are furloughed people the new benefit scroungers?

[ghostmous3]

According to some posts that are doing the rounds on shitebook they are

Before lockdown people moaned about the 'feckless workshy' now the vitriol is aimed at the 'furloughed sitting on thier bums on beaches spreading germs, how dare they when weve got to work. We're paying for you're furlough'

I'm feeling bloody sensitive tonight. I didn't ask to be furloughed, I'm more than likely getting made redundant at the end of july and I dont go to beaches!

Callmerachel
But why didnt that facebook post by that nhs nurse mention every other group that was sitting on the beaches etc. She specifically singled out furlough workers. She made no mention of the unemployed, sahp, the work from home, disabled, benefit claimants, elderly or the many other key workers including nhs nurses who break the rules and guidelines and we all know they exist, she just chose furlough people to bash.

It's wrong. Very wrong. To be honest I dont anyone who has been furloughed who are happy about it. My furlough contract clearly says I have 48 notice to return to work if there is work and believe me I will be going if I can.

I saw on the tv last night that America hasn't anything in place for their people. I'm prepared to be told otherwise , but how they are managing I don't know if they can't work ?
The schemes in place in this country may not be perfect but they are there and will help many people. although I'm sure a few people might abuse it , I know millions won't and it will tide them over. What has happened is devastating to people and businesses and our young people but at least there is a safety net of sorts for a big percentage of the population unlike in the US it seems.
I hope things look up soon for everyone.
Someone my husband knows is self employed and now back working. He said he did t know how they would manage but they have got through it all. It's so hard on people who want to work and earn and just can't just now. It's so hard.

@Rachie1973

Thanks - made me laugh too! Annoyingly been deleted now

I'm not bored being on furlough because I'm trying to find ways to fill my time, but my mind isnt good and I just feel absolutely lost. I've also got horrible physical symptoms of stress which are worrying me as well so it all adds to it.

My whole routine has gone, I feel worthless and posts like these make me feel even worse. I also cant just up and get a farm job, who would look after my kids? So you want me to relocate across the country do you. Shall I leave my DC at home on thier own or make them.homeless. No childcare at the moment and actually it's not the uk not wanting the farm jobs I listened to Jeremy vine on radio 2 about farm workers the other day which debunks the myth about farm workers and uk people.

People have applied from this country for farm and crop picking jobs but the farmers dont want us. Many dont reply to job applications and they seem to want experienced people too ie migrants etc

Why arent you saying the unemployed can help with crop picking then? Or people on their days off? Or has it escaped your attention that for many furlough people our contracts state we CANNOT take another job

I'm furloughed and I couldn't give a shit what these morons think. I've always worked, paid tax, never claimed benefits and once this is over I will continue to do so.

I think the public sector (not just NHS) pay freeze discussion has pissed a lot of people off.

It has us as DH only recently got a pay rise after a decade of pay freezes and 1% cap. In these 10 years I am lead to believe that the freeze and cap amounts to a 20% pay cut...

It is the nature of people that they need to moan about someone or something in order to avoid their own shortcomings. Don't take it personally. Social media is a terrible place for people making bold statements or following the herd without thinking about what their statement might mean to them or someone they are close to. In your case, you didn't ask to be furloughed and still may lose your job because if something that is out of your control. And this is the crux of it. Right now, lots of people are not in control of things which directly affect how they live their life. And they are not thinking beyond themselves either.

Take care OP. I hope you do remain with your employer.

Nobody chose to be furloughed, they have been forced into it and I’m sure most would prefer to be at work. Of course they aren’t scrounging, they didn’t request a pandemic.

No - they're definitely NOT benefit scroungers and it's appalling they're made to feel guilty.

Tbh I'm furloughed but if I had to work I can't deny it I would be envious of the furloughed. However, the attitude you describe in your OP isn't right by any means.

I don't have an issue with the furlough scheme and think it has been a lifeline to lots of people. I do feel moments of resentment when I'm trying to manage my DD (ASD and really struggling) and work full time with a disability at the same time with around 4/5 hours sleep at night. Some of my colleagues have been furloughed and they were the ones that took the piss at work anyway and now have loads of demands to return. I was told I wouldn't be furloughed as I was so crucial to my work place (but this is something I've done through hard work). Particularly when those colleagues are on SM going on about how great life is, and how much time they have to pursue their interests. They all earn above 70k (being topped up to 100% of wage) which is a safe industry so no threat of redundancy. So I am a bit peeved that because I have worked hard I was chosen not to be furloughed and am working till 2am every day whilst having to pay more for it in the future. But at the same time appreciate that others are not in such a lucky position as my colleagues who will be having an awful time of uncertainty through be furloughed.

I think one of the possible reasons is that some people who are furloughed have forgotten that others still have to work.

For example letting kids stay up late in the evening making a noise when their working neighbours have to get up to go out.
It's not really to do with furlough as such, it's more a lack of consideration for others in the example above.

People were taught to believe that if the state was financially supporting you, you are a lazy scrounger. I’m sorry it took a pandemic to make people realise that anyone can end up needing support through no fault of their own

I think it says a lot that people are still falling for the divide and conquer tactics

This is exactly how the decimation of the benefits system happened; especially the sustained attacks on disabled people.

