Worked 50 hour week fed up AIBU

[itsahardknocklife87]

Having just worked 50 hours this week and completed a ten hour shift today, I look on Facebook to discover that a friend who hasn't worked for years and is on benefits has had a weekend away. I like my job but I'm fed up of working so hard in a low paid job and still skint. Never see my kids or Husband and there isn't no option to stop working at least 49 hours a week. I had to do overtime this week to pay a Uber expensive garage bill (I live in a very rural area so car essential to get to work) AIBU to get upset that people who don't work on benefits and tax credits have a better quality of life?

Go on benefits then and youll be able to enjoy a billion holidays. Or not as the case may be.

I have to agree with the op to a certain extent, while there are people on benefits that need to be on due to Ill health or being made redundant or have a disability themselves or dc has a disability and so on then I completely understand BUT those that choose it as a lifestyle choice then that gets to me ALOT.... and come on people of course those that take the piss go on holiday! There are plenty of people out there that DONT WANT TO WORK! they say that there are not enough jobs! Come on!!!, I'm bloody not looking forward to Christmas this year at all and we are a working house hold, dont drink dont smoke dont go out and I mean like the cinema or nights out, I don't know how we are gonna afford presents this year for our kids, all a while some one I know already has 2 grand saved up, and yes they do not work! They go out and buy expensive clothes and shoes and they eat out ect I agree that I wouldn't want to be on benefits mostly out of pride I understand those that need to be on them but some DONT.... oh and by the way I live in a housing Association house which we pay full rent ( not entitled to any benefits) dh had a mortgage but lost it due to being made redundant and we had to go onto benefits so I've been there for a while so again I dont begrudge people who need them at all....

A few people on the thread talking about choosing not to work as they wouldn't be any better off than if they were on benefits once childcare and other things paid. Surely benefits aren't there as a choice though - they are there to support people who aren't able to work or who can't find work. This is the problem with the system for me - no-one should claim benefits because they wouldn't be any better off if they were in a job. They should be there only as a safety net for those who are unable to work. This is part of the reason the system is near to breaking point.

Yes you have every right to be upset. The system is not fair or fit for purpose ( seen it over many years with friends and also though my job ). It frankly sucks.

It's not jealousy, it's just common sense. If we stopped wasting all this money on the benefits and handheld system, we could re-distribute the funds to a) make things fairer instead of encouraging the lazy bunch b) on thins that are desperately needed - schools and NHS are desperately cash strapped.

It might not be enough to make a massive change, but it would be better than nothing.

We'll get there, and we'll stop these ridiculous situations where people are better off not working or nearly not working.

Benefits were supposed to be the last possible help, not a lifestyle choice.

@IrisAtwood
I know two people on benefits that go away to long haul destinations around 4/5 times a year . One has also had a nose and a boob job.

AIBU to get upset that people who don't work on benefits and tax credits have a better quality of life?

YABVU to think that your friend has a better quality of life based on a weekend away.

But in the vast majority of cases, if you choose not to work just because you don't want to or you are no better off doing so, usually the support you get is extremely limited; usually you will be relying on a partner financially. Benefits for those deemed able to work (not all of whom actually can work anyway, but that's another point entirely) are dependent on a lot of conditions otherwise you get sanctioned. Around here this can include daily appointments at the job centre, and proving that you have applied for x number of jobs and attended all interviews you have been offered; even if the job really isnt suitable for you. I think people need to put the newspapers down and get back to reality.

YANBU to be fed up but YABU to think life on benefits is in any way easy. Not that it matters but maybe the weekend away was a gift...

@Highandlow I don't believe a word of that.

I'm a single parent, when I was on benefits I got £150 a week total after rent and council tax was paid. That was for bills, food, clothing, travel costs.

People who come on these threads who "know" people who go on multiple holidays etc on benefits are either lying or those people are doing some sort of undeclared work on top of claiming. Because having been on benefits myself for a long time there's no way I could afford long haul holidays, and that was under the old system. Universal Credit is even less generous.

Rather than being so quick to give away the safety net you may one day be in need of yourself, I think the real question should be why are wages so low and what can be done to help those on a low income.

but it's temporary- the government is finally coming to his senses and started to work on the benefit system, which is already improving and making it fairer. Unfortunately it will take time to stop all that entitlement nonsense.

Are you joking?

YABVU to think that your friend has a better quality of life based on a weekend away

This is also true if it hadn't been for your expensive car repair bill you may have been able to afford a weekend away. Annoying about the car but just bad luck.

Hmmm all is not what it seems with these posts from your Facebook friend OP. I'm currently on UC after loosing my job suddenly so ive been on both sides and i can tell you if she's posting on Facebook she's on holiday then I'll bet anything she put it on a credit card or took a loan out for it etc because benefits barely put food on the table let alone fund holidays. If i were you id be glad of having a job each day and paying your own way which is something she can't have or want if she's been on them 7yrs grass is greener on your side trust me

Gosh. All these people who willingly live on benefits, we should all be so jealous of them.

Sheesh. Is an election coming up or something?

@Waxonwaxoff0
Yes you are right universal credit is less generous ,absolutely . Unfortunately I am telling the truth and I have worked in benefits ( it takes years to be fully a benefits officer ). The amount of benefits some people get is shocking !

I think it works out well for some people on benefits , definitely not all. A lot of people I see struggle like hell to get anything at all. Myself included. I live at home and where I live I could not even get a room on benefits.

BUT op is not being unreasonable, sometimes working hard does not pay off and those on benefits have it easier

Who are these people that are on benefits as a lifestyle choice?

If we are referring to the single parents who choose not to work due to high childcare costs while their DC are young - whose fault is that?

And if they are also the "lazy" ones - being a SAHP of young children is not lazy. Would you say a SAHP who is financially supported by their partner is lazy? Or is it just the single parents, the ones who DON'T have the support of a partner and more often that not receive no financial or emotional support from the absent parent?

Jealousy is an ugly emotion op.
as said, if you hadnt had to mend your car, you might have had more money

@Waxonwaxoff0

Who are these people that are on benefits as a lifestyle choice?

My neighbours. 6 kids and neither of them has ever worked a day in their lives. Benefits all the way. It's not a life to envy though, if it by choice or by circumstance.

Sometimes I think that people who 'don't work' are the clever ones.

They still get all the latest stuff, without breaking a sweat. Feel so stupid working.

once your youngest is 12 you have to go out to work i believe

Some people with disabilities can still be on benefits and have money. Others may have wealthy parents who help them out. Who knows. I don’t concern myself with what other people do. Good luck to them I say.

They still get all the latest stuff, without breaking a sweat. Feel so stupid working.

we don't have the latest stuff and are part of the heat or eat group. fun with a disabled child .

but if you think it is do great and easy, why don't you give up work and claim UC? problem solved

@Tensixtysix they are until the government changes the rules on them e.g. PIP assessments.

Apart from having disabled family, i think we all agree the benefits trap is not a good situation.