About the Benefits program on BBC1

[bimbabirba]

It has made my blood boil! Especially that judgmental bitch, Debbie, who was telling the single parent that she shouldn't buy a whole chicken on tax payers' money to feed her children! Then she went all judgy and bitchy because the kids eat two cooked meals a day and she asked if that was really necessary!
I think the world has gone mad!

The uni grad really got my goat - he had no ESSENTIAL bills to cover (rent/food/fuel/etc), his family were helping pay for his luxury items - all whilst he was sneering at jobs he deemed 'beneath` his qualification!!!! GRRRRRR!

The single mum - at least she is actually cooking meals, rather than going to fast-food outlets! I'm sure Debbie would have found that worse.

The family receiving food parcels - i'm sorry, but if i found my family close to needing that kind of support, i would be selling/down sizing on items like cars/large tv's first!!!

You do realise, though, don't you that if you have any kind of health condition it's really, really hard to get a job? Employers don't want someone they perceive to be unreliable when they can go for someone healthy.

Thank you for saying that. I have been turned down for jobs and I think it is due to disability. One job I had a telephone interview, the feedback was that it was 90% positive.

I wasn't offered a face to face interview, and I saw the same job being advertised for 2 months afterwards.

Surely fitting 90% of what you want should be enough, especially if you have been looking for months and the applicant is willing to train up on the other 10%.

Debbie pissed me off too but then so did the lady she was paired with - how much money is she spending on the animals that she could use to spend on her kids instead?

I agree Liam needs a kick up the arse for his entitled attitude but then what do you expect with a family who pay for his lifestyle apart from the £300 he gets in benefits a month? 'Embarrassed' is the word he used when he said how he felt about working in a shop. No, he's the embarrassment.

Also, how the hell does someone graduate from a three year degree in the recent past here in the U.K with debt of £39,000?!

I was confused about the chicken thing? You can get a pack of chicken fillets for about the same as a whole chicken, which is better?

Otherwise I liked the program and would like to see more like it.

@ Southeastdweller

If you study something like medicine which is a 5 year course then £39k is not an unreasonable figure to find yourself in debt to. Three year engineering degrees are often more expensive fee wise due to the nature of the equipment required for teaching (wind tunnels, stress testing equipment, precision electronic/instrumentation etc). However, something poxy like a media studies degree requires little specialist equipment, I would say he probably pissed most of it up the wall.

Exactly what badguider said. People need to earn a living wage.

But, it's not just the big companies paying minimum wage. Small employers do it, too.

I know most people employed by cleaning companies make the minimum wage. Maybe slightly more for domestic cleaning, as they will then average minimum over a day of cleaning and travelling to houses.

Self employed independent cleaners tend to charge £10 or so, but that's not too much when you factor in holiday, no pension or sick leave, and the travel time and expense.

I aim for £15 per cleaning hour, but I have a lot of overhead for materials, insurance, travel, accounting, laundry, etc. I think I'm left with £12.50. But, that's for cleaning hour. I may clean 30 hours in a busy week, but there's other, unpaid work I do ranging from going to quote to sorting supplies. And travelling between clients. So, I probably make £10 an hour overall. And still no holidays, sick pay, or pension.

And some people think I'm ridiculous to charge so much.

Many cleaners are off the books, cash in hand. Not paying tax and often getting some benefits.

We all need to look at our own roles in this system.

Sorry, should have said I didn't understand how media graduates graduate with that much debt. Thanks Cu.

Southeastdweller

I don't really understand either, initially I was quite envious of the media studies and arts/humanities students as they only seemed to have about 5 hours a week of lectures where I was had to be uni everyday from 8.30 through to 6.30. Including overdrafts I was about £12k in debt when I finished.

i think someone like aturtle should be on one of these programmes
to make it clear its not just a case of lazy fuckers who can't be bothered to work

all the good point on here, are NEVER raised in these type of programmes

plus I like the idea, of a super scripmer patronising someone on mega bucks

This programme made me so furious I couldn't sleep for a good two hours after I turned it off!

