Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

"Benefits are a lifestyle choice for so many these days"

999 replies

Bellerina2 · 09/03/2015 11:31

I'm on the bus and two women behind me are having a long conversation about perceived benefit cheats and one of them just said the above phrase. WIBU to hit her over the head with a rolled up copy of the Guardian??

But seriously, it's so depressing that people think this. Well done to the government and likes of the Sun and Daily Mail for convincing people that those on benefits are leading some sort of charmed life Sad

OP posts:
graciepoole · 09/03/2015 22:10

No SGB, what actually happens when lazy arsed Brits refuse to do low paid work is that Labour open the doors to mass immigration as there are good, decent hardworking immigrants happy to do a day's work. We need more immigrants and less feckless, useless lazyarsed Brits busy producing more lazy arsed Brits to leech the system.

Suzannewithaplan · 09/03/2015 22:18

Rates of pay are far higher here, people from poorer countries want to work here because we are not a poor country.
Also it tends to be the most driven and entrepreneurial people who do emigrate to richer countries, I'm sure they have their fair share of 'lazy arses' back home!
?
Perhaps we should impoverish this country so that we can go and work hard for richer countries because it will be the only way we can better our lot?

Justanotherlurker · 09/03/2015 22:21

Ok think I've got cross purposes then Suzanne, I agree that it would be nice if the social good jobs paid more, Unfortunetly as unpalatable as it sounds, it's the middle class holding this back.

The 'non jobs' that can dissapear are generally held by the middle class and generally in the public sector, small state isn't popular thinking.

Arsenic · 09/03/2015 22:25

No SGB, what actually happens when lazy arsed Brits refuse to do low paid work is that Labour open the doors to mass immigration as there are good, decent hardworking immigrants happy to do a day's work. We need more immigrants and less feckless, useless lazyarsed Brits busy producing more lazy arsed Brits to leech the system.

Hardly Hmm

That wasn't New Labour's motivation at all.

revealall · 09/03/2015 22:34

It can be a choice between being desperately poor and being emotionally and physically knacked in low paid work or desperately poor and maligned for being on full benefits.
Both shit.

BishopBrennansArse · 09/03/2015 22:41

Or on benefits, emotionally and physically knacked (carers) and STILL shit on.

Suzannewithaplan · 09/03/2015 22:51

ah I'm with you Justanotherlurker

mrsfuzzy · 09/03/2015 23:31

coming in late , op the guardian is actually a left wing paper, really no better than the red top crap. as for the title, benefits should be cut if the takers aren't prepared to look for work, when i was working i paid my taxes and n.i, so should everyone else it's not acceptable to nurse maid the lay abouts who don't want to work. give it to those in need that actually need it.

Cariad007 · 09/03/2015 23:42

I think OP is well aware of the Guardian's political stance and was being facetious. Or that's how I interpreted it anyway. The Guardian has its failings to be sure, but it certainly can't compete with the red tops and Daily Mail and the campaigns of hatred they wage - IDS, The Sun and "Turn in a benefits cheat" anyone?

trufflehunterthebadger · 10/03/2015 00:17

My cousin's son has severe ADHD (so bad he attended a special boarding school), has the reading age of a 6-7 year old and some learning difficulties.

However he was pushed and pushed by my aunt (he lived with them from the age of 16) who would not tolerate someone in her house not going to work and "sitting on their backside, rotting" (a popular phrase in my maternal family for people who are not constantly busy).

He has managed to obtain and retain a job as a barista in a caffe nero for over a year.

trufflehunterthebadger · 10/03/2015 00:22

And we are very proud of him. His school wrote him off as incapable of doing anything. He certainly proved them wrong.

Arsenic · 10/03/2015 00:31

Good for him, that's lovely Smile

SolidGoldBrass · 10/03/2015 00:48

You may be proud of him, but is he happy? Or just relieved that he is no longer being relentlessly bullied by his relatives?

If he is happy and proud of himself then that's great, but I'm not wildly comfortable with what your post appears to imply, which is that people with learning difficulties just need to be bullied encouraged until they get a job. Some people in similar circumstances would be hugely distressed by being nagged and threatened with homelessness.

SolidGoldBrass · 10/03/2015 00:50

And there is no virtue whatsover in being relentlessly busy. Most people who are constantly busy are actually engaged in activities that are either pointless or which serve only to cause distress, annoyance or actual harm to other people.

