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

[newnails]

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.

"a hypothetical argument which actually makes a great deal of sense, i.e. that PEOPLE WHO CAN WORK BUT CHOOSE NOT TO SHOULD MAYBE NOT AUTOMATICALLY BE GIVEN HANDOUTS FOR DOING BUGGER ALL."

This does not make sense at all, considering that a system is actually in place that does the job much better than this ludicrous suggested 'idea'

This really is a case, of people assuming far too much and not being in possession of facts.

If you put forward an idea though as 'this is the solution I've thought up to a problem we should as a society/the government/or whatever do this as a solution to unemployment' you surely expect people to say 'well I don't think this would work, what about this aspect, who will qualify/what do you propose to do about this, that, the other?
If youv'e not thought through it properly, or indeed looked up much about the current system before suggesting a replacement, I think people are going to challenge your idea.

no its not straight forwrd for people to work - but boo fucking hoo.

get a childminder - sort shit out - most of us have to

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LMAO at free babysitters! Perhaps Kerry is referring to respite care for people with disabled children and thus claiming benefits.

You don't have to be on the bread line to be claiming benefits. There are mant types odf benefits. Higher rate Disabled Living Allowance for instance means there is a bit more money coming in and makes life a little easier. Downside of course is that someone in the family has to have a significant disability to be entitled to that.. You can do very well indeed on benefits if you claim DLA under the Special Rules.. downside of that of course is that you are considered not to have more than six months to live!

New nails, if it makes you feel any better about these grants that people are on benefits are entitled to at Christmas.. it equates to a ten pound Christmas bonus. Which doesn't even buy the turkey in most cases. Perhaps you weren't evesdropping closely enough.

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Well said custardo. I'd much rather not have paid about 95% of my hard earned cash on nursery fees for my kids when they were small. I'd rather be able to have breakfast with my kids rather than leave for work before they're up in the morning. I'd rather not have to mark 3 more sets of essays this afternoon(which is why I keep sneaking back on MN when i should be working - stop me someone!!!) but hey, join the real world of being an adult.

so who was looking after your children if you were leaving for work before they got up, inthegutter?

Because when I was leaving for work before my child got up, I had a partner, and he was looking after them.

I no longer have a partner, and no longer have the option to leave them happily asleep in their beds while I work - or I would.

Couldn't reply earlier.

Those who have taken offense at my postings have clearly not read them properly or chosen to misunderstand what I said.

In very simple terms.

If you are drawing unemploment benefit on the basis that you are available to work, then you should do the work that is available irrespective of whether you are better off not working.

If you are drawing unemployment benefit and are not prepared to work, then you do not deserve any benefit.

Why should people who are working support those who chose not to do so?

And yes, the 'building' was used to illustrate the point that if people are not prepared to find jobs then they should in my opinion do something in return for the benefits they receive.

People who are in paid employment do not get paid for doing nothing, so why should the unemployed be any different?

In response to Susie Cutie - do you think what this person is doing is right?? That she IS working, but NOT paying tax (and never has as this is her first job as she left school, had children, looked after them and then has worked in this job for 10 years or so......I am sure her Mum, Dad, sisters and all those in her famly that HAVE paid taxes are thrilled that she is abusing the system in this way I dont think its fair to defend someone who is breaking the law so flagrantly. This is not a slanging match about single mums so dont take it so personally! No one is suggesting that people who need it shouldnt have it - at least I havent, so dont group me in with them (which is your argument too is it not?

And believe me I will make a call about her, as I think its disgraceful. I never said I was hapy to sit on my laurels and let it happen, you just assumed.

MALO - no I am not happy about it. Benefits should be there for people that NEED it. They are welcome to it and I am happy for my taxes to be used appropriately. I may need it some day, so might my children, but I hope to god they dont pretend they are something they arent to get money given to them. Again, the system is at fault because if it were policed better, there would be more for the people who need it.

KerryMum, please read my posts properly and do not read you in this response you as 'you' personally.

UNEMPLOYED = Not working

Claiming benefits on the basis that you are prepared to work = Accepting work that is available (even though you can get as much money for sitting on your backside doing nothing)

"LMAO at free babysitters! Perhaps Kerry is referring to respite care for people with disabled children and thus claiming benefits"

not really sure why yo are laughing your ass off it is free babysitting (as in you dont pay for it) for people who claim benefits (as in they dont work for whatever reason)

judging by the fact no-one on here has heard of it i take it that its not something that is common, but it is not respite care for people with dissabled children.

a close friend of mine recives free respite care for her twins, one of which is severly disabled so i think i know the diffrence. she spends much needed valuable time with her oldest dd during this respite, not up the town in bars like what the people i know of who recieve the free babysitters do.

