Are we morally obliged to work ?

[Justthisonce12]

630,000 economically inactive people in the UK not claiming benefits. Early retiree’s I guess.

Hunt plans to tackle this and encourage work force participation to allow businesses to grow. ie cheap labour I presume ? But also preventing a brain drain.

Will be interesting to see how he plans to address this.

Childcare costs are the reason i am becoming a sahm. I actually like my job but spend all my wage on childcare

People who aren't claiming benefits are providing for themselves, by some means.

Bang on. Absolutely this. Instead of a 'square pegs, round holes' approach, it would make far more sense to try and assist people say, with disabilities to find work that it's appropriate for their situation or helping people who want to work more but are screwed by the benefits system.

Lots of people saying I don’t claim benefits so it’s no one’s business that they don’t work:

1. They are still taking out of the communal pot eg driving on roads someone else is paying to maintain and using the NHS
2. Who do they think should be paying for people who can’t work?

*Lots of people saying I don’t claim benefits so it’s no one’s business that they don’t work:

So how would you encourage them back to work? I accept that I'm essentially taking the piss with the tax payer funding degree number 3 whilst I'm a sahm (doing voluntary work and working minimal hours) but given I'm married to someone who doesn't want me working full time because it might inconvenience him (he earns a lot plus has "family" money) I'm not sure what sort of measures would need implementing to force me back to a full job.

Personally I don't feel guilty because had the NHS been fit for purpose and diagnosed/treated my postpartum psychosis in a reasonable time frame, I would have never have lost my job in the first place. Instead I almost lost everything and I doubt I'll ever have a "proper job" again.

You have to pay road tax, fuel duty if you drive regardless of whether or not you work.

Someone else may have mentioned this but you can apply for PIP
it's not means tested so your husband's wage won't count.

If people have private income and don’t want to work that’s up to them, provided they’re not claiming benefits they’re not entitled to, I can’t get too worked up about it.

It’ll only become an issue if people cash in their DC pension pots and spend it all, like a PP’s DM on here the other day.

You know what else our society relies on? People with the time and money to do volunteer work, caring, child rearing, and so many other unseen and unpaid things. No one has any moral obligation to work if they don’t need the money and frankly we would fall apart if everyone were made to work.

@LauraIAm you don’t have to work to pay tax! All income is taxed, whetheror not it comes from employment or investments. Everyone pays VAT, road tax, council tax etc.

I work full time because I have to. It’s what keeps me in the current lifestyle. If I have unlimited money I won’t be working at all.

If they want to recoup some money why don't they increase tax on the billion £ corporations who aren't paying their fair share. Why aren't they closing the loopholes for the mega rich stashing their cash elsewhere to avoid paying up. How are these not feasible options but increasing the retirement age, forcing people into work even if they aren't claiming benefits and increasing taxes on people already struggling are?

And pension beyond the basic allowance is taxed too. So any pension (including the state pension amount) over £12,570 is taxed.

This. I’m totally disabled and cannot work. But I’m still a net contributor. The only benefit I receive is PIP. And I pay more in income taxes on my private disability pension than I receive in PIP. Not even everyone who is “economically inactive” & disabled is living off the State.

Absolutely

Most people on benefits do caring work or voluntary work, which is essential to society and wouldn't get done otherwise. I imagine a lot of those not in paid work nor on benefits are also doing essential work of some kind.

Of course everyone is morally obliged to do what they can to support others, but this doesn't mean by doing paid work necessarily (much paid work, after all, is very destructive, to people and the environment, so is very immoral indeed). You could (were it legal) live on benefits and do far more good volunteering or looking after children or relatives than you would working in many well-paid jobs.

This.

People pay all sorts of consumption taxes - VED, VAT, fuel tax, tax in alcohol etc so they are still paying for the roads they drive on. And some people are lucky with their health and so don't use the NHS. Or aren't, but have private health insurance.

People should work if they are able to.

Who do they think should be paying for people who can’t work

The younger workforce who still need to work to pay their mortgages/rents?

And pensioners who pay income tax.

And people who don't work often pay income tax anyway.

much paid work, after all, is very destructive, to people and the environment, so is very immoral indeed this is also very true

And many people retired on decent enough pensions employ cleaners, gardeners, taxi drivers. Eventually Pay for carers. Etc.

Who do they think should be paying for people who can’t work

Anyone except them.

It's the same on any MN thread talking about the economy, incomes, etc. There are plenty of people who are certain that group X and group Y should definitely get more money but no one thinks they should be the one to contribute more to fund it.

My DH and I are 53 and 55 and don’t work, don’t claim any benefits, pay a lot of tax so are contributing to society and we have private health cover.

This is me. I’m mid-40’s, highly qualified and quit my role 18 months ago. Was taxed at 45% and the stress of my role relative to the take home pay meant it was one reason of a few why I decided to jack it in. I have savings and don’t claim any benefits. I’ve been doing volunteer work and spending time with my family instead of working 80 hour weeks and being away for weeks at a time. I will go back at some point. I realise I’m lucky but it’s all relative, my work was v hard. Not as hard as some, but much harder than others.

There’s an irony on MN that another thread is asking about using £30k to pay off a mortgage and claim UC. This is a SAHM. Lots of ‘well you’re entitled to it’. I went back to work (as so many do) and paid a shit load of tax so people like that can ‘chose’ to stay home and be topped up, so don’t think anyone needs to be telling me about ‘paying in’.