HelenaDove · 10/03/2015 00:58

SolidGoldBrass Tue 10-Mar-15 00:48:22
You may be proud of him, but is he happy? Or just relieved that he is no longer being relentlessly bullied by his relatives?

Wonder what will happen if/when he is the one who will choose their nursing homes.

trufflehunterthebadger · 10/03/2015 01:32

He's very happy. He has found a partner with whom he lives independently and is really proud of himself.

I don't agree that it is wrong to "bully" your children into work. Most teenagers require a certain amount of pushing to get up and go to work. But we have a very strong work ethic in our family and choosing not t go to work simply would not be tolerated. I have been "between jobs" for one day of my adult life and my Mum nagged me mercilessly from the moment she discovered i had quit until i got another job. You may think that's unhealthy but we will have to agree to differ.

My cousins all have young adults as children, they all pushed them as hard as they could to get jobs as soon as they left school. They have all been promoted in their work and done well. None of them have any spectacular qualifixations or skills, they went to to ordinary schools and only one stayed at school past 16. But they all work very hard which is why they have done well, they turn up on time, are polite and prepared to do menial jobs. This has resulted in them al being very well regarded by their employers

Apparently there are no jobs for young people though

trufflehunterthebadger · 10/03/2015 01:38

being nagged and threatened with homelessness

SGB i do not appreciate you putting words into my mouth. At no point did i make any suggestion that my aunt threatened him with homelessness. It might make your post look a bit more dramatic but it is a complete misrepresentation of what i said.

HelenaDove · 10/03/2015 01:56

truffle you make it sound like young people dont want to work and need pushing.

From what ive seen that is not the case.

HelenaDove · 10/03/2015 01:58

What i mean is ive noticed that in the shops and cafes around here they are mostly staffed by young people.

Rebecca2014 · 10/03/2015 06:24

I am a single mum on benefits and yes it is such a lovely life! being judged etc. Even my own grandparents judge the amount of money I get and if I dare to get my hair done at the hairdressers.

The government are scum for targeting people who claim benefits, yes there are a small minority who choose not to work but they are few. They should be gong after the big boys who refuse to pay tax but no...easy vote winner to go after the poorest in society.

graciepoole · 10/03/2015 07:12

There is, without a doubt, a culture of entitlement that exists in some stratas.
People expect to make choices that remove their own responsibility for their ownlives and expct that others will provide.
Even on this thread I see that. I know several single parents. They all work. The two are not mutually exclusive though many who are single would have you belive so.

frankbough · 10/03/2015 08:10

The economy still has multiple issues, but the it's clear to see that the benefits system is subsiding businesses and it's one of the main reasons why wages are stagnant, tax credits and the like need to be phased out..

PtolemysNeedle · 10/03/2015 08:29

It's not just subsidising businesses though, the public sector employs a huge number of people. And if their wages have to go up as well, then that money has to be found through everyone who pays tax and those who buy the goods or services of these big companies. I have next to no understanding around economics, so I can't get my head around how the living wage would actually work.

I think it would be better to expand working tax credits as that has a chance of actually making work pay, provide heavily subsidised childcare and scrap all child related benefits completely. Make JSA a decent level so the single people without children aren't penalised and this with children have to look for work effectively but can still afford their children while they're temporarily unemployed.

BrendaBlackhead · 10/03/2015 08:43

My in-laws are in a dementia care home. The Matron was telling me that they are very short-staffed. This is a care home that pays well above minimum wage and they have good terms and conditions. Still the Matron said that it was very difficult to find employees and she reckoned that if they advertised jobs at £100 an hour she would still struggle to fill them.

This is in a town that has one of the highest incidents of teen pregnancy. I suppose if I were 17 I'd rather have a child and hang out with my mates than wipe old people's bottoms.

SunnyBaudelaire · 10/03/2015 08:44

"No SGB, what actually happens when lazy arsed Brits refuse to do low paid work is that Labour open the doors to mass immigration as there are good, decent hardworking immigrants happy to do a day's work. We need more immigrants and less feckless, useless lazyarsed Brits busy producing more lazy arsed Brits to leech the system."

yeh btw that is COMPLETE bollocks and is a pernicious lie that has been spread about by politicians and repeated by people incapable of independent thought. Funny how 'Brits' were not 'lazy arsed' 30 years ago isn't it?