Workfare scheme for loan parents of children as young as 3, as of next month.

[WaterLoadaCack]

kept that quiet didnt they

nor do multi-millionaires and billionaires actually NEED all the welfare payments they've had off the taxpayer over the last few years.

I'm still waiting for public details of the banks repayment schedule for their bailouts. At the time we were told these were temporary loans.

If I borrow £100 from wonga wonga, I have to pay it back with interest. Why don't the banksters have to repay the people of the UK?

The poor little possums haven't even had to endure reduced bonuses cos the taxpaying benefits bashers are just so happy to fund the champagne lifestyles of our betters. Those bonuses are paid for by the tax payer, but that's OK because they aren't single Mums.

Welfare for the elite, while the vulnerable are punished - that's the model we've moved to.

I can only assume that people don't understand how difficult the logistics can be when you have no money.

I do not believe in workfare for companies,the only ones who stand to gain are the large companies who no doubt are good Tory supporters .
The reason would seem to be to act as a deterrent to single parents who rely entirely on benefits.Is that fair. I don't know.I don't know whether it is fair that mother A works fulltime leaving her child in daycare tp support mother B in being at home with her child.Is that fair?
I think it workfare were for not-for -profit organisations , I could see a lot more benefit

'Welfare for the elite, while the vulnerable are punished - that's the model we've moved to'

well that's the conservative party for you! I don't know what people expected any different when they voted them in

Mother A doesn't support Mother B unless she is earning a lot of money.

And no, it's not fair that Mother B can't find work that allows her to use her local childcare. It's not fair that she has no chance to get back out and start earning a wage. It's not fair that she has to put up with people forever assuming she chooses not to work and assuming she needs deterrents to stop her claiming benefits. Mother A should be grateful she has the opportunity to work rather than lamenting that Mother B doesn't work.

Workfare takes minimum wage jobs.

Hence unemployment goes up.

Hence a surge in people claiming JSA.

Hence the new claimants being put on workfare.

And repeat.

This is just a not so crafty way for the government to massively undercut min. wage and create a giant underbelly of little more than slaves working to boost the profits of multimillion pound corporations. Utter bastards.

Out of interest the posters who agree with this how does a lone parent staying at home directly effect you?

I'm not a lp and I'm not benefits and in no way does this directly effect me the bedroom tax doesn't make my house any bigger or cheaper, not having the free nursery place from 2 doesn't mean my dd is any less developed etc.

Things like the cost of living and the dismantling of the nhs effects us all yet people are focusing on punishing those on benefits it makes no sense to me.

I know some people while cite taxes as how it effects them but does anyone genuinely believe if the welfare state was dismantled tomorrow taxes would go down?

Thank you op for this thread, I was completely oblivious to this change.

I feel sick about it and the stress and misery it will inevitably cause mothers and their dc.

I feel sick and ashamed that this is what this country is coming to. Punishing people for being vulnerable and in need.

As far as I can see the only possible strategy behind this is punitive, to deter people from becoming LPs and of course to pander to the disgusting DM gutter press and its cosseted readers. And if course to give more money to the rich who benefit from the businesses doing Workfare.

I'm a SAHM to 3dc, the youngest a 3 yr old. In a different scenario this would cause me and my dc serious problems. I'm supremely lucky that me and dh are pretty financially secure and dh earns enough for me not to have to juggle the horrors of school/PS runs and work with zero outside support.

We are benefitting from this fucked up economic system that somehow makes us rich while it keeps huge numbers of others scrabbling around to survive. I feel both lucky and guilty about this.

I bloody wish the conservatives and the hideous DM readers would get their heads out of their arses and realise they are just lucky and benefitting from a completely skewed system. Not that they are special and deserving while those disgusting benefit scroungers milk the system

Foreveronadiet- you arent a single parent though, are you? I recognise your user name and you have never been a single parent.

Im a single parent, I was married when i had my DD, my ex husband was a cheating, abusive arsehole. I found the strength to leave and thus was rewarded with stigma for being single, a lifetime of being skint and never being able to get out of that trap, loneliness and shouldering all the responsibility.
Nice, huh.

I work. I have always worked. I had a good career pre DD, but being on my own, i just cant manage it, so shoot me that im not superwoman. I dont have the support network and cant be a decent parent to DD, do everything i need to do in the house and hold down a big career job. Something had to give and since there werent really any other options, it was my job.

I now work in a shop. Its a nice shop, but its still a shop. I like it, it fits around DD and i can earn a pittance and try and still be a decent parent.

The logisitics when you are a lone parent are things that people cannot fathom if they havent experienced it. From comments on making a social life ' go out and join a club, or evening class', when you have no babysitter and cant afford one anyway, to times for childcare dropping off, picking up, trying to fit in clubs, homework etc etc. Unless you have done it, you have NO idea.

I work just shy of 23 hours a week. 25 hours a week is the point where my life unravels and i cant function.

theres the whole workfare is a pile of shit argument too, which has been gone into, and i couldnt agree more.

Pile of shit.

I cannot HATE the stigma more, it still makes me see red, and ive been on my own for years.

Volunteering and benefits:

Jobseekers Allowance

Claimants are required to notify the Job Centre that they are volunteering. This does not affect their eligibility for benefits provided they are available for and actively seeking work. Available for work means willing and able to attend a job interview or take up a job at once.

However the following exceptions apply for claimants with regard to volunteering:-

• People receiving Jobseekers Allowance have to be available to attend an employment interview or take up employment immediately, unless they are doing voluntary work in which case they have to be available on 48 hours' notice, and have to be available to take up a job on one week’s notice.

