To think every SAHM, low hour PT worker and carer should read this?

[Peachy]

Well i am not but it matters to you so you must

here

Changes to system WRT worker hours

have a thread in chat and don;t want a debate, or at least won't participate iun one as petrified as we will now certianly lose our home and not up to taking flak. But if it affects you, you need to know.

If you know 100% that your 'lazy, benefit dependant relatives' are not as disabled as they are claiming (rather than just not telling you 100% of the information about their condition), then why don't you report them to the benefit fraud hotline?

How on earth will failing their ATOSsers medical help them to improve their life? If they have a drug or alcohol problem - who is going to employ them? While I don't necessarily believe that drug addicts or alcoholics should be getting disability benefits (I believe that they should be given Income Support at the basic level, and the extra money given to them should be kept and put into rehab programs for them), they aren't going to be ABLE to get a job whilst in the grip of an active addiction, are they?

Especially not if someone like me who WANTS to work cannot find sensible employment.

Also, as an aside - what is TRULY preventing Lone parents from getting work is ZERO-HOURS CONTRACTS, and employers insisting on Weekend working (no childcare). Zero-hours contracts in low-paid jobs are impossible to take on when you have bills to pay, as if you only get offered 5 hrs one week - £30.45 won't let you pay your rent, let alone anything else. Lone parents need FIXED HOURS contracts, the ability to opt out of weekend working, set shifts (childcare has to be booked), finish times that leave you ABLE to pick your dc up from childcare before 6pm, as that's when all childcare ends. And a lot of Lone Parents can't work weekends due to the simple fact that there is no childcare available.

sadly I think most of us will know at least some "undeserving poor", my neighbour laughed at me when I told her I earn NMW, she said she wouldn't get out of bed for that, it wasn't worth her while...... she was playing the system, claiming benefits as a single mum whilst her partner who lives with her and works for cash on the side, claims that he lives with his mum...... they had more disposable income than me and dh.

but whilst that sort of set up needs dealt with by the government, taking help away from real single parents and parents with disabled children is not on, too many people are loading everyone who doesn't work in the same boat, not realising some people could work but choose not to, whilst others can't work as they have caring responsibilities (even though probably getting a few hours out the house at a job with adult conversation would do them the world of good, sadly they have absolutely no choice in the matter).

Hunty - Dad could use his arms or legs, sit up or feed himself or use a toilet. i dont think even ATOS is that strict!

DP's bro is on IB but sits with his doley mates smoking dope & drinking.
DP's uncles has 'MH' issues which only occur when he does not get his own way & mysteriously stop if they have no effect.

my understanding of the new changes it they will 'take account of personal circumstances'. do you think that is bullshit?

(i think i might have just asked is the pope catholic)

a general question: my understanding of ATOS: the initial process is just box ticking by staff not medically trained.

so initial verdict can obviously be unfair. but i understood that if you appeal, most people get the outcome they want.

so doesn that make it fair after the appeal stage? or am i missing something?

Most DEFINATELY bullshit, I am afraid, Tilly.

Otherwise, the fact that I have at least 50+ seizures a year, which makes it hard for me to KEEP paid employment, would make a difference. Or the fact that two of my dc have asd, and I have a 13yo who is not able to be left at home alone would make a difference. Which it doesn't.

And you'd be surprised at just HOW strict ATOSsers are. My friend has an 18yo who has just failed an ATOSsers test. Her 18yo has severe autism, is non-verbal, cannot wipe their own bottom properly. Yet ATOSsers have deemed him fit for FT work as he can bend down to pick up a pencil, and he can walk a prescribed distance. (She is appealing, but it means that he is not entitled to ESA for now).

TheRealTillyMinto the trouble with threads like these is they bring out some vile posters, those vile posters make people very defensive, so we look like we lack empathy. the reality is that we don't , but we are so busy fighting our own corner it looks that way,
Chrohns is an awful thing to deal with.
my dh has a condition, not going into it on here, but it does mean that he can't do a lot of the caring for dd.

You are missing the fact that while you appeal, you are left with NO INCOME. And due to the backlog of appeals caused by ATOSsers stating that so many people are fit for FT work that obviously aren't - appeals can take 6 months plus to actually BE heard. In the meantime, you are ineligible to claim ANY other benefits - if you are claiming that you are unfit for FT work, you are not eligible to claim JSA as you cannot be seeking work if you are unfit for work. And you do not meet the conditions for Income Support either.

What are these people meant to eat while they are waiting 6 months plus for their appeals to be heard?

