To think that furlough at 80% is FAR too generous.....

[loveyouradvice]

I'm just interested about what others think... I think fine to do this for first three months but really do feel it should be down to 60% or 70% maximum by now....

People on 80% of salary, with no travel or expenses related to working away from home, are really not doing badly .... especially since so much less to spend your money on

It is everyone else I think is having a tough time - whether its kids not getting Free School Meals in holidays, or freelancers or those who've lost their jobs....

I would prefer the "pain" to be shared.... so if on furlough, yes lots of free time and yes, having to tighten your belt a bit....

Would it not be better to pay LESS in furlough - I'm thinking around 65% - and MORE to those who don't qualify but are having a very tough time financially..... ?

especially since so much less to spend your money on

I think you're assuming that everyone has a fair amount if disposable income. Less well off people have really struggled through Covid with food prices going up etc. It's the middle class who have saved through not being able to go out for meals, shopping, beauty salon trips etc. which many people can't afford in the first place.

People on NMW receive an equivalent income, but I'm not sure why "we're" paying up to £2500pm to people who have substantial savings (for example)

Shouldn't this have been the sort of thing that gets debated in Parliament? Instead the Government spend months saying the furlough scheme will definitely end (despite being pressed by many other MPs for its extension) and then suddenly without debate announce its 80% until March! Think its totally appropriate in sectors that are being made to stay shut but do wonder whether some large organisations (banks etc) are using it as a cost saving measure?

@SheepandCow

Unfortunately it does seem, going by this thread alone, that lots of people do indeed subscribe to the false notion that Furloughed staff = 'deserving', whereas those made redundant or who suffered illness or disability before Covid = 'undeserving'.

Don't worry, people on furlough are becoming more and more seen as undeserving as people on benefits as we go.

Even on this thread someone has just posted to someone furloughed to "get a job" - as if there's a wealth of jobs available atm.

Benefit payments being slashed left, right and centre over the last few years has been acceptable by a huge amount of the public because of the myths surrounding how cushy it is, how easy it is and how it's a lifestyle choice by millions and millions of people.

Hopefully this will be a wake up call to the majority to realise how low the are, how complicated they are and how much of a nightmare they can be.

That doesn't mean furlough should be slashed and millions more people should be thrust onto that platform. We should be raising people up, not kicking more down.

YABVU, goodnight!

@Ltdannygreen

I’d much rather be at work, but because some people can’t follow the rules that were in place and here we are.

Our team at work (NHS) were saying today how much we’d love to be furloughed. It’s relentless and has been for nearly 8 months with no end in sight.

You definitely can’t please all the people all of the time but I guess we’re all just doing our best with the hand that we’ve been dealt at the moment.

@yellowcats.... really ? I couldn’t even get a job VOLUNTEERING for free at my local food bank during lockdown 1 never mind jumping around picking and choosing full time jobs now
The job market is very bad at the moment, people got made redundant and businesses were forced to close permanently .. I’ve tried since July to change jobs .... there are literally no jobs out there

Yes but imagine everybody whom is furloughed loses their job.

1. Tax hikes to pay for benefits
2. Housing. How would you home people who lost everything?
3. Property prices would plummet

4 there would be a huge humanitarian crisis

Overall it is cheaper to furlough! That’s why they’re doing it, not from some sort of socialist belief.

However I really don’t think that they’re policing it properly. Need more stringent rules. That’s the thing that annoys me.

Correct me if I’m wrong but won’t people paying higher rates of tax be affected less in their take home pay if they are furloughed? Added to less childcare cost, travel costs etc of course some people will be better off but some people have got absolutely no help for various reasons. I think the universal income plan sounds more sensible.
The effect of the virus would have been mass redundancies whether the government had shut businesses or not. I’m not sure whether the cost of furlough will be more or less than allowing redundancies but increasing basic benefits??

@1stV45

People on NMW receive an equivalent income, but I'm not sure why "we're" paying up to £2500pm to people who have substantial savings (for example)

Sorry, that was supposed to be "people on NMW should receive an equivalent income"

But why is it being paid up to £2500 to people with savings or a high earning partner, for example?