The Debbie woman and her chicken fillets made me want to throw things. A pack of chicken breasts costs about £3.50 and has three or four pieces of (dry, tasteless) meat on it. Drumsticks are cheaper. Lentils are cheaper still. In terms of economising, I didn't really get her point at all.

It grated on me that the people in employment were so fixed on what 'other people get' and that it's 'snoffair'. Really, that's no way to live, and if you think like that you are going to be bitter and resentful.

Of course the people who can work should be taking steps to find a job, but quite simply there aren't the jobs out there, particularly if you have no qualifications, experience or if you have children to work round; and those that do exist are extremely poorly paid. Even the graduate guy, with his sneery attitude to menial jobs, didn't actually get offered anything, so that fact that he didn't want the jobs was immaterial.

Wrt the 39k of debt, tuition fees, student loans, he probably has an overdraft and credit card debts too (judging by his shoe collection). I suspect he was being a tiny bit disingenuous by stating all his debt was 'student debt' - I suspect it was 'debt run up when I was at college including the debt which paid for college.'

I suspect a large part of his entitled attitude came from his family rather than the welfare state - even if he got nothing I don't expect he'd be rushing to get a job in pound land as long as he could rely on his family for money. Little Prince syndrome in action there.

Interesting the BBC made a programme demonising those on benefits while it has just paid out £££ in severance payments to directors.

I know several people with dc back home after uni riddles with debt and unable to find work. I see my own ds in them 3 yrs down the road and could cry

Just watched this on iPlayer. Several things stand out:

Liam needs a kick up the arse.

I am so glad it was pointed out that only 10% of the total welfare bill goes on unemployment benefit.

I agree it is unfair that some people work full time to earn the same as someone not working. The answer is not to decrease benefits but to increase wages and lower housing costs but I wouldn't profess to know the economics of this.

The saddest part for me was Nick's face when the lady at the food bank explained how important toilet roll is.

Debbie clearly has no idea how to shop on a small budget and is very judgemental.

TVs x boxes and laptops are not an indicator of feckless benefits wallers. They were bought during better times.

Oh fgs, like Kelly was going to "boil the carcass" and make soup - she wouldn't know how to make soup unless someone opened a tin of Heinz in front of her!

As for Liam, his "volunteer" work involved him being a "role model". Some fucking role model.

I pity ALL of you who think that the majority of people on that show were blameless. Kelly is the epitome of feckless breeder who will pass on all her "skills" to her equally doomed children.

"Bought during better times". Yes, very possibly. And, in fact, how much would they actually raise? A few hundred quid, if that. That's this month sorted. What are you going to do next month when there's no TV to sell?

Luis 10% is extremely disingenuous because it does not allow for housing benefit, council tax credit, free school meals, free dental treatment, free x, y & z etc., etc.

Oh fgs, like Kelly was going to "boil the carcass" and make soup - she wouldn't know how to make soup unless someone opened a tin of Heinz in front of her!

How do you know that then? You been round for dinner?

The graduate guy possibly didn't get offered anything directly because of his sneery attitude to jobs that he deemed were beneath him.

Maybe if he improved his attitude then he would also improve his chances of getting a job.

It was clear from the programme that it is possible for many people to stay on unemployment benefits without making a huge effort to find work. Anyone who doesn't see a flaw in a system that allows that is deluded.

Even if people like him only amount to a tiny proportion of benefit recipients, it's still money that could be better spent elsewhere.

dayold lets hope life is always kind to you and you never find yourself in financial difficulty although I suspect you have it all worked out and would never claim benefits

Interesting dayold you only joined MN today

And strangely enough, people can do worthwhile and rewarding voluntary work at the same time as being in paid employment.

Yes but on the programme is was the JSA being discussed.

Graduates need to realise that having a degree is nothing out of the ordinary anymore. When I worked in a call centre about 10 years ago, I'd say 80% of people there had degrees.

We need to get back to the days when jobs only asked for applicants to have a degree if they need one for the role, eg, doctors, lawyers, engineers. In my parent's generation, teachers didn't need a degree. Are we really saying teaching standards are any better now?

Agree angelo I tried telling ds this but he wants a 3 year holiday i think