To think being on benefits might be better than working

[Feedup]

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.

Go on then...you'll see. The housing benefit would be for a room rate and probably won't cover a room if you're in an expensive area and you'd be surviving on about £70 a week. Under 25 it's £311 a month!.
We often see posts on here that seem very generous but they're UC for parents with rent in expensive areas, premiums added and PIP for often multiple disabled DC.
I've never claimed but was shocked how little a single person is expected to live on. It wouldn't even cover my current utility bills.

Unless you have a disability or repeatedly have young children you wouldn't qualify. You couldn't ever get a mortgage, afford a holiday or nice things, increase your wage. Your social life would decline. Your retirement would be living tightly still, and your mental health would likely suffer. There's only so much walking around free areas locally and watching TV that you can do before the novelty would wear off.

I’m certain my mother would have been better off in benefits than working when I was a child and she got divorced (not in the UK so different systems). Instead, she worked a full-time and two part-time jobs at times and still struggled.
However, she never considered not to work (and she definitely doesn’t love working!). I was working in travel when COVID hit and was furloughed for a long time. The novelty wore off quickly - not working is really only great if you have all the money to do what you really want to do and keep yourself busy that way (probably with a bit of volunteering thrown in). For my mental health it was horrible (and yes, I did volunteer to help with that and make myself useful).

If everybody saw the benefits of working and negatives of being financially dependent (nearly always on a man) then why are there so many people who choose not to? I don't mean temporarily btw, more of a permanent lifestyle choice.

It sounds like you need a change of career. Find something you get satisfaction from doing, because being on benefits is a constant stream of anxiety, pressure, loneliness and lack of resources.

So unless you like being at home all day without the heating on, eating poor quality food, seeing other people have fun, and turning your brain to jelly watching daytime free view, I really wouldn't.

As you can tell by my username, I am unemployed, and it is indeed shit.

But I disagree with the rest of this post!

Work has never given me purpose or a reason. It's a thing you do to pay the bills and fund the stuff that does give you purpose, for an awful lot of people.

I'm not sat around watching daytime TV, bored. I'm exercising, being creative, catching up on the million household/DIY jobs that mount up when working, reading, cooking good food from scratch, going for a walk at sunset every day...

Admittedly I'm lucky enough to have savings and unlucky enough to have a disability so my income is approx £40 a week more than I'd get on Universal Credit. So it's tight but not horrific.

I'm desperate to get a job, but not because I'm bored!

yes you get the office politics, but id rather be working , much easier

No thanks, I prefer my large rainy day savings pot, 2xcars, 2-3 holidays a year, indulgent hobbies and my own house which is heated as hot as I like in the winter.

What would you do with your time if you didnt work?

Find a way that you can get paid to do that, save up for a while (but under 6k! to get yourself a bit of runway and use benefits to transition.

🤔 look for another job

No. That’s too depressing.

Is it any wonder it happens people have children on benefits then they go on to have children on benefits then the next generation and so on

there are communities that it would be hard pressed to find anyone working

I do think this is a thread designed to be goady, but I think it hits a nerve because there is an underlying truth to the matter. People do choose to live a benefit life on purpose. Just because you would be skint or you would lie awake at night worried or feel like you are in times of uncertainty…doesn’t mean the next person will.

Everyone has different standards, and some people are quite happy to not work and just have their bills paid and scrimp in areas you yourself wouldn’t be comfortable with, some people are very happy to be at home all day or be lonely if it means they don’t have to endure the pressures of work.

Some people choose and do live on just benefits quite happily, fact.

Yeah you can't just "be on benefits" unless there's a reason like lifelong disability that prevents working

Despite what the newspapers seem to think

I don't think having to accept night time shelf stacking work or losing my tiny allowance that doesn't even cover healthy food would be better than whatever your current job is.

I think lots of people understand the fact that working life can be very very very shit - but they usually look at finding a new job, not going on benefits.

You need a better job not no job. The right job gives you a sense of purpose, belonging with likeminded colleagues, better life prospects, feeling of progression.
What job are you in and what would you rather do?
So many areas desperate for people. Just think about your interests and go from there.

Maybe you are bored. Could you try something different like working in a pub or restaurant if it's office work you don't like.

My parents never worked and I grew up on benefits. I guess my parents lived that carefree life you speak of - they got up when they chose to, worked cash in hand jobs when they could, drank every day but that’s all they did. I have worked part time since I was 14 and then full time since 21. I’d benefit life is so great, ask why I didn’t choose it?

If your on minimum wage and don’t see any career or salary progression then doesn’t benefits start to make more sense.

I work, and thankfully make a OK wage, but if I had to face the prospect of a life time of earning minimum wage for hard physical work….

Yes, I think you might be right. A different job.

🤣🤣🤣

I understand this feeling actually. My husband works 40 hrs a week in a factory for about 3p per hr above minimum wage, I work 37.5 hours a week in an office for a little bit more but still a low salary.
It's all well and good people saying they would rather work for the holidays, nice cars, heating over winter etc but we are working our backside off and can't have any of those things!
As much as mn likes to bleat about 'just getting another job' - it isn't so simple, my husband is 57 & dyslexic and has only ever done manual labour, what better job is out there for him?
He also has health issues so needs me to take/pick him up from work (has a medical issue meaning he can't drive!), this limits my ability to find a different job as I need to be available at specific times for my husband, even if I did find something it wouldn't pay me more than I am getting for my current admin role.
It is hard not to dream about there being zero pressure to get up in the morning (my alarm goes off at 4.45am 5 days a week) and spending the day at my own pace. I could happily fill my time pottering around cleaning, doing DIY, reading etc.
Obviously I am not going to ditch my job and go on benefits (I doubt OP is either) but it is hard when work just about covers the bills and not much else.

It is hard working for very little and your situation sounds hard on top of that, but you wouldn't be trading it for waking up at your own pace and pottering around. You'd be trading what you have for a precarious situation where you may have to spend 30 hours a week doing job search and getting constant knock backs and worrying if you've done enough or they'll suddenly cut off your payment and leave you with nothing for a couple of months before they hopefully finally fix things. If you have to move no one wants to rent to you. Longer term you're at the whim of the government of the day and you have to deal with the social stigma of not having a job and being on benefits. The life on benefits many people picture isn't the reality.

Only if you actually have no idea of what life on benefits is like. They don't just let you relax and sleep in and do what you want. Sure some people successfully game the system but for most able bodied people it's very little money, endless job search and knock backs, social stigma, precarious finances wondering if this month they'll decide you haven't done enough and sanction you. Its finding it hard to rent because no one wants to rent to someone on benefits. Long term not working and being on benefits effects mental health and self esteem. Long term you're at the whim of the government and its very hard to get back into the labour market once you've been unemployed with no reason for a couple years.

So if everyone say around on benefits there would be no pubs, mortgage/rent happening so no houses, no devices to come on MN, we would all have to grow our own food and somehow make our own clothes, no schools or hospitals, road's, public transport nothing really