Relative almost proud to "have to" claim benefits

[tellmeimbeingunreasonable]

Ok, so please tell me i am being unreasonable if i am!
I have 6 children, relative has less.
I work part-time, dh 50hrs plus a week
She doesnt work through choice - her exh gives her money as and when she asks
I have one child who is disabled
She has 2 children who work full-time (others still at school)

Went to a party other day and I heard her saying without any apparent "I cant get a job as i would lose my benefits and be worse off".
This makes me so . I thought benefits were for those who cant work, not for those who wont work.
I heard a while ago that the government were going to bring in something that stops able to work parents of over 10 year olds from claiming benefits, but cant find any info about it now.
Has really made me annoyed this!
So AIBU?

Message withdrawn

"me and others getting annoyed that someone who chooses not to work thus getting their rent and council tax paid for, can buy their kids more than i can, can go away more than me- we are so silly arent we for finding that wrong. "

well if you think its so great, go on the dole.

Simple

Sorted

Rofl

But you know what the response will be......

Oh no we're too proud/would never do that, blah blah...

"and/ or benefits should be paid for in vouchers 'food stamps' for example, so that it cannot be abused by those who are blatantly taking the Piss. "

oh my jesus god

yes lets have them standing in line for soup kitchens while we're at it.

"Are there no prisons, are there no workhouses?"

Apologies for an only approximate Dickens quotation...

sad that she feels she wouldnt be better off- she would (unless she ahs a stonking rent that is covered by housing benefits)

but this idea that everyone can work- bollox! I cant, fortunately I am studying but socials ervices put a ban on my ds1 (SN and aggressive) going into daycare, I may have to be at home to meet ds3's Sn bus, and we have no local family. Fortunately DH works, but you know when I was on mat leave he was sacked because he was depressed and unable to cope with his job, I was 36 or 37 weeks pg and couldnt return to work- we needed those benefits! And they were bloody ahrd to calim beleive me, housing benefit (we were in a 50 / 50 ownership, couldnt claim mortgae only rent) took months with all the aperwork needed.

Peoples situations change, nobody knows what will happen Tomorrow.

I'd really love to have a special queue at the supermarket actually where I can queue up for my 'just enough to survive on' shopping basket.

Then, I'd like a T-shirt that I can wear when claiming my free eye test and prescriptions. I'd like the T shirt to be colour coded like the tax disc so that everyone knows that I'm entitled and have filled out my forms for that year.

I'd like my children to have their hands stamped at register just to be sure that only they - and not some greedy lardy legged fraudster - get the free meals. A tattoo would be even better, because all benefits claimants fully intend to stay state dependent for lie OF COURSE!

life

LOVE the if on benefits you should do community service bit

who would pay for the childcare? The Government? And who would adminsiter it? The Government? And how much extra would that cost then....

its VERY common, peachy, not to be better off.

its bascically becuase there are so many benefits and "perks" (sorry, can't think of a better word) associated with Income Support, that aren't actually equivalently means tested.

Also different benefits are counted as income re Housing/Council Tax benefit.

and lots of other niggles. So it is very common.

newlife - why not have a barcode tattooed on their foreheads, then they could just be "zapped"? much simpler...

ooh, yes! My phone reads bar codes (FREE PHONE btw. miffed freaks ) so I could 'read' my children.

GOOD idea UrbanD

just as an addendum to some previous posts -

i have been on the dole, not as a mum, fortunately, but i have claimed at several points during my adult life. it is a pittance. about £45 a week. then i got £120 a month for housing benefit, and £120 council tax benefit. bearing in mind my rent was £500 a month, i was getting deeper and deeper into debt every month. then i got pregnant and realy f*@£$ed my chances of getting a job up!

if the people claiming benefits have an extravagant lifestyle, then they're probably getting into masses of debt, either from credit cards, or by overclaiming benefits, which will be found out eventually, and they will have to pay it all back.

oh was typing in spirit reply along lines of workhouse but actually can't muster up desire to do so, this subject profoudning wees me off

i have spent my adult life helping people get the benefits they are entitled to. (incidently, this was mainly in government funded jobs though working for charities-THAT is how hard it is to negotiate the system-the governement FUNDS people to be on the side of claimants).

I have worked with probably something in the region of 1000 claimaints, many more if you count those I have just advised in quick interviews rather than taking on cases.

I would say, out of that, I met maybe 4 who were blantantly out to screw the system-and even they did actually have an entitlement.