Actively seeking work
Volunteers in receipt of Jobseekers Allowance must also be able to show that they are complying with the steps to be taken to find work specified by JobCentrePlus.

In notifying the Job Centre, volunteers may wish to stress that they are doing unpaid voluntary work to avoid any misunderstanding or confusion (if necessary the organisation they are volunteering should be prepared to back this up in writing). Some people are under the impression that there is a limit on the number of hours a claimant can spend doing unpaid voluntary work. This is not the case; however a person volunteering full-time may find it hard to satisfy the Job Centre that they have enough time to be actively seeking work.

It is good practice to make volunteers aware that they are required to notify JobCentrePlus about their volunteering, as they may not realise this – however the requirement to do so is the responsibility of the volunteer.

Income Support
This is extra money to help lone parents on a low income or no income at all. People in receipt of Income Support do not have to be available for work and their benefits are not affected by unpaid voluntary work, however many hours they spend volunteering.

Employment & Support Allowance (ESA)
A person in receipt of this must be unable to work due to sickness or disability. Working would invalidate their claim to these benefits. However voluntary work is specifically exempted, and people on these benefits are fully entitled to volunteer. There is no longer a 16 hours rule (a limit of 16 hours per week on the amount of voluntary work someone on these benefits could do) – this was abolished in October 1998. Nor does volunteering need to be justified under the ‘permitted work’ rules (this replaced ‘therapeutic earnings’). However JobCentrePlus staff are sometimes unaware of or unclear about this.

Unpaid voluntary work does not affect any of these benefits.
• Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
• Attendance allowance
• Housing benefit
• Council Tax Support

When on single parent benefits, I received:

Income Support - £70 per week
Housing Benefit (full rent) - £100 per week
Council Tax Benefit - £23 ish per week
Tax Credits - £60 per week
Total - £253 per week

A non parent on minimum wage (£6.31 per hour) would have to work 40 hours to earn the same - not accounting for tax that would be deducted. I say non parent as a parent would have Tax Credits and Housing & Council Tax benefit on a sliding scale.

My friends really looking forward to this. She's a lone mum of 4. She is desperate to get back into the work place as she has good qualifications but has been at home for 6 years. However she is lacking confidence and thinks the 15 hours work experience is the perfect way to brush up on her skills. Getting paid childcare is the most important bit for her.

thinks the 15 hours work experience is the perfect way to brush up on her skills

Brush up what skills? Was floor-sweeping her previous occupation? Can she not practice at home?

She does realise that she will get no choice of placement under workfare and no reference, does she?

purplepoodle - your friend is of the group I feel most sorry for. Desperate for the reference that will unlock the door to an all important paid job, and keen to add value in some way to society. Sadly workfare won't offer a reference employers will accept so she's being duped.

The best she can hope for is to get out of the house for a few hours and hope her fellow workfarers are the sorts of kindred spirits with whom she can make a friend or two while she mops the floor.

'Out of interest the posters who agree with this how does a lone parent staying at home directly effect you?'

As far as I can tell they feel they 'had to work' when their child was 12 months so everyone else should. My hunch is that deep down they worry if they have done the right thing but if ALL mums were doing the same as them there would be nothing from them to compare with doing the opposite.

I am a SAHM, have a partner who works. I support lone parents being able to stay home until much older than 5. Maybe because I am happy with my choice and can empathise with others? I also support those helped into work/with childcare etc.

At the end of the day caring doesn't fit with this capitalist model we have. That's why people who care or can't work or on the scrapheap. We should be able to put kids needs first, not those of employers or huge companies.

This is about the taxpayer subsidising big business via Tory government policy, as if tax credits and tax avoidance weren't enough for them.

That is all it is about.

Foreverdiet if it's such a good idea , let your boss know about it.

You won't mind being made redundant would you ?

I'm tired of hearing about the benefits issue. It's a tiny fraction of what is spent on war and other stuff. The biggest scrounge are in parliament , and the company's who get free Labour and don't pay tax.Ffs we've got a government leader who's lied about his qualifications and other bullshit. He'd have been sacked in any other job.

There aren't enough jobs for everyone, that's nothing new. Offering free Labour to company's only makes the problem worse. Why on earth would you pay someone a full time wage when you don't have to ! As for all this zero hours contract , Ffs.

I think the government has done a fantastic job of rousing bad feeling about this. I can't believe people fall for it. Talk about social control.

jellybeans I'm in the same situation as you and completely agree with you.

I just find it really sad that some people like the dm think that making other people struggle/their lives more difficult in some way is going to make their lives better easier it won't- I just don't understand that mentality

poster sezamcgregor

And. The sodding rest

Milk tokens

50% discount on oyster (if in London)
50% lesuire pass (if in London )
£500 baby grant (if pregnant)
Free school meals
Uniform grant

Free dental
Free perceptions

We all have free perceptions

So what Fusedog? How does that affect you? Surely those big businesses taking all this money that could be spent on schools and hospitals is much more concerning?

Add message | Report | Message poster jellybeans Thu 03-Apr-14 11:35:32
I am in the same situation as you and I don't I stay at home because we can afford to it's a choice and I would not expect anyone to pay for me to do so

If you wouldn't go next door and ask them to pay for your food , housing ECt because you want to watch your children grow you should have the cheek to ask any one else

My be we should start a system were buy all the people who are happy for people to sit at home they pay and every one else could opt out

Oh dear fusedog seems rather

And why should people be forced into an inappropriate and useless workfare position purely because they are single? What about the feckless twats who leave their kids and never put their hand in their pocket for them?