to think cutting benefits will increase crime

[everydaywonderful]

because people need money, you know, for food and rent and stuff. I'd be prepared to break the law before seeing my children without food, or homeless, wouldn't you?

...or you can pay for the train at all when earning a meagre minimum salary!

"Woke" or "snowflakes".

It's actually very insulting to suggest most of the population would take to stealing if they lost their job. It would never have even entered my mind that one person would do it, let alone to think most people would do it.

if it was the only way to pay your rent and keep a roof over your child's head, I am sure you would consider it

Evidently they are called ….@everydaywonderful

I don't have a low opinion of people on benefits at all. There is however a massive difference between people who have been in work and lose their job (I have been in that position) and who have a CV showing a work history etc., and people who have for whatever reason (physical/mental health etc) not worked or not worked for a long time. Group one is likely to find work quite quickly and easily. Group 2 - not so much. For every employer who is keen to take on people with health issues and disabilities (My DS is lucky enough to have one of these), there are 10 others who will put that application straight in the bin. It's perfectly possible to job hunt actively for 12 months and get nowhere, especially when you have transport and childcare in the mix. It's typical of people like you that you cannot envision scenarios where there are genuine barriers to someone taking on a job, and it's typical that your first impulse is punitive rather than supportive.

The only time I’ve ever committed a crime was shoplifting food at the self service checkout when my daughter was in and out of hospital and I was working on a zero hours contract, DWP refused to give me an emergency loan to cover me until I could claim UC. I didn’t feel bad about it at all and even if I’d have been caught I wouldn’t have felt bad although it’s not something I have ever done before or since that time.

So yes I think cutting benefit would almost certainly lead to more shoplifting type crime and wouldn’t be surprised if it pushed people into more serious types of crime too. I think People living in increasing poverty are also less like to feel particularly connected or sympathy to the more affluent in society as well which could increase other crime rates.

and personally I don't think you should feel bad about it, you were entitled to eat!

My DH goes to work on the train. Then walks the rest of the way. It's about 20 miles in and 20 miles back. He wants to work and enjoys his job. He works from home sometimes

Thats great that you live close enough for him to leave early enough to have time to walk to the train station and no commitments preventing him to leave that early, then its great he earns enough, in the job he loves, to make it viable to afford the train daily and then have the flexibility to be able to work from home, and then nothing prevevting him doing the same on the way home after work, it sounds like the job is ideal for him. Sadly, not everyone's job opportunities are the same.

You would have felt bad if it had become public knowledge that you stole or if caught and the police wanted to prosecute. With a child in and out of hospital, that’s seems a needless stress to put yourselves under when you most certainly would qualify to use a food bank. Not all food banks need a referral.

Working is always another way. I've never been without a job in my whole life. Sometimes I've worked more than one job to earn more money so I worked full time as a teacher, and I tutored a couple of students each week in the evenings and I examined A level papers twice a year. I would never consider stealing.

Companionate?

but not everyone can find a job. That is exactly what I am saying. its fine if working is an option, but what if there is no work?

The reality is that you can't just get a job instantly. You have no money, your child is hungry - are you not going to feed them til you have a job and get your first pay?

I thought certain companies were part of the guaranteed interview scheme. My son has a disability and that is how he got his job.

As in companionate love? Marriage? A bit weird.

Most food banks aren't open all week either. For all we know, she could have stolen the food on a Thursday and the next time a non- referral food bank was open could have been Monday. Should she have not eaten until Monday?

Oh, you sweet summer child.

I've completed applications where I exactly matched the job spec and I definitely made sure to tailor the application to show it. I'd used exactly the same bespoke computer systems to perform the same role. The only difference would be the location, being ten minutes away, rather than 40.

Guaranteed interview if you meet the minimum person/essential job specification and declare that you have a disability, they claimed.

Ha ha ha ha. 'You have not been selected for interview because you do not meet the essential criteria for the role'.

I ticked the fucking Disabled box, didn't I?

It depends on which day of the week she was born because if she was born on a Saturday we all know that Saturday's child works hard for a living, so there would be no need to steal.

Guaranteed interview does not mean guaranteed job, you know. Companies pay lip service and get away with it.

Look, I'm not saying that it is impossible for anyone with a health condition or disability to get a job. It would just be nice for some of the 'just get a job' brigade to acknowledge that there are people for whom the barriers to accessing work are considerably higher than they are for most. The playing field isn't level. We should be looking at levelling that and improving opportunity for all, not at more punitive benefit sanctions that will not work.

For all we know works both ways doesn’t it though?
For all we know it may have been a weekday, there may have been a relative to help, there may have been contacts at the hospital that could have helped.

My point was that not feeling bad in that moment could have been usurped by stress of being caught.

There are jobs out there for those that want them. Neither of my sons went to University yet both found a job and have never not worked for more than about 10 days at a time in-between jobs. My DD left Uni and got a job within a week of completing her degree even before she knew her results. My DH has always worked. None of us have ever found finding a job a problem. That might be because we took what there was and if we didn't like the job we carried on with it until we found something else more to our liking. There are Carer jobs in every town in the UK. The NHS is constantly looking for admin staff. Warehouses are always advertising as our shops like Aldi and Tesco. Some people just look for reasons they can't work and others look for work and make it work for them.

That could be said for anyone though. No one is guaranteed to get a job if they get an interview, but I'm saying that scheme helped my son to get his job.

I don't think anyone on here is saying that disabled people deserve to have their benefits cut.

I've been having a mental health episode since yesterday after seeing all that in the news.

Being trapped in my body with my mind is a prison sentence.

I've been through hell with DWP for 18 months waiting to be reassessed to be awarded PIP again. I got it 3 months ago and felt like I was just beginning to let go of some anxiety over it all then this.

I just think what's the point in carrying on.

But that is exactly what the Tories will end up doing. Disabled people will get their benefits cut, because a new policy will decide that they're 'not disabled enough'. Just as they have legislated that Rwanda is a safe country because they say it is, they will legislate that whole swathes of people are suddenly and magically fit for work. It's how they operate, instead of addressing the underlying reasons why people are long term sick, because that would require investment and a social conscience.

Anyone who thinks this government will implement this measure in a way that will genuinely help sick and disabled people into supportive work is smoking something that I would quite like a share of.