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?

I think it ok to out myself now btw!! Am sure i cant be recognised by anyone anyway lol

i have a question to ask. not looking for an argument.
i have a lovely girl who does cleaning for me. two hours, twice a week. stuff like vacuuming, mopping, kithcen toilet etc. i pay £6 an hour. am flexible with days and times etc. she is happy etc.
however she keeps going off to poland to visit her mummy. fair enough, but i want someone to fill in. but i cant find anyone. the problem doesnt seem to be the casual ness of the work but the pay. they all want at least 10 pounds an hour. i cant afford to pay that.
why doesnt anyone want to work for 6 quid? (i used to pay 5 till last year, but this girl is lovely and managed to convince dh we could pay a bit more?)
any ideas?

Yes, you are being unreasonable. What's it got to do with you, whether she claims benefits or works or what? It is not for you to decide whether people's reasons for claiming benefits are valid or otherwise. She made her choices, you made yours. Get over it.

five quid is below minimum wage, cylonbabe, so I'm glad you were persuaded to up it to six.

Have you tried advertising via the job centre?

if you were anywhere near me i would do it for you!

£6 an hour is ok i think, but depends where you live.

I could do with £24 a week!

Agree with lazyemma, £5 a week below minimum wage

if its just for cover, epak to an agency.

five pounds was a couple of years ago. i didnt think it was under minimum wage at the time. i'd pay more if we could afford it. but cant.
jarm, you could gladly have the job. i'd even be happy for you to do it with your baby once she was six weeks old, [cylon has visions of sitting cooing at beautiful baby whilst house is miraculously becoming clean
it's a bit of extra pin money is the way the girls have though t about it. so why is it so hard to find someone who wants some extra money?
agencies charge anywhere from 8 up to 16 quid an hour. one i cant afford that, and two, id rather the money i was paying went directly to the person doing th job, rather than the person running the agency iyswim

In some areas ts easy to find cleaners- it depends what else is there. MIL used to run an agency (she cleaned herself as well mind, she wasnt one fo thsoe professional agency amangers, she was just a good cleaner with vision) and found that in areas where there wereen't lots of alternatives- factories, supermarkets etc- like where she was cleaners were quite easy to source; however if you are an area with alternatives obviously its a supply and demand thing. There was a lot of service industries in the way of banks etc where she was, and she found that as she expanded they contracted her, and as such it was harder to fit in small jobs with the big regulars, iyswim.

I suspect if it was Uni term time it would be easier to find cleaners if you're near one, but most have gone home and will be trying to do fullt ime work, likewise mums who woudl aprpeciate the pinmoney wont have childcare set up so near the holidays

never really thought about it that way before.
there used to be loads of au pairs at dc school. they were the girls i had before my current one. but there dont seem to be anymore there now.

Unless you are in deepest darkest suffolk, no hope!

Stick an advert in the local shop window - bet you get loads of replies!

jarm didnt you used to live in essex?

Well i still do at the moment but moving to Felixstowe in a few weeks.

lots of luck with the move and thebaby end everythgin else.
make sure you get your internet connectins set up asap