And THAT is why some of us who are going to be severely affected by the changes to the Welfare system are SO scared.

so will dd have to do ATOS? she has HR DLA ( indefinite award)
if so that is daft

i hear what you are saying about income during the appeals process.

Unfortunately, the indefinate awards only run until dc turn 18yo. Then they will be subject to the same rules as any other adult claiming DLA, and all new awards for adult DLA and ESA since July 2010 have not been indefinate - they have been two year awards only.

This kind of thing makes me scared for my DS's future. Thats why I am squirreling away what I can for him now incase he needs it in the future.

The other problem is the stress the appeals cause. Many people suffer from conditions made worse by stress.

Oh yes, my friend has also lost her Carers allowance, despite the fact that she is still caring FT for her DS. Because if he is fit to work FT, then she is not a Carer. .

Also - if you are disabled (like me) but ALSO caring for someone disabled - you cannot claim the disability premium of the new Universal Credit as well as the Carer's part. So the Government are still discriminating against disabled carers, even though we were assured that this was a loophole that would be changed under Universal Credit.

?if you are providing care for at least 35 hours per week for a severely disabled person (carers element). If you have a disability but are also caring for someone who is disabled you will not be allowed to get both the disability and carer additions. You will only be allowed to receive one addition. If you have a partner and you have a disability he or she can get a carer addition/element for looking after you and you could get a disability addition (and vice versa if your partner has a disability and you are providing care).

This quote is from Disability Alliance. I have a feeling this could be challenged as discriminatory against disabled people - by saying basically that someone with a disability is not allowed to also be a carer.

It especially discriminates against disabled Lone Parents who are also caring for a disabled child (or two, in my case).

Because we do not fit the Government's neat little tick boxes, we don't exist. And if we don't exist, we can't be paid any extra money in respect of our caring needs, can we?

And YES, my epilepsy, and a whole host of other conditions (MH and ASD problems just for a start) ARE made much worse by stress. And how is knowing that it could be 6 months plus before you have ANY income possibly be anything other than stressful.

Can I knock a piece of phrasing on the head here?

People are referring to group X or Y being "forced into fulltime work".

The government does not have the power to "force us into fulltime work" because ? despite some ministers' opinions of themselves ? it does not have the power to say "take up your bed and walk."

The only power the government has is to make us very, very poor during our inability to work.

surely though no pen pusher will ever say dd is fit for work, she has severe cp, can't walk talk or do anything much, so how will she work?

My father, from the age of 75, was my mother's main carer (with agency help twice a day). Because of his age he was not allowed to claim Carer's Allowance.

I would like to do more work from home (severely disabled teenager who doesn't sleep and doesn't have equal access to childcare, excludes me from full-time work. Lecture me not - I am EXHAUSTED i tell you!!!!!)

However, the above jobs don't really look very realistic. Photographer for instance - not just a job one slips into without a) expensive equipment, b) experience c) contacts d) the ability to travel to places to take photos.

Any work from home requiring minimal experience and low costs (minimum wage absolutely acceptable to me)? All I can think of is telephone sex lines!!

Bakelite - Been there, done that

What could schools do differently to help families with disablities during the transition to UC?

(DP is a HT of a primary school so i will pass any comments onto him)

Costs of school trips for one - the parents may be having to get used to living on a much lower budget than before, and they may not have the money to fund school trips (especially the big residential trips that schools often do at the End of Y6).

Secondhand school uniform being available - would be a BIG help, given the prices of school uniform. Not penalising dc that turn up in trainers instead of school shoes if they have outgrown their school shoes and their parents can only afford ONE pair of shoes to start with in a new size.

More NOTICE of school trips, photographs, and anything that will be difficult to pay for - so that they have enough time to budget for them and save up for them. At LEAST 5 weeks notice - so that the notice doesn't come just after they have paid out their monthly money (Income support is fortnightly, UC will be paid monthly). Also bearing with people that may need extra help to GET their dc to school (especially if, like me, they live a bus journey away from the school, but not quite far enough to get free transport) - when they first change over, they will have to make TWO WEEKS INCOME SUPPORT LAST FOUR WEEKS.

Added to which - I have just realised that I will have to make ONE WEEK'S CTC last FOUR WEEKS. How is that even possible? I am now wondering what is in place so people don't STARVE while they are trying to make one week's CTC last four weeks? Will we be allowed a 'bridging' social fund loan like we were when they changed IS from weekly to fortnightly? Or is there no plans for this? I wonder where I can find that information?