To be scared of getting a job in case I'm worse off?

[BenefitScrounger]

NC and prepared for a flaming.

I've been claiming JSA for over two years now and am on the Work Programme. I have no qualifications and all I could get (I think) is a minimum wage job. I have been lying about my attempts to get work because I think I am better off out of work.

At the moment I get full housing benefit plus council tax, free dental care/prescriptions (if I need them) and £71 a week to live on. My bills aren't covered obviously, but they're not huge, and I have lots of free time to indulge hobbies etc.. I don't feel the need to buy stuff very often as I'm not into fashion/beauty and I eat cheaply. I can afford to eat out once a week with a TasteCard. The only thing I miss is holidays abroad but I'm not sure I would be able to afford them if I got a job anyway.

If I got a full time minimum wage job, would I be worse off? Just thinking of travel expenses, student loan repayment and time lost - not sure if I would still get any council tax benefit?

Has anyone had experience of this? By the way, I'm childless and live alone.

Yeah the operative phrase being "in return for our taxes" of which you're paying minimal amounts while those who do work, and pay significant levels of tax, fund your lifestyle. There's no reason why you can't get yourself out to work, if you choose not to I would suggest you're in breach of your "contract" with the government and they should withdraw their protection from the harsh financial realities of life and pull your benefits.

Thanks to above posters.

BenefitScrounger, the phrase 'society owes you' is fatuous and meaningless. MEANINGLESS. Who is the person called 'society'? It is just bleating mindless noise, a pointless cliched phrase that you can trot out and feel smug that you aren't 'part of the system'. Well guess what. If you want to opt out of the 'system' there are plenty of ways to do it. Go and live in a croft somewhere, grow your own food and take nothing from the state. Barter with your neighbours. People do it! They are the real people opting out, not you. What you want is to sit in a nice flat in London, get to have a self indulgent life, enjoy meals out and not have to put anything back towards the 'society' that is bankrolling your lifestyle currently.

As for why someone should work instead of claiming benefits even if you're not better off- because it doesn't matter what it is, there are a lot of minimum wage jobs that can be made into a lot of fun, and it will give you some self respect. I have a NMW job at the moment among others and I LOVE IT.

And before you say that you have self respect, I would say that you might well do but you've got no self awareness or understanding of others' motives which IMO makes you the worst person EVER to be a rape counsellor.

Pride is not an issue; my morals are my business.

The only way I feel poor is not being able to holiday abroad - but I can holiday here because I have friends in seaside locations that put me up.

Other than that, I don't see how I could spend 10 pounds every day.

Applauds clown

OP, How much does it cost for you to stay with your friends? How much do you contribute when you stay?

You could spend ten pounds a day in electricity, gas, water and food if you paid for it yourself. But you don't.

What do you eat?

Who bought your computer? Was it free?

Are all your clothes free?

How do you travel to your seaside friends, do you walk?

If you paid for it, I am paying for it.
If your friends paid for it you are a massive scrounger from your friends also.

uncharted I love that pic!!
I will share my experience (bare in mind it was 16/17 years ago though)
I was in college doing my a levels & for some stupid reason moved out of my parents house (i love them a lot and we get on very well) anyway whilst at college I was getting my hb & council tax paid for me plus an extra £40+ a week to live off. After completing the first year of my a levels I took a part time evening job in a pub which ment I earned £30 ish a week so my money was cut and I was actually out of pocket. I still got hb & council tax paid.
after finishing my qualifications I took a very low paid job £20 a day full time and lost all my hb & council tax money. I continued to work in the pub also. so I was getting £130 a week to pay all my bills, food, rent etc at the grand age of 19. & although skint I was so much happier not claiming state benefits.
better or worse off you should work if you can. benefits are for people who can't not for those who choose not to. hth

"But I don't NEED a job! I don't buy things."

You - or someone close to you - bought the computer on which you're reading this. Of course you buy things. And if you don't want to work for some profit-hungry corporation, work for the NHS or a charity etc. Make a difference to people's lives.

