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Original poster

to expect to have more disposable income than single mums claiming benefits

1050 replies

newnails · 09/11/2007 20:21

i no longer know why me and dh bother, he works full time and i work part time so that i can juggle the child care.

i know of 3 single mums who stay near me who seem to have more money than i can dream of, out every weekend, always shopping and 2 of them manage to run cars.

i know the benefit system is needed by some people but it seems to be a complete joke these days, the wasters in this country are leading the life of reilly while the rest of us are left to slog our guts out to pay for there existence.

no doubt i will get flamed for this post but i have been out xmas shopping today trying to work to a budget then i stand next to these people at the school gates and hear about all the grants they are entitled to so they can buy xmas presents, one of them has even cut back the last 2 months and managed to save £800, it would take me bloody months to save that up.

ok rant over, deep down i am glad i am not one of these people and i do actually work for what i have but it still pisses me of.

OP posts:
MALO · 10/11/2007 19:21

There is a fine line between those who are on benefits through no fault of their own and have absolutely no other option but to claim what they can ..... and those who simply do not want to work because they will be worse off financially. Unfortunately there are a fair few in this country who are the latter and it is those that this thread is targetted at.

mamazon · 10/11/2007 19:21

i got my first job the day after i turned 16. i worked my entire life until i left my xp.

i would desperatly like tp return to work now, if not for the finacial stability of it but to regain my self respect.

but there are a number of factors that prevent me at this time from doing so.

there have been a great number of truiely offensive posts on this thread but they seem to be justified by people saying " not those who genuinly need it"

well how do you know they dont genuinly need it?

im sorry but thats like the guy who punches a black man and says " im not racist i live next door to some asians"

nightowl · 10/11/2007 19:23

sigh....

inthegutter · 10/11/2007 19:23

nightowl, don't be so hard on yourself. 14 years work, 19 months on benefit through cicumstances you can't control.... I don't think any rational person would slate you for that. The objection a lot of people have is to the scroungers - the people who have no intention of working, who live on benefits for a huge chunk, or even all, of their working life.

MALO · 10/11/2007 19:24

mamazon: because I personally know of two other mums whose kids are at school, and therefore have the spare time during the day, who could work and choose not to because they are receiving more in benefits than they would in any job.

mamazon · 10/11/2007 19:25

being on benefits is what the government decides is the BARE MINIMUM you need to survive, not live, SURVIVE.

if working means you will be worse off then they cannot go to work. its not a choice. it would not be possible to live obn less than benefits pay you.

im sorry but you make it sound like a life on the dole is a career choice.

ivykaty44 · 10/11/2007 19:26

Inthegutter - have you reported this person? As this is stealing to take benifits that are not meant for you.

onlyjoking9329 · 10/11/2007 19:28

well to the outside world our life looks rosy we have three kids in full time school they are 13,13 & 10. myself and DH are both at home full time

inthegutter · 10/11/2007 19:28

ivykaty44 - what person??!!

MALO · 10/11/2007 19:28

mamazon: so you don't begrudge those who CAN work but choose NOT to and prefer to live off of everyone else?

colditz · 10/11/2007 19:30

MALO are you wilfully ignoring the financial facts I presented earlier on this thread?

How can these women be simultaneously better off on benefits while being £50 a week better off working?

MALO · 10/11/2007 19:31

mamazon - exactly. Which is why people choose not to work = they are better off financially and its the likes of my dh who has to pay a huge amount each month in income tax that are paying for them. Great.

nightowl · 10/11/2007 19:31

inthegutter...

i cant help but be offended.

what would you have thought if you met me two years ago? maybe we would have had a conversation.

i live in a council house.

i claim benefit.

i am a single mother.

would anyone really have bothered to find out my history? no. they would just judge me straightaway. that is what i object to.

inthegutter · 10/11/2007 19:35

Mamazon - at the school where I work we've been doing a review of the kids who left last July. At least three kids who left to go straight into work (supposedly) are currently unemployed. There are as I type DOZENS of job vacancies in the local jobcentre. The boyfriend of the 16 year old I mentioned left our school a couple of years ago. For most of that time he's been unemployed. He is currently not working, even though he has a 6 month old baby to support. These kids I'm talking about are physically fit and able young adults. They have the skills required to do some of the jobs advertised. They are CHOOSING not to.

ivykaty44 · 10/11/2007 19:36

The persons that have more money living on benifit - you dont get more money on benifit so they must be on the fiddle - have you reported them? The woman up your street who is so upfront about all the money she gets on benifit

nightowl · 10/11/2007 19:38

it is a sad fact that some women would be worse off working than claiming benefit.

now benefit is the very least you can live on but i checked this out when i was looking for work and with a lot of jobs i would have been worse off. if you can barely scrape by on benefit, who in their right mind is going to take a job and bring home less? its not a matter of wanting to, its a matter of being able to live.

inthegutter · 10/11/2007 19:38

nightowl I can't help but be offended that you think I would judge someone for living in a council house. You don't know what sort of house I live in. All you know from my posts are that I and my partner work full time and have 3 children.

mamazon · 10/11/2007 19:39

your DH isn't paying for these people.
he is contributing to a state fund that can be resouced by those who need to.

if someone is worse off buy workign then they have no choice but to remain within the benefiot system, you are saying that they should allow themselves or their children to starve simply so you and your parnter can feel a little bit happier about your own financial status?

heaven forbid your Dh ever has teh misfortune to lose his job, or you split up and have to make use of the system.
because i look forward to the day your posts here bite you on the backside.

MALO · 10/11/2007 19:40

It's too easy to leave school and do nothing and if kids can claim unemployment benefit they will.

Only the other evening I watched a tv prog about the gang culture in this country and those gang members that were interviewed did not work. Why should they when they can live off what they are given in benefits?

In the news the other night was an article about imposing fines on kids who do not atleast try to find a job.

There is a real problem in this country with kids coming out of school with no intention of getting a job - it is either down to the parents or the school. And it is sadly these kids that get themselves into trouble with crime etc.

nightowl · 10/11/2007 19:40

HE inthegutter.

why are we bashing the mums then?

inthegutter · 10/11/2007 19:40

ivykate44 - you're misquoting me. I never said the woman in my street was on the fiddle. I said she has two children at school all day and doesnt work. Her children receive maintenance from their father and she claims benefits which enable her to have a comfortable enough lifestyle to not work. That's my point - you don't need to fiddle the system, the system is crap enough to not need to!

nightowl · 10/11/2007 19:42

inthegutter, my post was not aimed at you personally, not at all.

MALO · 10/11/2007 19:44

If dh lost his job - he'd get another one! If we split up - I'd increase my hours at work and palm my kids off to various friends/family!!!!

I am not saying people should starve if they choose to work. Oh come on mamazon - you are taking this to the extreme - aren't you?

This is why this country is full of people who CAN work and choose not to work because they are financially better off by not working and it is those people who I object to.

inthegutter · 10/11/2007 19:45

nightowl i'm not sure what you're on about. I havent bashed mums at all, single or otherwise. My posts have made it quite clear that what I object to is people, male, female, single, partnered, young or old who abuse the system.

mamazon · 10/11/2007 19:45

inthegutter - if she is in reciept of benefit and gets more than £10 a week from her xdp then yes she is on the fiddle.

liek i said, check the facts on benefits before making such assumptions

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