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?

^how many threads about people refusing to take on over-time
how many threads about people outraged because they get a phone call on their day off
how many threads about people shocked that they could have some work related task to finish at weekends or on holiday?
how many threads laughing at the idiots who "claim" hmm not to be home before 8,9 or 10pm?^

Good, all of the above is about employers taking the right royal fucking piss, no matter how much you are paid. If we want a healthy society it should not involve ANYONE working stupid long hours and having holidays interrupted unless they are running the fucking country, and even then people need a break.

People are largely fat, stressed and unhealthy because people are underpaid and work long hours and their job is too demanding. And most jobs are not life or death, it's about making someone above you money. There is a reason why we work long hours but have really shit productivity.

If we want a healthy society it should not involve ANYONE working stupid long hours and having holidays interrupted unless they are running the fucking country, and even then people need a break.

never tried to run your own business, have you?

Yes, in an ideal world, you could hold a very senior role, be well paid and work a 9 to 4 job. In the real world, it doesn't quite work like that.

Thinking that it's "employers" taking the piss mean you have absolutely no idea of what a business does. Some companies might be able to employ more to cover, but for other roles you need to keep an eye on things.
So reading about "high earners" don't work hard at all... is laughable.

I understand your frustration OP.

I was in the same situation as you a few months ago. Although I don't have any kids, I was working in a minimum wage job. I'm under 25 as well which meant I only got £7.70 an hour. I had to work 40-50hrs a week in order to earn a decent wage (well not even a decent wage but enough to cover rent and bills) and I was probably left with around £100 a month afterwards which was for gas, electric, food and petrol. There was no way I could squeeze in luxuries such as a holiday or new clothes.

I appreciate money/luxuries aren't everything, but when you work your ass off 40hrs a week and are left with hardly anything after paying all the bills it can become quite depressing.

I live on my own, pay for everything by myself. As I have no children I don't receive any help and I'm not entitled to working tax credits as I'm under 25. There was a period where I was off work for around two months last year due to a family bereavement and I received £500 monthly from UC. I received less because again, I was under 25. This was suppose to cover my rent, council tax, water rates, gas, electric, car payment, petrol and food. My rent is £450 a month so my monthly payment covered that and that was it. Luckily my mum was able to help me get through it and pay the rest of the bills, but if she hadn't I would of well and truly been screwed.

Having experienced these two situations, I can see both sides of the coin. But I do believe some people "work" the system in their favour. You will find most people on Mumsnet don't want to believe their is actually people who do this, such as parents claiming to be single when that is just not the case. I know a single mum who does this and gets around the same amount in benefits as what I earned working full time in my previous job, so whether people choose to believe it or not, it does happen.

I don't have any problem with people getting what they are entitled to, it's the greedy pricks who lie through their teeth to get more that pisses me off. It's not as if people in work can do that. I wouldn't be able to work 40hrs and then say to my employer I worked 50 in order to get more money. The system should monitor these types of people more closely imo.

I also don't agree with pp who say "if your not happy in your current job then get a better one". If everyone felt that way and decided to leave and retrain, then who would do these jobs. We still need care workers, nursery workers, cleaners etc. Minimum wage should be scrapped and changed to the living wage at £10 an hour. People shouldn’t receive less just because their under 25 either.

I'm extremely lucky that I'm no longer in this position and have been in my new job for around 5 months now, which pays a fairly decent wage (Above minimum wage) and I now have disposable income after I've paid all my rent and bills, which hasn't been the case for many years now. It's nice to be able to spend my money on days out and a few little luxuries now and again, it makes going to work worthwhile.

I do hope your situation improves OP as sadly I can’t see any of these issues being addressed any time soon.

^never tried to run your own business, have you?

Yes, in an ideal world, you could hold a very senior role, be well paid and work a 9 to 4 job. In the real world, it doesn't quite work like that^

I have actually, no need to be patronising.

There is a vast difference between running your own business where you are very much choosing your hours and choosing what you are doing, and making the money for yourself, rather than employees being paid, and often not very well, to flog their guts out for someone else's money.

And in the real world I do manage to have a 9-5 job, work two days from home and get paid very well, thank you.

In the real world, other countries work on average fewer hours than we do yet are far more productive. That's the reality of the situation. We have for some reason engaged in a race to the bottom which does no good for society, business, the planet or the future of humanity. That is the reality we are dealing with, but it doesn't have to be this way.

