To think being on benefits might be better than working

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Is there anyway being on benefits is better than working? So much of day is spent worrying about work, working and dealing with office politics. I dislike work, and get no pleasure or satisfaction other than my pay. It’s got nothing to do with my job or team; I just dislike working.

I was thinking that being on benefits might not be as bad as people once thought. The main benefit would be not having to stress about working. With council tax, housing benefit and a hole host of other benefits, you could life a fairly decent life.

A return bus journey is £8 where I live. You have to work 30 mins just to cover your trip to and from work. You’ll work all month, live in a HMO and have nothing at the end of each month.

You don't get to just 'be on benefits'. You have to attend meetings and interviews for jobs all week, send in proof you are looking for work and can be sanctioned if you either don't do it or turn down a job offer.

I am now working but when on benefits the total as a single parent with a child was 1200. Rent is 600. Gas 100, electric 100, water, sewerage phone, Internet another 100. Rent insurance, life insurance, etc. That's about 1000

So you have 200 a month to run a car or pay for public transport. Pay any other bills. But your food, toiletries, cleaning supplies etc

So basically you either don't eat or get in debt

It really isn't a lifestyle choice

Seriously, you fell for this goady message 😂 as if they’re seriously considering this. Not one intelligent person really thinks this.

Yeah, it’s a life of Riley depending on benefits to live. Getting them cause your kid has epilepsy who can have a fatal seizure at any moment. Or for your daughter who was born with disease similar to crohns. The hospital appointments are such a laugh! Especially when you’re immunosuppressed yourself and catch everything going.. oh because your life of caring for others has now taken a toll on your health and you’ll have rheumatoid arthritis and struggle to move by 37. But it’s so bloody fun not having a job, a life, it’s great not leaving your home for anything other than the doctors or a hospital.

oh and don’t forget the perks of housing! You know the rent trap you get stuck in? Because being on benefits not only can you not save for a mortgage because they’ll dock your money.. but no mortgage lender will touch you will a barge pole! The renting sector is so overstretched, the competition is so fierce but all the viewings add so much enjoyment to your life! Then if you do find a landlord willing to take you on benefits they will literally shaft you. Making you pay £2000 a month and hand you keys to a home that gives you gas poisoning. It will have mice in the garage that will wreck all your belongings. But you can’t say anything cause revenge eviction. Then when you finally settle somewhere BANG the landlord sells have to find somewhere else with a huge increase in rent.

Yeah it’s a bloody wonderful life and I recommend it to everybody.

dont feed the small, minded trolls. Unhappy with your life? Change it. You’re not trapped like some.

This has to be a joke. I’m disabled and received a text this month from PIP saying they’re reviewing my claim 2 years before the deadline approved at my last assessment. It’s not easy living on benefits and I now have the worry that if taken away I will not be able to attend medical appointments and pay my bills. You’ve absolutely no stability and are treated like scum. Why the constant benefit bashing?

So when I do a 40 hour week with 10 hours commuting , solving problems, making a difference, earning my pay, managing my family around it, I think of people like you who are supported by my taxes, and feel it’s so worthwhile.

I'll be honest here. My partner works full time, earns around 30k, I work 2 days per week which is 12 hours and earn around 10k, we have 4 kids. We claim universal credit and recieve £600 per month, I'm guessing this is due to me working part time? If I was full time we would lose the universal credit, so what would be the point? I think we have the best of both tbh.

I think it is naive to think there aren't people choosing a lifestyle which leads to a reliance on the benefit system. The truth is if a young woman has a baby at 18 they will inevitably be given a council house and the means to stay home. Have another child every 2 years and the cycle continues. If the alternative is working 40 hours a week in retail just to live in a bedsit I can see why the former looks appealing.

I know of a couple with 7 children. The man in the couple works in a low paid job so a decent percent of their income comes from benefits. The lady in the couple has never worked. It might not be a life of riley on benefits but having 7 children you can't financially support IS a choice and if everyone did the same we would be in huge trouble.

The ones on benefits who have plenty of disposable income are usually either a. Earning cash in hand on the side; b. Earning cash through criminal activity; c. dating a drug dealer; d. Not declaring a partner who is contributing to the household, in my experience. Benefits alone without some kind of fraudulent top up are not enough to live a nice life on.

Does the 2 child cap not deal with this issue? Post 2017 you cannot just pop a baby out every 2 years as you suggest because you’d be deliberately putting yourself into poverty

Absolutely YABU

As someone long term disabled that has had to rely on benefits I can resoundingly say it is not better. And not just for money reasons.
You gain judgement by others, you gain stressful assessments, you gain times when the money stops completely while they change something which happens every few years.
You lose a job, the people you meet, the self worth, the autonomy, the money, the security of knowing you can look after yourself and your children. It's awful and stressful and I'm so glad that the system is there but my goodness it's a tough system to be in.

That's interesting. I work with a lot of clients claiming PIP and haven't heard of this happening ( early review). I wonder if this is part of the government's planning on getting stricter on disability benefits.

I had a baby at 19, still waiting for my "inevitable" council house 20 years later. I assume it's lost in the post with my free goat, flat screen TV and all the other things I apparently get. Goody. I can't wait for it all to arrive

I think you’ve missed the boat. 😂

Benefits should be set as a maximum of 75% of NMW.

You can't do that. national minimum wage is exactly that - the minimum amount of money that it is deemed a person can live on. So paying less isn't an amount that someone can live on.

It probably is, but PIP isn’t easy to get and targeting disabled people isn’t going to fix anything. They will end up killing people. Taking away my pip will not get me into work but actually make my conditions worse

I thought they already did that or not far off. Benefits cap is 20k or something, min wage will be getting on for 24k ish come April.

I am on benefits, and I worked out I am on about £5.40ph (based on 37.5hrs per week). That is way less than the amount you are suggesting.

Your idea wont work as everyone on benefits is on different amounts depending on their circumstances.

I am working and on universal credit. And if I could be in a position to completely come off benefits I really would.
I'm a single mom, my oldest child has ADHD and autism with that (she has called me 38 times in 5 mins while I have been at work), and childcare i am limited to the amount I can work as my children particularly my oldest needs alot from me.
And universal credit are still on my ass about increasing my hours or getting a second job. We have no disposable income, can't afford holidays ect. We're lucky enough my cousin has a lodge in Wales which she takes us to once a year for no charge, we just split the food bill. I dread every school trip away email as I have to save really hard and skip meals to be able to pay for those things. My kids do not miss out as I will go without but sometimes it's bloody hard.
So I would not recommend going solely on benefits, as I work and get benefits top up and I'm still stressed with finances and the fact the universal credit are always on my ass.
We are awaiting DLA for my oldest daughter, when she gets that some of that pressure will be off, as I can still work but claim carers allowance which means universal credit would stop hassling me so much

Probably? If you're able to get to a shop, able to write coherently and able to go out alone then what is stopping you from being able to do any form of job?

I am not even going to entertain you with an answer because it is none of your business. Whenever anyone asks me that, it gets very personal and nasty, and I am not going to go there with you.

What expense is a UC claimant going to be responsible for that's over 16k? That's generous IMO.

The thought of being anything other than a victim.

If everyone you talk to about the reason you can't work criticises you then I have news for you...