Dispatches- Britain’s Benefit scandal

[Sunnywalker]

Anybody watched this? It’s made me so angry. Some highlights include a company that can’t recruit an apprentice on 26k because sickness benefits would amount to 24k so it wouldn’t be worth it. 500,000, 25-34 years old on long term sick, a woman who has never had a FT job and claims 35k in benefits, this lady would like to work but says will never achieve the same income if she worked.

This country is bankrupt, public services crumbling! What is going on? Why isn’t there an overhaul!

Cracking bit of timing by ch4 again - the government couldn't have hoped for such a brilliant, policy supporting, bit of propaganda.

People should be able to sort themselves out. Why have we got a load of people who can’t even apply for a job, maybe we need to look at the education system if it’s churning out people unable to apply

@catzrulz I hear you. Apologies. Also got stage 4 BC here, metastasised to lung. It's no joke is it?

Not sure what the answer is re: benefits.

It really isn't simple. As has been seen previously, wages rises just fuel inflation, both supply and demand. People have more money so will buy more and pay more. Employers have bigger costs so raise prices. A double whammy. How do employers pay more when they're public sector - has to be paid for by higher taxes.

The NHS mental health system is not that helpful regarding getting people back to work. All it does not is attempt to keep people out of crisis and hospital. After that, you are discharged to your GP.

That’s great it helps you, but it certainly won’t help those who are not fit to work. The idea of forcing people back into work so they can be ‘productive’ is akin to workhouse times - archaic and massively unhelpful.

Especially considering the amount of discrimination in workplaces and lack of flexibility around reasonable adjustments which are needed in order to get people back to work. Often work can exacerbate physical / mental health issues, it’s certainly not a panacea.

Fund management house so wasn’t a single “area”. I liked to work late so I could see whole floor empty and the other empty floors via the atrium. IME people who do regulatory work do have v long hours and large salaries - given the risks that come with making a mistake in an
overly pressured environment and the potential impact on this to the wider company, I’ll never understand why the staffing in these roles isn’t doubled and with the pressure reduced, the salary lowered.

If you look at the UK Welfare bill for 2022/23 it was just over 42 billion. It's projected to be over 88 billion by 2028/9. So absolutely not sustainable, cuts have to be made.

Don't worry OP according to the papers Rachael in accounts is coming for disability benefits next . I agree though the benefits costs are unsustainable

Yes - it’s ironic that IAPT was literally created to get people back into work!

Because you can’t pay rent on a proper home seasonal farm work - you have to live in a bunkhouse with 8 others. Fine for a season as a young single adult particularly if the money goes much further “back hime” but it’s not any kind of a life.

I think she’ll be looking for another job if she does!

Utter crap for anything other than mild issues anyway. And my local one does not seem to offer anything at all anymore other than some online CBT.

Yes, higher gas, electricity or water bills, as being cold could exacerbate existing illness. The need to use the washing machine more than would be deemed average usage, due to incontinence, sensory issues, Ocd etc.

Yes, the system just doesn’t work and needs an overhaul.

(I am a mental health professional and I find myself recommending that people seek therapy privately if they can afford it, due to the dire state of NHS mental health services)

The problem is that when the benefits system was set up it was intended to be a safety net not a lifestyle choice. Thus when people say it’s not worth working and subtract the benefits amount from the wages they have the wrong attitude. If you can work, you should. If you can’t, be it short term or long term, the benefits system should support you.

This

It's just divisive rubbish that plays into the hands of Reform idiots.

Rachel Reeves has a long running and well documented axe to grind against disability welfare payments.

She'll deliver the budget cuts that the Tories never could and the people who would normally rally against them will fall deadly quiet. See also, wfa.

Yup.

Probably because you don't know how much they are. Standard allowance for a single person over 25 is £393.45 a month. That has to pay for all your clothes, food, bills... Wifi so you can look for work, petrol, MOT, insurance so you can get to job interviews. Even cover the part of your rent that the housing element doesn't cover. I'd say it's WAY too little.

A lot of jobs will be affected by advances in AI and technology, such as accountancy, engineering, science and research, information management. I imagine creative and service industries will be affected. It may take 10 years or so, but I think the old model is already changing. It might be necessary to think about what work people will do in the future, how can we be sure there will be enough of it, and how economies will be structured. I think there might be a lot more people requiring benefits if we don't prepare as a society and globally.

It's mostly pensions though. We can't exactly stop people getting older.

I haven't seen the show but you definitely have to look at how much people are getting after the housing element is taken off, because this is the amount they actually have to live on. The landlord will get the rest on sky high rents.

Cost of living has meant it is pretty impossible to run a home on a single wage so single people are much worse off either working or on benefits than those in couples or with children. Benefits has to be at a level that people can live on, otherwise there is little point in them. The incentive has to come from making work worthwhile and actually cover living costs without top ups. It isn't very nice to be working full time and still not have enough to live on because you happen to not be in a relationship.

Why do people always assume people choose a life on benefits.
I live of sickness benefits and I can tell ya I am far from well off I would much prefer to go back to my career that I grafted my arse off to earn well and so my children would want for nothing but unfortunately I have had to except that due to health reasons I'm probably never going to be fit for any sort of work again.

Actually I think it was so shiny Dave could show he cared and was putting money into cutting MH waiting lists. In reality it was crap and just meant nobody got anywhere near a waiting list because they’d had their CBT and were left until the next time they hit crisis and got referred back.