped on benefits. We were humiliated enough, yet we knew it was only for a short time. We knew it would never be forever.