if you voted for the Tories, you should feel personally responsible when you see homeless people on the streets ...

[aufaniae]

...once their policies start to bite.

They want to removing housing benefit for under 25s, many of whom have children. Just one of their policies which will drive people into homelessness.

I thought this was meant to be a civilised country. If the safety net is removed, many people including children will fall through it, some of them ending up on the streets.

How can anyone support that?

min they have planned for those eventualities so it would not have a significant impact. They ate mortgage free, have assets and substantial savings.

Thing is how short term is short term London?

More and more people are likely to be thrown into the sludge at the bottom of the jar. People can not afford to retrain, employers will not invest in training their staff. Osborne is proposing to scarp employee rights. Businesses are struggling because not enough people have enough money and there is no demand in the economy. History shows us that less and less workers are needed by capital. There are huge surpluses that are not being invested into job creation because businesses have gone into the markets instead and financification for easy money. This process is likely to continue.

Mini - indeed

If the mw was up to living standards, and the government MADE these companies pay a decent wage there wouldn't be a need for tax credits, but the government has never in my life time actually done anything about this problem which is at the root of everything.

You'd better have a word with Labour about that.

They encouraged the huge influx of low paid migrant workers to keep the minimum wage down.

But her husband earned more than the minimum wage, why shouldn't she have had a family?
Is it her fault she was entitled to housing benefit, tax credits and child benefit.
Surely that is the fault of the government!.

OK, this makes sense - so you feel (and I agree) that it's better to use family money than state?
What would you do with the money you received? Make investments that pay log-term dividends or similar?

Happy

Are you not worried about how all this could affect your family? Have you earned your money or born into it and have little intelligence.

Well unless you own your home outright I don't really see that you are providing too well for your dc, you could lose the lot when the shit really hits the fan. No debt at all, completely 100% secure? Part of me thinks you're not as I would expect more compassion from a financially secure person. Maybe you are jelous because you have too much to claim benefit and have to work to pay for a lavish lifestyle that you couldn't possibly leave behind.

Short term would be the period when you are actively seeking to change your circumstances.

Why are people emoting all over the place? heaven help us, you can't and won't get anything changed pouring over sob stories! what we need is to find a way of affording welfare.

In future years the welfare need is going to grow.....what can be done?

Something needs to be done with rising housing costs and the minimum wage needs to be increased to atleast £10 an hr to keep up with living standards of the times.

If this happened people would never need to rely on benefits would they?

DS does get CB. We had one child as thats what our wages can support. I could of had a second but no desire too and if anything changed in life supporting two children is much harder than supporting one.

I totally agree there should be a short term safety net but when people use benefits to either not work, to do bare min hours, to top up a "hobby" SE business or to have children they cannot afford then something needs to be done. Personal responsibility seems to have gone out if the window sadly for many people and they believe its their right to be paid by the state.

I dont get het up about people on £70k receiving child benefit, if they have worked that hard in life to be on that salary why shouldnt they? They pay enough in taxes to get a little back and their children are likely to have high aspirations and go on to be good contributors too.

"They encouraged the huge influx of low paid migrant workers to keep the minimum wage down."

Really?!

What racist bullshit!
And I think you'll find it was Labour who introduced the minimum wage.

Also, if you look at immigration into this country, immigrants actually benefit the economy. Generally, they come here, get jobs and pay taxes. Without them we would have much less money to spend on pensions etc.

Pink panties - no its not her fault, the system is corrupt and allows people like her to be irresponsible, however it doesn't force her to be, she still has choices. That is why some of us agree with changes to the system.

So happy, your child is a "that" in your words.....lovely!

I do struggle with that londone

The desire to be a mother is very strong sometimes....I only have one child and planned for him. I wanted to be a mother very badly and I struggle with the idea that only certain people with enough income can have children. That is just horrible....I would hate to live in a society where this was policy.

I would support the end of tax credits if people were paid a proper wage to ensure they did not need them....that is not going to happen anytime soon though and so we have the status quo. Most people having children will need some financial support from the state to help.

I think the use of "that" in that sentence was fine - she's talking about the cost of one child, not the child itself.

Ffs morethan it's jealous not jelous get a fucking dictionary

The thing is if londone philosophy became law, we would be like china where only one baby is allowed-any more are aborted or abandoned.

Not overly worried morethan. DH and I both work and its unlikely we would both lose our jobs at the same time and we have insurances in place for the mortgage etc.

I provide very well for my DS despite not being mortgage free, we are sensible with money and live within our means and dont make lifestyle choices that we cannot afford. Beng sensible matters to me.

I can assume you I am not jealous of those on benefits in any shape or form. If i was i'd quit work and let others pay for me but i dont believe anybody should support me bar me unless dire cirumstances.

Some economists would suggest that raising the minimum wage would cause inflation!

i dont believe anybody should support me bar me unless dire cirumstances

Thing is, some people are already in dire circs but they apparently don't matter because they are feckless breeders!

How does raising minimum wage cause inflation?
Genuine Q, btw. I'm trying to get to grips with economics atm.
Idiot's guide, please, Mini, if you're kind enough to answer.

Fairyjen

I am dyslexic but of course theres no excuse for bad spelling. Fairyjen get a fucking life. I have several PG certs and dips by the way. Perhaps you paid for them, oh and my mortgage which finished about 5 years ago.

Happymummy

I sort of imagined you would, can't say I'm surprised.

aufaniae

Housing Benefit is a safety net. The majority of people on benefits are NOT long-term claimants

What makes you think I was talking about housing benefit?

I didn't have just one benefit in mind when I wrote my post, but if I did, it would have been more likely that I was thinking about income support. I know that working people claim housing benefit, I don't have a problem with individuals that have to claim housing benefit or working tax credits (I have a problem that so much is needed but that's a different thread). My problem is more with people that are classed as 'economically inactive'.

So as you think that you should have been entitled to benefits when you were an under 25 then, I take it you agree that this policy is unjust then?

I think I should have been entitled to something. I don't think I should have been entitled to as much as I would have been able to claim at the time I had my first.

A sort term safety net is all very well but what if it needs to be long term. A disabled child for example?

I planned my family, one child as one child is what we could afford to have. I didn't count on autism, ADHD (which far too many folk think does not exist), dyspraxia, learning difficulties......

I didn't count on the exhaustion that caring for a child with these issues would cause. It is a full time job in itself..

I do agree with the poster who talked about the welfare bill growing. In my local area we have nearly 7% of the 16-19 year old cohort NEET...that IS a worry. Interestingly this figure did not come as a result of concern about the welfare bill but out of a concern regarding local education provision.

I am more concerned about people being left on the scrap heap of life than I am about families claiming tax credits. These are the people who will cost far more and whose lives will be far more miserable as a result. This is where money needs investing and where work needs to be done.