Nonametoday, I'll ask AGAIN. do you mean just JSA or IS also?
and if you mean IS also where are the kids when the mum is in 'the building?'
and as Kerrymum and others have asked what ere they doing in the building. education? training? litter picking? assembaly line work? community service? what?

also i cant believe this is still going on, no wonder newnails never came back.

her op sonded like someone who was venting after struggling to buy xmas presents, she cant have expected this to kick of so much.

Sorry for LMAO but really, a free baby sitting service does not exist! People do get subsidised childcare in some circumstances.. but there always has to be a perceived NEED; problems within the family, illness; helps with parenting skills required (the children are in daycare while the parents do a parenting course). It's not just a case of being able to shunt your kids off somwewhere because you aren't earning!

I DO see that it can be hard to accept that some people are working their arses off and still have little in the way of disposable income while other families seems to getting along quite nicely thanks on benefits.. but you have to put the resentment aside. They are either cheating the system (more fool them!).. have an extra need (maybe a disbaility/illness you may not be aware of.. don't envy them that) or a just budgeting exceptionally well and not living on credit. (Good for them!) You (no specific person.. whoever!) should also bear in mind that while you may have little money to spare, you are probably paying into a pension, have life insurance, etc; you are protecting your future in all kinds of ways that benefit claimants will not be.

FOR FUUUUCKS SAKE.

Income Support is paid to those who the state deems UNABLE TO WORK. This is not the same as being lazy or unemployed. The state has a responsibility to ensure that lone parent families do not starve. It is a fucking pittance - £59 weekly for an adult.

JobSeekers Allowance is paid to those who the state deems capable of working, and there are conditions attatched to a claim. It is also a fucking pittance.

Incapacity Benefit is paid to those who the state deems too ill to work. This is slightly less of a fucking pittance, as it rises to £77 a week after 6 months of claiming.

Anyone who is still banging on about single parents 'living the life of Riley' and having flash cars and holidays, or about a return to the workhouse, is talking out of their arse. You think its so wonderful, you get over to my house and help me decide if I can afford to put the fire or the washing machine on before the elctricity runs out.

I'm on Incapacity and it's actually £196 a fortnight after a while, which (compared to the £1400 I used to earn a month) is a pittance, believe me! It winds me up when people assume that people choose the benefit over work. Who in their right minds would choose a monthly income of £400 over £1400??

Oh you know, all us lazy workshy single parents who pop out babies for the extra benefits, and all those stupid twats who have the very cheek to be too ill to work.

Its the Life Of Riley on benefits you know.

People who claim income support for years to come with just carry on claiming income support until they die. They don't need a pension, the benefits system doesn't allow the elderly to starve to death.

What more, if a working person requires nursing care in their old age in England they will be expected to sell their house and use up all their savings to pay for it. If I need nursing home care then my children will inherit nothing.

A long term benefits claimant gets all their nursing home care paid for by the state. What do they need a pension for? It pays to be lazy slut.

The state pension is a joke, saving for an occupational pension is a lot of money. I put in 6% of my salary. Many lowely paid people cannot afford to save for a pension. An elderly person who have saved money in a pension scheme loses all the benefit of their hard work through means testing.

fear not everyone i have the perfect solution,

bring all the irish over here to live with us, then hunt down all the work shy lazy feckers who cant suppoert themselves, take them half way over the irish sea then tip them in the water, those who make it to the emerald isle get to live of the land, those why swim back to blighty get shot

Right well the State Pension is about 330 a week more than Income Support, so if you think its a joke then you must agree that Income Support is also a joke?

Not a very funny one though.

That would be £30, not 330.

My dp is selling his car at the mo and cycling to work as we will be unable to afford our mortgage payments after Christmas otherwise....he is bloody shattered after a day's work and yes I need the other car to get to college as I am trying to retrain to do a job where I am not sitting down all day BECAUSE I WANT TO WORK AGAIN . I am not entitled to any help towards college fees and so have to find the 4-600 a year out of the incapacity payments.

Incidentally I am in this state because of botched operations to correct a degenerative spine and so my illness is not a choice and I continued to work for 4 years in terrible pain before finally admitting defeat and claiming the benefit. I don't look ill by the way and I rarely limp but am in pain all the time, alot of people seem to think you need to be in a wheelchair to be a valid claimee which is not the case....