@Sexnotgender

People on 80% of salary, with no travel or expenses related to working away from home, are really not doing badly especially since so much less to spend your money on

So, someone NMW, already shit to live on should somehow try and survive on 65% of it?

Will their rent/mortgage and utilities be reduced to 65% too?

Have you assumed it’s only people on a decent salary being furloughed?

Absolutely this! So someone who scrapes by on £327 a week (before stoppages), who will be getting £261, in your book should only get £212. But if you’re lucky enough to work in a place that can keep going, you can have 100%. Just wow.

People on MW should have got 100% but I agree with @1stV45 some people didn't need the cash - DH's friends have saved thousands and been on 2 holidays. Hopefully it was only a minority that didn't need the furlough money.

I'm self employed and worked from home so don't have travel costs. I'll be getting 40%, is that better for you? I've found another job earning approximately 70% less than I was before covid. I still have the same mortgage and kids to feed. Don't be so ignorant.

"yes they are people not on furlough are net givers to the government at least those in the private sector like me people on furlough take every penny from the government whats so hard to understand."

Workers aren't allowed to claim furlough. They just get paid a percentage of their wage. Their employer claims from the government. So its businesses who are getting support in paying wage bills.

@BawJaws

Yes but imagine everybody whom is furloughed loses their job.

1. Tax hikes to pay for benefits
2. Housing. How would you home people who lost everything?
3. Property prices would plummet

4 there would be a huge humanitarian crisis

Overall it is cheaper to furlough! That’s why they’re doing it, not from some sort of socialist belief.

However I really don’t think that they’re policing it properly. Need more stringent rules. That’s the thing that annoys me.

If furlough is more generous aren’t we looking at larger tax hikes to pay for it?

Your plan won’t work. People set their budgets and bills based on their income, if they only receive 65% of income they may not be able to pay bills or buy enough food? Just because you earn an ok wage doesn’t mean you have thousands saved - chances are you have direct debits taking most of your salary away as soon as you get it paid in every month.

My mum can barely cover her mortgage and bills as it is

80% of her pay means she loses the house.

@1stV45 because its a furlough not a means tested benefit. Given the amount of time it takes for universal credit to be actioned it would not only be a logistical nightmare to means test everyone receiving furlough but would probably also take 6 months minimum.

I also don't believe in punishing people who have saved or who's partners have a better income. Furlough is to protect jobs and help people still have a income it's not meant as a benefit payment.

@Petportraits

Your plan won’t work. People set their budgets and bills based on their income, if they only receive 65% of income they may not be able to pay bills or buy enough food? Just because you earn an ok wage doesn’t mean you have thousands saved - chances are you have direct debits taking most of your salary away as soon as you get it paid in every month.

But this is what happens when people's circumstances change all the time. It horrible, bloody awful, I hope I never have to experience it again, but why are the changes to lifestyle that these people will need to make more devastating than all the people who've lost jobs for other reasons over previous years?

@Badabingbadabum

80% of the minimum wage is not a lot.

I just calculated how much I'd get on furlough . A whole whooping £864.

I'd be sooo living the high life.

What about people on a minimum wage? They are only getting 80% of their contracted hours. No option for overtime, which many people have to do a lot of just to make ends meet.

YABVU , and you obviously don’t have these worries.

@Itsokthanks

I'm self employed and worked from home so don't have travel costs. I'll be getting 40%, is that better for you? I've found another job earning approximately 70% less than I was before covid. I still have the same mortgage and kids to feed. Don't be so ignorant.

It’s 80% now

Every single person on furlough is worried they will have a job to go back to and in some cases an industry in which they can work in.

Didn't you hear about the job cuts that are happening today?

People who have had their livelihoods taken off them by the government because we are living through a once in a century pandemic should their wages paid in full on furlough. I work from home and have not lost a penny but that is blind luck on my part. We are the 6th richest country in the world, money is cheaper for the government to borrow than in any time in recent history and we as a population should all bear some the cost of not just the unlucky few. OP you are a sanctimonious twat who cant see the bigger picture

@MorganKitten was it really productive or things you deem to be productive?