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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to not want people to judge those who recieve benefits????

572 replies

TidyTink · 18/02/2008 21:21

Im a single mother of one,

i was working up until my DD (3) was born, rather than take a part time job that i knew i would always be stuck in i decided to get to college and study asubject that will lead me to a very hard working and well paid job so that i can fully support my DD in the future.

I hate recieving benefits and cannot wait untill i have finished my degree

Once i start at work i will be paying enough taxes in the future to more than cover the benefits ive recieved over the few yrs.

So why does everyone assume your a complete waste of space?? not all of us take advantage of the system!!!!

OP posts:
southeastastra · 19/02/2008 19:49

having nearly spent £150 on various prescriptions/dental treatment this month, i really am pissed off those on benefits can pay owt and get it all for nothing. but of course i wouldn't post that on here.

misdee · 19/02/2008 19:52

not always true southeastra. peter came out of hospital, no nhs dental treatment, had to pay over £300 on root canal treatment just before xmas.

btw there is a health form (hc 11 springs to mind but could be wrong) you can apply for which is yearly payments for perscritions, if you have a lot of them in a year it can save you bucket loads.

Original poster
TidyTink · 19/02/2008 20:08

And how exactly does others not paying for their prescritios affect you???

I cant remember the last time i got a prescription except for my daughter and thats free anyway, to all those under 16!!

OP posts:
Original poster
TidyTink · 19/02/2008 20:09

Was supposed to say prescriptions

OP posts:
southeastastra · 19/02/2008 20:10

er i just said because i'm £150 down and they aren't!

Original poster
TidyTink · 19/02/2008 20:11

Well wat on eearth have your bills got to do with anyone else, theyre your business!!

OP posts:
expatinscotland · 19/02/2008 20:11

Maybe because, sea, people on benefits, all of which are means-tested except DLA, don't have £150 to spend on prescriptions in a month - it's not an issue of being pissed off about that, it's just a matter of not having it at all.

misdee · 19/02/2008 20:11

here

expatinscotland · 19/02/2008 20:13

they aren't?

i know lots of people on benefits who are way more than £150 down.

who got into heaps of debt after being made redundant and didn't want to go on benefits until they literally no longer could afford rent or food - maxed out credit - because they didn't want to deal with peoples' bad attitudes and the stigma.

southeastastra · 19/02/2008 20:13

i don't have it either! am allowed to be pissed off about it.

Original poster
TidyTink · 19/02/2008 20:14

you shouldnt be pissed off with others for your situation!! its certainly not my fault you spent £150 is it!!!

OP posts:
expatinscotland · 19/02/2008 20:14

then how did you get them? surely the chemist didn't allow you to walk off the premises with them for free?

Karen999 · 19/02/2008 20:15

I think it's all to do with the misconception that people on benefits dont deserve to be. Tbh I dont have a problem with benefits - lots of people dont have a choice. I know many like this, however I also know of people who claim benefits but really shouldn't. It is these people who make it harder for the geniune cases.....

NumberSix · 19/02/2008 20:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

expatinscotland · 19/02/2008 20:16

funny how people are all pissed off about people on benefits and not private shareholders walking off with far more than £150 of tax payer money or fat cats who paid people to get out of paying much tax at all.

sherby · 19/02/2008 20:17

No YANBU

We have been on benefits for over a year now and hopefully DP will be going back to work soon.

I have never felt so small and degraded as some of the occasions I have had to spend in our local housing office. DP has to go to the benefit appointed GP twice every 3 months to get checked that he is still eligible for his benefit. We had a review the other day when somebody came to the house and went through our bank statements, child tax forms, lease agreements etc etc.

It is utterly shit living on benefits make no mistake about it.

Oh and we got overpaid our ctb this year to the tune of £300. Which we now have to pay back by April. Funny how we can't pay it back over a year like they paid it to us

NumberSix · 19/02/2008 20:19

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

southeastastra · 19/02/2008 20:19

oh i'm pissed off with most of it.

skidoodle · 19/02/2008 20:24

About a month ago on the radio here there was a phone-in show about the high numbers of people on incapacity benefit (around 10% in these parts).

They had a very good man on from some agency who explained that far from being benefit cheats that by far the majority of these claimants were entitled to their benefits.

Now I can quite see that there may be arguments to be had about when one should and shouldn't quality for IB but that's not what happened.

Instead there was just a constant stream of phone calls of people calling in to complain about people they knew who were getting things that the callers felt they didn't need.

It gradually became clear that many of the complainers were in receipt of IB themselves. They didn't feel that THEY were taking the piss or getting stuff they didn't need, but they were more than happy to point the finger at their neighbours for the same.

It fascinated me, although I'm not quite sure what the lesson was.

I think it's very important in the UK to remember that for many people who are on benefits and have dependants the marginal tax rate for going back to work is so high that it doesn't make economic sense. It's pretty unreasonable to call people lazy for making a perfectly rational decision that working will leave them no better off than they currently are. A better and fairer system of taxation and an end to the ridiculous tax credits system could go some way to giving people more choices.

NumberSix · 19/02/2008 20:24

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

kerryk · 19/02/2008 20:25

I dont think anyone would have a problem with people who really need benefits claiming them, its people who make it a lifestyle choice that get peoples backs up, and they are usually the ones who live the high life.

example-dh and i have been saving like mad for years to get a good deposit for our own house, we went to see a lovely new build a few weeks ago but after a lot of talks we realised that we would never be able to meet the mortgage payments and lead a decent life. a few days ago one of the mums in the playground drops into conversation that she is moving into a house in the same estate we were looking at and of course is getting it all paid for.

she has never done a days work in her life but as she managed to get pregnant twice to people she cant remember (so therefore cant get csa of them) she gets everything handed to her. before anyone says what makes me think i deserve a nice house more than her i dnt think that i do, but it still pisses me of because dh and i fell like we work hard for bugger all.

Original poster
TidyTink · 19/02/2008 20:25

one day sea, you might be in a situation where you may need government help, not all of us are lazy layabouts and i dont think anyone enjoys living off the government!!! (at least not decent people)

OP posts:
NumberSix · 19/02/2008 20:27

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

southeastastra · 19/02/2008 20:28

you're taking it too personally tidy. i feel like we're working hard to bugger all too

southeastastra · 19/02/2008 20:28

for oops

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