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

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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.

Victorian Squalor - I have replied, thanks.

other people mentined life of riley malo. ths thread is not your property.

and actualy school leavers at 16 dont automatically get handouts, if single. Its more complesx than that. link

DS is most disappointed he cannot have EMA like his mates. And DD said would get much better help at uni if me and DH would only sign the forms to say we were estranged from her!!

Malo, 16 and 17 year olds get nothing if they are still living with their parents.

MALO, I have answered your question, to no reply, I ahve shown how much money these school leavers are recieving, to no reply, and have questioned your idea's on the parents bringing up 12children on benefits, to no reaply.
Do you actually have a reasonable reply or just the ability to rant?

I didnt mean to hit that twice! oops.

did you miss this part??
*If you are 16 or 17, before you go to the jobcentre you will have to register to do either work or training at your local Careers Service or Connexions.)

We are actually far worse off than single parents judging by this thread. However that is by choice so very different- just one of us working now, again, through choice and we get no benefits at all. We have made choices that mean we have a huge mortgage but will end up with a house of course.

I could sit here and moan about this but our situation is incomparable with a single parents one.

theMoon, sadly she would- I get grants as a student (all means tetsted!), whereas I know several students under the cut off age whose parents say bugger off to supporting them, but have been assessed as should be doing so. Many have to give up Uni- its fine if yu're on some courses (freely admit, mone) which have a lowish in uni attendance requirement, but if you're doing- say- teachng or SW or many otehr vocatonal degrees, ahev to do a 40 hour week some in shfts, it can be imposible to get a job as well.

Victoriansqualor - TECHNICALLY their income might not drop if they go into work, but as has been discussed a lot on this thread, there are so many peripheral benefits/loopholes etc that on balance you CAN be worse off working, or at least HARDLY any better off than if you choose to not work. If someone is working a 40 hour week or whatever, contributing to the economy, they should see a significant difference between this and not working. If for example you stop having free prescriptions, a visit to the doctors and a couple of prescriptions will set you back over £12! The example I gave just now, of EMA is an interesting one. My DD has a good friend who lives with her mother who does a bit of part time work. The daugher receives £30 a week for staying on in the 6th form, even though she sees her father several times a week and he earns more than my partner and i do between us! How can anyone believe this is a fair system??
Oh btw yes MALO, I do agree with your posts. You talk a lot of sense! It's just been so manic on here I'm having trouble keeping up !!

Malo - sorry if you feel got at. I think the 'justification' issue came up because I responded to this post by you.

"The majority of these posts are defending their own situations - ie being a single parent and on benefits - and, quite rightly, justifying why they claim benefits"

I do feel you are making tabloid type generalisations though based on anecdotal evidence (e.g the your DH and the prescriptions), with little basis in actual fact.

Just suppose, that all the people classed as unemployed and claiming benefits on that basis be they male or female, mothers, fathers or not! instead of being at home, in the pub, working cash in hand, shopping, playing with the kids in the park, picking up kids from school, etc. etc. all had to attend a 'building' where they spent the normal accepted working week ie 37-40 hrs in return for the 'benefits'.

During that time they would be obliged to perform whatsoever duties deemed appropriate dependent upon their skills, or lack of skills, in order to receive benefits.

Non attendance would mean no benefit payment whatsoever for the period of absence.

A) How many do you think would suddenly find themselves capable of finding a better paid job ?

B) How many do you think would continue to 'work' to receive the benefits?

I realise no one can give figures, but would it be few or many?

Remember, this is purely the unemployed who are in receipt of benefits on that basis.

Peachy...I agree - this thread is not my 'property' but we're all entitled to have our say and I was only trying to justify my comments. Unfortunately it didn't work and I'm going to leave because that's obviously the best thing to do.

All I know is this....on the other side of the coin those on benefits should not assume that those that aren't on benefits are well off - yes we have a mortgage, yes we have a car, yes we have a nice house BUT we're permanently skint, have a big overdraft and various loans and we pay our debts with what we earn.

So whilst the majority of those on this thread have come on here to defend their reasons for claiming benefit, including single parents, and life being tight and having to watch every penny - it ain't a bed of roses for those that aren't claiming either!

Who would look after their kids where there is no childcare? Just imagine that?

malo, your comments made a lot of sense

now go and enjoy your coffee!

But then they are not the unemployed are they?

People in employment have to arrange childcare irrespective of the amount of income.

I'd love to have a mortgage.

I think quite a lot of people in rented accomodation would love to have a mortgage.

Sorry, I haven't got a huge amount of sympathy for people struggling because they are buying themselves a house. I do recognise that it must cut to see others with more disposable income ... but will they have a whole house at the end of it?

But if 'people in employment' suddenly lost their childcare, and couldn't find any more, what would they do?

They may have an interest only mortgage colditz!

No house at the end of the term, just a rather large bill.

Agree totally MALO - we both work full time and we still struggle. Not because we have a huge house/wonderful holidays etc, but simply because life in the UK these days is damned expensive when you pay your own way.

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We chose to put our 'disposable' income into a bigger mortgage... it's called investment and will be our pension. It would be mealy mouthed of us to them complain about size of said mortgage I feel.

You miss my point colditz.

If the benefits are for unemployment, then the recipient is deemed to be capable of working for the said hours.

Childcare is not a part of the unemployment criteria from a benefits point of view.

In other words just because you have children, doesn't mean you are entitled to unemployment benefits if you are NOT prepared to work.

You can have my mortgage any day colditz. It's interest only, so as nonametoday says, unless a miracle happens we'll just have a huge bill at the end of all this. Oh and the council tax, heating, lighting, water, repair bills ain't a bundle of laughs either.