To wonder how so many of you can know some lifelong dole scrounger when the official figures are so low?

[ValarMorghulis]

I am forever seeing ignorant rants posts on here from people who are appalled that Bob down the road has never worked a day in his life, that their relative is a career claimant or that Sue next door is knocking out child afyer child with different men and not one of them funding their children.

yet the statistics state, and there is no reason to believe them to be false, that the numbers of long term claimants ( 5 years or more) is actually 0.3%

This raises two questions for me.
Firstly, why are we all so convinced that half the world is a lazy feckless scrounger satisfied to sit back and have us taxpayers pay their way. It clearly isn't the case at all.
And secondly, if the numbers are so small how come they all manage to live within close proximity to a Mumsnetter?

I don't know about the first part of the question.

I think the answer to the seconds in the "six degrees of separation" theory, which can put us itw strangers from the other side of the globe in only six links. It's not surprising, looked at like that, that some MNetters will know some people in just about any category you can come up with.

because perhaps a greater proportion of those threads you mention are perhaps a leeetle bit of an exaggeration and only raised to keep the benefit bashing culture going, supporting the government in their fantastically ludicrous welfare 'reform's?

Because I work in an inner city Primary where more than 50% of the children take free school meals.
So I see it.
A lot.

But these posters all seem to know these people well enough to know intimate details of their finances.
So whilst i could accept the six degrees thing, it doesn't equate for knowing these "scroungers" as close as family in many cases

I was wondering if maybe at least some of these posters are maybe exaggerating or embellishing. Or maybe you know, lying to try and strengthen their arguments

x post tooearly. I think you may have hit the nail on the head

I'm always shocked by this. I don't know anyone who is.

Euphemi - exactly. People seem to think it is ok to demonise the unemployed/those who have to rely on benefits.

Since when is it better to defraud the government through greed than through desperation?

Euphemia agreed. Mostly I pity 'benefit scroungers' what empty lives they must lead. Tax avoidance makes me angry

Perhaps because stats can be skewed and if you are in education or signed off sick or on income support/raising a family you don't count as unemployed

Statistics can be manipulated to fit any argument :o

I would be very surprised if the figures quoted in the OP were correct. I've known plenty of career scroungers in my time, and h;ave several in my own family.

Lazy, irresponsible morons- the lot of them.

Tax avoidance is wrong and more should be done about it. However I do know some people who I went to school with who have never worked. I left school just over 20 hrs ago and I do feel sorry for them as their lives sound incredibly depressing.

5 years is an awfully long time to be unemployed.
Most statistics categorise this as 2 years of continuous claims. In which case the figure is closer to 4% iirc.

Link

ww crackfox, you are young

Oops bloody I phone

im preparing for a pasting but i personally know in real life the figure would be fairly high more than official

i personally know a few who claim single parents are not,on incapacity now esa who could work,people that sub let there paid for accomadation,people that are on DLA and shouldnt be,people that work while claiming,basically most of the categories

people will say well if you know so many you should tell but i wont,i just wont,i dont want to involve my self in that whether its right or wrong

maybe i just know a large amount and others no none so i suppose it could even out,cant really say any are living a fantastic life,and one lady is getting approx £25 a week for cleaning,shes bringing 2 kids up by herself,no maintance etc do i dislike her for that no way if it was to go on fab holidays and basically fast living maybe different

and yes im a single parent of three myself on benefits if thats at all relevant

It's the same as everyone knows someone who was going to be a professional footballer but had to give up, everyone knows someone who dated someone famous and any tragedy has people immediately claiming some tenuous association.
People like to feel 'in the know' even if it requires that they massively eggagerate their connection.

My most jaw dropping one was the person who told me 'i was actually in the twin towers you know. Only one year and thirteen days before they went down'

People want to sound involved even if they know Jack shit.

I actually do know Jack Shit

so yes i think offical figure are not correct

It would also depend on what benefit they are using to define that 0.3% as well.
I used to work for the jobcentre and would agree that figure is probably close to my experience of working with people on jsa. So does that figure include things like income support which is generally claimed for a longer term than jsa?
I always avoid posting on threads where people are complaining about her up the road but not because I think they are false just because I don't particularly want to get into threads like that. But I also read them and don't think they sound as far fetched as some posters think. I have actually distanced myself from someone who wad and probably still is living her life the way people on here describe and it did irk. We were very close at one point and I was intimately acquainted with her finances because she told me in detail and it was something I stopped wanting to hear about.

I've known someone for six years and she hasn't worked in all that time, well she worked but all "cash in hand" jobs, while claiming disability benefit.

How do I know this? Because she told me, so I believe her.

Have I reported her? No, because it's not like I've sen paperwork proving either one or the other true.

If it is true, I do think it's wrong but I'd be loathe to report anyone without hard evidence. And I don't take someone saying it as hard evidence.

I do -
I live in Glasgow and taught in an inner city school for 5
Years. I saw it on a daily basis. It was heartbreaking!

I have the impression that most comments mention people abusing the system. Not many have mentioned "lifelong" benefits abuse. I know 5 people who have worked, but at different times in their lifes decided to take time off and went on benefits. 2 of them are back to work now, but I do mention them when there is a thread about benefits. I don't call them "lifelong scroungers" because they are not.