And in the real world I do manage to have a 9-5 job, work two days from home and get paid very well, thank you.

good for you, you are amazing.
In my real world, all the high earners and senior people have busy schedules and no way of sticking to a 9 to 4.

There is a vast difference between running your own business where you are very much choosing your hours and choosing what you are doing that is a very naive way to describe it. It might work for some, but for many others, your own business means having no hours to get the ground running. Sure, after a few years, you can step back - the way a senior executive can step back. But not many businesses are successful with people chilling out and working a few hours here and there. It's just not true.

Instead of feeling fed up I would have thought the solution was obvious, give up your job and go on benefits?

BlindAssassin1. where I work you decide on how many hours you want and we generally agree that, we like a good mix of workers. If you want 16 that is no problem, you will get 16, full stop. If you want to increase that you ask for a new contract on 20/24/28/30 or whatever, then you get a new contract with that number of hours. I'm sure that the situation you mention arises in other work places, but not here. there are several members of staff who chose 16 due to benefits and work 16. I'm not making any moral judgement, all I am saying is that the take holidays, go away and do the things tha tmost of us like to do.

Instead of being angry at the most vulnerable of society, why dont you try and do something to improve wages! Blame politicians and fat cats and do something about that! Instead of being nasty to people who have it worse than you.

The problem is not benefits being too high. The problem is wages being too low!

I agreed with you on the point about starting up a business, Muppet, but distinguished it from people being employed to make money for others which is the point of this thread- people working long hours for poor pay.

When I did work long hours in a senior role it was due to employer greed - not employing enough people to do the work whilst divvying up vast profits to directors/partners, old fashioned attitudes about job sharing and part time work and the inefficiency of other senior colleagues. It does not have to be the reality that everyone works stupid hours to earn other people money and has a crap health and a crap family life.

Yes of course it can be hard on benefits . However , we are very lucky to have the system we have and it’s a crime if it’s abused or a lifestyle choice .
See poster above saying they don’t work as it’s not worth it .. would have to pay someone to ride her horse if she was at work . .. I really hope the poster who said that was not saying that she claims benefits but it seemed that she did ?
Also those on benefits who say they ‘ only ‘ get a £150 a week after bills .. well a lot of people do who work . To get about 1k benefits which includes the rent , as one poster said she gets , is amazing .. in other countries they must really think how privileged we are to have this safety net .

I know people who are on benefits pay about £10 a month on council tax and a small contribution to their housing association rent and they have decent benefits with a good disposable income available to them. They manipulate the system to get a decent income. I support a welfare state but it was designed to be a short term solution or to help genuine people who cannot work. We are in the position now of generations of families not working or working very little.
In addition it is wrong that people do not work or work little because they would earn less then they receive on benefits . This is the wrongness of the system.

@foooookinghell completely agree

I agreed with you on the point about starting up a business, Muppet, but distinguished it from people being employed to make money for others which is the point of this thread- people working long hours for poor pay.

do you know shearwater I have seen that many high-earners and senior level people consider their own job as they would a business. there's no "them" vs "us", there's not robot entity in charge of everything, they are just as part of the whole machine than the partners".

the whole point of the thread is more about people ending up with the same, or more, without doing anything! That's what is wrong in this country.

There is a reason why so many people try to arrive in the UK, desperately, when the countries around us are not that different and just as safe but not as "social".

We are in the position now of generations of families not working or working very little.

That's a well known myth.

www.jrf.org.uk/report/are-cultures-worklessness-passed-down-generations

It's also a myth that you can ever be better off not working.

www.jrf.org.uk/blog/yes-youre-still-better-working-benefits

If someone on out of work benefits is getting nose jobs and going on multiple holidays a year someone else is paying for it. That or these people simply don't exist. I know which my money is on.

Although, I remember being in the shop and casually mentioned to the shop keeper that I was starting work earlier than usual that day. He was visibly shocked. Apparently, I don't work. The entire street know I don't work because they sometimes see me home during weekdays and never see me leave for work (I leave either stupidly early for a day shift or stupidly late for a night shift i.e when everyone else is in bed). The amount of parcels I get delivered (mostly work and college stuff) was a source of much mirth for the working people in the street who can't afford to 'order from catalogues every week'.

The fact is, unless you live with someone, you have no idea how they do or don't earn their money.

Good post, Frequency.

I work full time and am one of these benefits claimers! I'm a lone parent, when I started claiming universal credits 7 months ago i got into debt with water, electric and council tax because it wasn't enough to cover living expenses.