People allowed themselves to believe that majority of people on benefits were lazy and scamming the system so it was fair to attack them.

Just as many people are now allowing themseleves to believe that the majority of people furloughed could be in work of some kind, but aren't because they are lazy fuckers who go to the beach instead.

If the benefits system hadn't been whittled away so much we wouldn't have needed a furlough scheme. If benefits were actually a sustainable amount to live on and still included timely and decent help with mortgage payments (rather than the delayed and complicated help some people can get now) then employers who needed to do so would have temporarily laid off staff, they'd have claimed benefits and we wouldn't have needed another system.

Divide and conquer. It works every single time.

My DH is furloughed and I did call him a benefit scrounger, because he tends to talk like that about unemployed people. It’s good he’s realised how a person’s situation can change rapidly through no fault of their own.

People were taught to believe that if the state was financially supporting you, you are a lazy scrounger.

But that any kind of state support they had was paid for by their taxes and therefore justified.

Those criticising the furlough scheme must have no idea the devastation that would have been caused if over a quarter of the workforce had suddenly been made redundant and put on universal credit overnight.

This would have had a knock on effect that would have reverberated through the entire economy, and yes even your "safe" public sector, high earner, essential, nhs or whatever job would have been affected.

What do you think happens when this huge number of people suddenly all default on all their loans including their rent and mortgage?

What do you think happens when huge swathes of people suddenly are lucky if they can afford food let alone whatever high priced widgets DH's company produces or supplies or markets or designs?

What do you think happens when the tax revenue that pays for the NHS is reduced so dramatically?

It destabilises the entire dog and pony show and none of you smug faced moaners would go untouched. The only reason the conservatives (not exactly known for their generosity lol) have done this is because the effect of not doing it (yes for them and their mates as well) would be far, far worse.

To even imagine that there is a job or source of income that any of us here on mumsnet have access to that would not be affected by a depression of this magnitude is naive in the extreme.

How bizarre to refer to furloughed people as lazy or "work shy". By definition these are people who until very recently were in work and been stopped, not through their own choice!

Hmm. Just because people are in work doesn't make them "not lazy" or "not work shy". I wonder, since those on furlough are all motivated and eager to work, who, pray tell, by definition, would those who don't work "by choice" be?

You see, without actually intending to you have implied that those who have jobs are not work shy, and hence those who don't must be out of work by choice and therefore lazy. The insidious nature of this divided society is that it creeps into the consciousness of too many people who, if they stopped to think about it, would never be that intolerant.

I've been furloughed, I expect to be made redundant in July as my company relies on the entertainment industry for orders.

For all of you saying that you'll be the one paying for furlough with your taxes - I, and others who have been furloughed have paid taxes all their working lives, are still paying tax on the furloughed income, and will continue to pay tax on any earnings going forward, so although it's a huge cost that can't be sustained, we are ALL going to pay for it, regardless of whether we benefited or not - in the same way as our benefits system has always been.

As many others have said, I'd rather have been working, and I will certainly think that on July 1st when I get my P45.

I agree OP. My DH is furloughed and he will be facing redundancy at the end of this and his mental health is in a really bad place right now. So all you arse holes on Mumsnet who are "jealous" and accuse him of being lazy and sitting on his arse all day: are you happy now?

BTW for those posters who are hard of thinking, furlough IS NOT A CHOICE. My husband and others who are furloughed would much rather being working and know they have a secure job. It's disgusting the attitude of many on this site. Maybe people should educate themselves before spewing insults at those suffering?

These notions are so ignorant; as if any one single person knows the circumstances of everybody else! Black and white thinking is never informed thinking.

Im sorry I havent yet starved to death but dont worry the price of food will go up so you might get your wish, I'm disabled and have no choice in how this government treats me, oh and please save your 'well I didnt mean the disabled' because I'm starting to think that those who post that are being disingenuous

Woah, the poster said some benefits - no need to take it personally and get nasty.

Is it just me, or are Brits constantly at each others throats these days for issue after issue? Furloughed v non-furloughed, public sector v private, workers v benefit 'dossers', young v old, Brexit v Remain etc etc

How much of it is divide and rule?

The majority.

You know some nasty people on Facebook, clearly. Maybe time for a cull.

Totally agree @hamsterchump. No ones job or role is safe, no matter what people think

I think some of you have taken the nurses rant very personally.

I don't necessarily agree with how she's gone about things but I think there's truth in what she has said.

Of course there was people other than furlough flocking to beaches and flouting the rules but I'm sure if everyone was still at work the beach wouldn't have been so packed with just the unemployed, disabled and sahp's.

The point is, everyone who is going out and enjoying themselves at beaches and the like ARE flouting the rules and are causing people like that nurse to be in an insufferable position even longer. She's clearly at the end of her tether with the selfish mindset of SOME.

Now isn't the time to be all turning against each other and pointing blame anywhere other than the government m, who appear to have failed to act on what was coming our way since January.