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.

Grow up!!!!
So you expect the tax payer to keep you simply because you dislike working? Why should we? I haven’t worked hard all these years and paid 34 years of NI to pay rent, bills and food for lazy people like you who are happy to sit around and sponge off the system. Benefits are for people who cannot find work, or are too sick to work, not for freeloaders!
The NHS is on its knees and our policing is almost none existent, that’s where our taxes should be going.
Stop expecting handouts, have some self respect and earn your keep. Your attitude is disgraceful.

Very possibly if you can get PIP or have kids. My friend gets 4k a month (single mother, several kids with autism) she’s absolutely better off on benefits than trying to work and pay for childcare. Don’t forget all the extra free stuff for UC or PIP claimants (our theatre and museums etc offer free tickets, grants from school for uniform, the zoo was £1 for those on UC, kew gardens if on UC 5 people can go for £1).

id like to add.. if you have kids who are poorly and they are in receipt of benefits, it is no cheap thing. This month alone here are my extra costs

• for my daughter with eosinophilic gastroenterocolitis and liver issues - vegan and alternative food, D Mannose supplements, £100 a week on tutors for the school she has missed due to her illness (GCSEs soon) the extra gas and electricity cleaning up her vomit, having extra showers, we use more soap powder and softener and cleaning products, we have to feed her multiple times as it comes up, replacing clothes and bedding that is stained or eroded with bile/runs. List goes on
• for my son who has cerebral palsy, ADHD/Autism and epilepsy - anti suffocation pillows (£50) they wear out fast), the covers for the pillows (£25 for a months worth!), a wobble cushion, sensory toys, more expensive food due to sensory issues, having to leave said cheap day outs because of seizures or sensory problems, the money it costs having a child in hospital for a long period, the list also continues here.

I hate everyone’s small minded opinions. I hate that it gets reduced down to you get all these benefits and perks when people have no idea what we go through, what extra costs are involved. And all those people saying holidays? We have just had our first holiday in 8 years. One! It’s a wonderful life.

You don't want to Work ?? If you are otherwise healthy with no reason to be on benefits please feel free to tell me why public money should be spent on funding your lazy arse. The system is there to support people who need it, job seekers and people who have disabilities and carers and can't work not people who just fancy some time off. If you are unwell I'd have no objection but you just sound bone idle.

I love that can support myself and that I’m not reliant on a government that might pull the rug out from under me and can change the rules at any time. I’ve felt this way no matter what I’ve earned. It’s a good thing to require no government support. I don’t envy those who are less fortunate.

But you asked the question! There are genuine people that can't work and deserve benefits (which you may be one of) unfortunately there are many MANY more that cheat the system and choose a lazy and dishonest lifestyle letting people like you and the taxpayers down.

Where's the evidence that many many more people cheat the system? Are you aware of how difficult it is for people to get benefits like PIP and how many people who are genuinely unwell who get turned down for that benefit? Same for Lwcra. Also just to add that there are people on Pip who work - the benefit helps some people stay in work. Same with adult disability payment in Scotland.

I got lwrca at the third attempt - it's not the easiest process to go through (mine is a temporary award for various reasons which is absolutely fine). I'm a member of a Pip support group on Facebook and that group is full of hundreds of people who have been turned down and who are having to go to tribunal. Yes I'm sure there are people who get benefits that they aren't entitled to but the other side of that is that there are people who should be entitled who get nothing.

Thing is, all those things can be true, it can at the same time be true that, particularly low paid people, can be better off on benefits . Somebody upthread did a calculation that if on UC and got a low paid (so completely normal job) you'll still get UC but be 55p an hour better off. So if you work 40 hours you'll be better off by £22. For for that £22 you'll be run ragged to childcare then slog your gut out at work all day.

Thank you!

Exactly! This is why the benefits system is on its knees. Working shouldn’t be a bloody choice. Unemployment benefit should be for people for an intermediate period between jobs if they lose their job through no fault of their own, sickness benefit should be for people who are genuinely to ill to work. I’ve never not worked, my parents always worked. My dad literally had a back breaking job and never once moaned. They worked so hard for a better life for me and now me and my husband work hard for a good life for me and my children

This post is just clickbait given the fact that if you are on UC and are fit for work you have to job search or risk a sanction.

45p an hour better off I believe as when you earn a pound - your benefits get reduced by 55p. Some people get an in work allowance which means they get keeping a certain amount of their earnings before the taper applies, single people don't get one.

Apparently in the beginning single people were going to get keeping the first 110 pounds of their wages before the taper applied and then George Osborne changed his mind.

Realistically yes you probably could survive on benefits if you have a valid reason for claiming them. The reasons stated above by you are not valid. Where’s your morals?

I'm unemployed at the moment and I admit I'm enjoying waking up with no plans. I'm not bored and could quite easily do this long term. I'm reading a lot, sorting out the house, making appointments for when they suit me and not my employer. I've had to cut down massively on spending but it's been worth it to have the time off after 20 years at my last job which got worse and worse.

However, I'm not claiming benefits. I haven't signed on as I'm living off my redundancy and don't intend seriously looking for a job until after spring so don't want to be answering to the job centre. I'm sure I'd feel differently if I was signing on and reporting to the job centre.

That's fair enough but again - single people on UC get just over 393 pounds a month. You don't live the high life on that

Just find another job OP. Getting and keeping benefits is a form of work itself. You don't have financial stability either and the stop starts / sanctions and being sent on courses will just do your head in in a different way.

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.

Could you imagine if everyone who thought this (because I can assure you you’re not alone in these thoughts) just quit their job and went on benefits. Stop the lazy defeatist attitude and go find a job you might actually like

Here come the gammons. 🤣

People who feel that “they are better off on benefits than working” are saying “I am very lazy and think others should have to pay for my lifestyle.

Basically trash humans.

Paid work is not the only way to feel purpose, pride and achievement. I'm currently unemployed. I have two volunteer roles that I love. I work hard at them and feel like my efforts are contributing to real change in the world. I wish I could dedicate myself to this work, I'm hoping to get enough experience to be able to get paid work in this area. That said, I'm not on benefits. I'm living off my savings from having worked non stop for many years and I am actively looking for work because my savings will run out soon. And as for benefits, you cannot live comfortably off benefits! Anything I would be entitled to right now (job seekers, which I'm not claiming for reasons stated by others - they monitor and seek to control how you spend your time) would not even cover half of my mortgage let alone bills and food. And I don't have a huge mortgage. If you have disabilities then you'd probably get enough in benefits to make ends meet, that's it. This idea that loads of people are choosing a benefits lifestyle AND living a cushy life is nonsense whipped up by the media and politicians who want us busy judging each other and not them. And the idea that anyone that doesn't work in paid employment is lazy and feckless is also a big fat lie.

If you are entitled to jsa I would personally claim it. The dwp get a bad rep but most of the work coaches I've had have been fine

Alcoholics can get PIP (non means tested and given on top of other benefits), so yeah, you can get a pretty satisfactory life. Anyone can fake alcoholism.

You clearly don't know how tough it is to get PIP making a comment like that

This! I worked at. Jobcentre and have also been the other side of the desk! Only one was fun and that wasn’t being jobless.