I was out of work for 4 months before finding a job and I am now still repaying my arrears little at a time, was going to food banks to feed me and daughter and not eating every other day so we could cope.

I'm in constant fear that if I lost my job ( not that I think I will) that we will be in serious difficulty again. They give you just the minimum amount to survive, and because we live in an expensive area and private rent, it's hard.

Being on benefits is only provided as a temporary stopgap and they don't make it easy for anyone who claims, I'm very lucky to have it, but I don't see how anyone can be able to support a lifestyle on it! Maybe she has a friend, parent or someone who pays for her holidays.

I was also working 50-60 hours a week before I had to go part time when me and husband split up because we shared childcare. I worked nights 12 hour shifts and he worked days.

And I can definitely say that it's harder on benefits than working! Cost of living is hard on the majority of average working people!

YANBU to feel how you do.

Remember though, comparison is the thief of joy

Calling some people lazy is not necessarily related to benefit and their pay
Well it shouldn't be, but it happens. I agree it shouldn't happen but if I had a £1 for every person who assumes that I get the mythical single mum benefit (which apparently means I get thousands a month for wide screen TVs, tattoos, drugs and booze) or get all my rent and council tax paid by some unknown entity just because I'm a single parent, I wouldn't need to work! Even my ex cited 'all that money you get from the government' as a reason not to pay maintenance. It's mostly bullshit. Yes, there are some people who 'play' the system to get some financial benefit and be better off doing less, but a great many more have to find the place that enables them to pay everything, on time and keep their head above water. My DD is almost grown up, hence working 40-50 hours, I don't need childcare now, there's literally no childcare provider in my area that would cover the hours I do, and since the loss of so much industry, there's pretty much bugger all jobs wise except care work and tourism related now.

- but accusing someone earning more than you to work less is childish and boring.

And insinuating that someone earning less than you is lazy and has no aspirations is pathetic and uninformed. But we still get it.

Like @Frequency my neighbours, my ex and even some of my own family believe I sit at home all day watching Jeremy Kyle, smoking and online shopping, and have even been told on one occasion how they pay my rent. I work permanent nights, I leave when the curtains are closed, and work a 12 hour shift. Though they've based what they 'know' on me being in my dressing gown at 3pm, and having my curtains closed 5 days out of 7.
Also got reported for benefits fraud to the DWP - the neighbour told me proudly, and was then disgusted that I wasn't hauled away in front of everyone I presume. I don't claim anything from the DWP - wonder how much that little investigation cost because of someone else's spite?

I know people who are on benefits pay about £10 a month on council tax and a small contribution to their housing association rent and they have decent benefits with a good disposable income available to them. They manipulate the system to get a decent income

Given that Council Tac and Council Tax Benefit is controlled at a local level, a blanket ‘people on benefits pay £10’ is simply untrue. A small contribution to housing association rent assume all people on benefits are in a Housing association property.

Could you please define who they (the people who manipulate the system’ are, exactly?

And can you also give examples of how the system is manipulated?

Oh god, not this old bullshit again.
On a given day, say the day that she gets paid, she may have more disposable income than you, especially if you have just paid large one-off expenses.
Doesn't mean that generally she is better off than you.
Nor does it mean that all people on benefits should eat bread and scrape and never buy new clothes/get their hair done/go on holiday, if you can't afford to.
You are not the ruler against which other people's entitlement is measured. And if you are not happy with your lot do something about it, instead of blaming people less fortunate than you for your lack of success and reward

Nor does it mean that all people on benefits should eat bread and scrape and never buy new clothes/get their hair done/go on holiday, if you can't afford to.

see, here we go....

and you wonder why some people are a bit meh about the whole benefit system. When it starts being about hair done, and holidays...

You can't have your hair done if you are on benefits?
What if you save up for it a pound a week?
Or your mum pays for it for your birthday?
Or you have an interview coming up and want to make a good impression?
Or you go to the local college and have it done by trainees for a fiver?
Or you just want to be part of the human race and feel good about yourself?
What if you have a health condition that means you can't work again?
Does that mean you have to go round with straggly grey hair for the rest of your life?
Just in case someone else gets the hump?
Sod that

I don't have a problem with the benefits system or the amounts. What I gave a problem with is not getting anything in return for that money. If you don't have DC or they are school age and above that money should be given in return for work. I don't know why there can't be selection of charity/ community jobs for 3 or 4 days a week given to claimants. Imagine how beneficial this would be to our messed up society. Also that way no one will be getting benefits for nothing.