My DP can't work right now. He'd love to work. He wants to work so much. But he needs the support of society to live. He is quadriplegic and bedbound. He can't participate in the way he would like, but he's working on it.

And these threads? What you're saying? This is what people put on him. This what people say to us, think about us. They look at us and they see you.

There's a lot wrong with that, and I get that they are manipulated into it by the media and so on. Are you doing that? Are you winding up these people, dancing the puppet of the remorseless taker in front of them?

If you are doing that, you have blood on your hands.

No, I get my self-respect from my art and my vol work. It's a moot point, the counselling, so just as well if I'd be crap.

No one gives a toss about your 'art'. There's no self respect in sitting at home doing your 'art' with materials I and other members of this forum have in theory bought for you!

Because if you get a job and don't claim benefits you are not using taxes which could e used to fund schools, hospitals and help the rest of society.

You are part of a community and as such you should contributes it. You might not be personally much better off. But you will not be taking something that is needed by someone else.

Because the benefits system is supposed to be for people in need not people wo just don't fancy working.

I don't think I am to blame for people's perception of benefit scroungers; no one's interviewed me, and I've never actually met anyone like me who claims JSA. Most people don't know I claim unless they ask, and they're not usually judgmental.

When I go to friends I don't spend any more than usual; I buy them a bottle of wine, cook for them, do some art and music nearby (I like organising spontaneous choirs and such). Still doesn't cost more than a tenner a day.

You don't buy wine, we do. We buy everything for you. Go and get a job.

You are playing a dangerous game.
If the governments are as bad as you say,and the economic climate goes belly up,why would anybody employ you in a bar job.
To put it bluntly,you would almost without doubt,be at the bottom of an employers cv pile.
Unless you have relatives or friends who would employ you in that way,and even then,im not sure they would be in any hurry.

Hmm, I'm not sure I am taking money from people who need it. I think that will be very rich people.

I get 71 a week for bills, food - well, everything except rent. I don't believe I am culpable for the recent cuts in benefits.

You're doing it here. All these people are real. This is a real conversation that is happening in the world.

You are right, you are only to blame for your own actions. But your actions have weight, have consequences.

Everything is real. This is not a game. There are no second lives.

I'll just barter if it comes to it. I sort of do anyway, ie people give me stuff in return for art.

barter in return for rent??

But you are because you are taking money out of my pocket. We work hard and pay tax. Some of that tax goes to people like you. If I didn't pay as much tax I would be able to save more. Id then be we to spend more time on maternity leave. But as it is I can only have four months with my first child.

I'm not saying you are to blame for the cuts. But taking money when you are capable of work and are lying is immoral. And because you do there is less money in the budget for people in genuine need.

But go, drink your wine, use your computer, and convince yourself where is nothing wrong with what you are doing. That is is a victimless crime. It isn't. The rest of us are your victim.

Please there is a dozy sod sat at home on its laptop giggling like a pixie at the ire caused by the deliberately goading pronouncements they are making.

There is not an ounce of truth in these statements and it is just a wind up designed to get people to rant about benefit claimants.

OP if you are what you say my name is Leslie Crowther.

Only read the OP but I'm sure you've been suitably flamed.

Just wanted to say that I was a SAHM for 9 years and was sure I was happy with the situation and didn't want to work. In reality I was scared of change.

Cirmumstances altered and DH was earning less. I started working in my current job 3 years ago, and I love it. Soooo much happier, more self esteem, enjoying earning both money, and the respect of colleagues and employers. Small things like getting dressed in smart clothes and wearing make up every day, taking pride in my work and finding my sense of ambition have definitely enhanced my life.

It's really worth a go.
Not for the wage, but the sense of self worth, which has turned out to be priceless.

Oh I really don't want to get into this thread but you must realise it's not just your benefit? Who do you think pays for your rubbish collection, your roads, your doctors appointments, your hospital care when you get old? It's all part of the deal.

Good, stop claiming and barter. Sell your work if you can and become a well paid artist. Stop expecting me to pay for your lifestyle.