I met maybe 50 more who had committed some sort of fraud. That is a. about 5 % and b. remember that I was a specialist dealing with situations LIKE this, people were referred to me to help sort out this sort of thing. And in MANY cases, the fraud allegations were dropped.

People DO often swagger about and claim to be doing all sorts in the benefits system. Becuase, believe it or not, a life on benefits is not an especially glamourous one. Its not one to build self-esteem. And you have all your mates judging whether you are REALLY entitled to what you are getting anyway. "oh x can walk to the car, why does he get "disability"." And x isn't about to say "well, although I like to put a brave face on it, I am in fact profoundly depressed and see a CPN and take a cocktail of ADs". or whatever.

The vast majority of claimants are genuine.

aaargh.

brilliant post filly.

Agree Filly, thats pretty much what I used to see at work too- lots of those who would say 'Oh I dont want to work I get everything I need'- you could see they were at rock bottom. You have to be toa ccept thats all there is. And disabilities such as heart disease dont come with identifying amrks- just a ticking bomb. So you cant tell who is disabled and who is not.

DS1 for example looks bang on perfect- and gets care at the higher rate because he cannot be left unsupervised even upstairs (he's 7.5) without someone getting injured or whatever. But you cant tell that by looking.

I think we are really lucky to live in a society that tries to look after its vulnerable members, and that what benefits are for.

Whilst we have this system there will always be a teeny tiny minority who exploit this, but I'd much rather this than live in a society where there's no safety net for those who need it.

I agree filly. I would not claims carers allowance and dla for my dd unless I HAD to I am sick of people being jealous about benefits, what is wrong with you all?

There is a benefit trap, it does exist. I have friends who work their arse off and live in a one bed flat in outer London with two kids. they cannot get a housing association place because they work, yet they cannot afford anything suitable on their wages. If they were both made redundant and could not work they would most probably be eligible for suitable housing. Life is hard Im afraid and I guess its the same for many many others

I mean people do become 'trapped' on benefits because they often get more suitable housing and 'slightly' better incomes than say working for a chicken factory and not being able to afford childcare and everything else.

I agree that its great we live in a country that has a good welfare policy to help those who need it.

I do think it needs updating or some reform to ensure its working and not just there as a lifestyle choice.

Disability and incapacity are totally separate in my eyes to income support - as there is a medical reason as to why the person cannot support themselves/their family.

Income support should be time restricted so that you cannot rely on it forever and have to look for employment - it should be a stop gap between jobs or change of circumstances and not given as a lifesytle choice. Some countries match it to the length of time you have paid tax which isnt a bad idea, some only pay for 3 years.

The money in the "pot" for benefits should be there for people who need it and not those who just dont want to work.

On income support if you get say £400 rent paid, council tax of £100 plus weekly income support, family allowance and tax credits you most definately are better off than people who work for a low wage and have to pay all their own bills.

the other thing i will say is that a LOT of people are very very about claiming.

I NEVER recognise the mail's portrait of "benefits scroungers" . but then I've met claimaints, the DM reporters probably haven't, except maybe sitting near them on a bus or something.

Do NOT get me started on asylum seekers and the crappy way in which THEY are treated, btw

I dont know who the benefit scroungers are either and why would someone be jealous of someone who has sought asylum froma war torn country (or similar) most probably seen half their family maimed and then has to live in some crumby hostel in margate and wait to be deported

happy mum - income support is for those who are unable to work on health grounds, or who care for young children, or who can only work 16 hours a week or less.

Everyone else gets Job seekers, or incapacity. JSA claimants have to be looking for work, and as for incapacity - you have to send in sick certs, have medicals - I think the checks and balances are sufficient.

otherwise it's genuine claimants who are penalised.

ok I will take happy's points one by one and then i will go and do summat constructive

1. There are very limited reasons for claiming income support. A big percentage of claimants ARE unable to work through sickness but can't get Incapacity Benefit because for whatever reason they don't have the stamps. Being a SAHM might be one reason. There are lots more honest ones.

2. You can claim if you are unemployed. You have to jump through a lot of hoops to do this for any length of time.

3. In the scenario you suggest, with a person on IS moving to low paid work, the governement would STILL be forking out in benefits. They would in all probability be STILL paying all the benefits that the kids were entitled to, and probably something towards HB and CTB also. In addition, in all probability the person would get a fair whack of working tax credit, and possibly money for childcare.

ack typo, sorry

meant to say:

you DON'T get income support if you are unemployed, you get income based jobseekers allowance, but it worked in bascially the same way-it "passports" you to lots of other stuff.