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.

The helpful media campaign, the Government rhetoric, everyday people feeling the pinch, this all fuels peoples feelings, as they cast around trying to place the blame somewhere. The victims are usually the most defenceless, and have no power, or resources.

The helpful media campaign, the Government rhetoric, everyday people feeling the pinch

The media campaign is due to the Gov, you may have meant that. And people were meant to feel better off apparently, but aren't

Low Value JustEat Subsidisers

That's a mumsnet username waiting to happen, if I wasn't so attached to jason waterfalls I'd absolutely rename myself LowValueJustEatSubsidiser.

I've been thinking, how do you define 'better off'? Perhaps I'd be 'better off' jacking in my demanding job, going part time and relying on UC. I might not have more money, but I can live on reduced circumstances, have time to read, shop around for good deals, have som time for myself, more time for my child.

The country will have lost a net contributor, but hey, not my problem, someone will fund me...until they all decide to adopt the Frank Gallagher philosophy and do the same thing.

80% council tax reduction? It's less than 10% where I am!

I don't think people should be looking at benefits as a career move! Benefits are there for people who are unable to work or to top up those who are working and support those who are between jobs. If everyone just stopped working because they didn't like it society would collapse and there would be no benefits available to those who really do need them.

This.

Always makes me laugh when the 'squeezed middle' lament about paying in and getting nothing in return, because they 'bothered' to work hard and sacrifice for their 'better' job - and conveniently forget all the people they rely on in order for them to do that, who wouldn't be there providing that service to be used if they all went off to those better jobs.

They're only remembered when the subject of benefits is raised and specifically, in work benefits, and then the people doing those jobs for wages that need to be topped up because they don't pay enough, are told they shouldn't be providing that service at all but off not being a burden on the tax payer by getting a better job.

People have no issues with wanting, needing and demanding the services, and demanding they're done competently and by people who care about delivering it, but also saying people shouldn't be working in those services because of the low pay and expecting the tax payer to prop them up.

Talk about cognitive dissonance.

Because choosing to be a SAHP when you have a partner that is happy to provide this, is not the same as expecting tax payers to fund you sitting on your arse when you could work.

Are you likening SAHP to benefit frauds?

If I understand you correctly, your proposal for the poor to improve their situation is for them to work hard or study and move out of the jobs they currently do into better paid ones? So, assuming we accept the myth that everyone is equally able to succeed, regardless of personal aptitude, circumstances and levels of pre existing disadvantage, and all they need to do is work harder - where are you going to find enough higher paid jobs to go round? And how do you intend to cover the low paid work that needs doing?

So many of these type of threads now.Surely the points the OP mentions should merit a discussion on low wages making it similar to being on benefits?(BTW Im not on benefits!) We hear that 12.3 % of 18/24 year olds are currently not in work or training .Why is this ,when I was young , everyone wanted to work or felt they were expected to.Wages and conditions should improve or there is little incentive

You need to find a job you like Living on benefits is shite. It might be ok for a few weeks but literally there is no spare money for ‘extras’
Also, if you are fit to work then why should taxpayers pay for you to not work? People who do that are the reason for UC which is absolutely designed to be so awful that people will find a job. Those who genuinely need support (mental illness, physical illness) are losing out .

I think young people not working as much as they did previously is partly to do with how unprepared they are for the real world when they leave education. You ask children what they want to be when they grow up and many come out with 'YouTuber.' Have you seen these pathetic online videos of 20 year olds crying in their Tesco uniform because they have to start a shift!

The benefits system also needs a total overhaul. We can't have long term unemployed people who are able to work draining the pot. We shouldn't be rewarding and incentivising teen pregnancy by providing them with councils houses etc.

I'm inbetween on benefits certain things are free or you don't pay them.
You don't have to worry about childcare or holiday cover. Less stress from work politics rushing around.

So really with work the main thing is if you earn more either while still being entitled to something, or if you are over the threshold and then I hear people saying they can't afford to live.

I got a degree whilst ill.
But now I'm in the same position as many others, trying to move towards better paid work like the PP said we should.
But these people never say how, when there are so many people chasing the same few vacancies.

Have you seen these pathetic online videos of 20 year olds crying in their Tesco uniform because they have to start a shift!

TBF I feel like crying when I have to go and start my shift working with the general public some days and I'm in my late 40's.
It's frustrating and demoralising being blamed for everything from the weather to commercialisation for 12 hours a day 5 days a week by members of the public who do it because they're pissed off with life and you're a captive audience who can't defend yourself.

Agreed! But you aren't filming yourself having a tantrum to share it online. I see these videos and I just think 'Yeah, Welcome to the real world, you've got another 50 years of it yet!'

Agree. I have quite a few friends thar choose benefits as a lifestyle.
Rent paid, uc, children benefit, dla and carers allowance for 2 children. Plenty of holiday, nice car, one has 2 horses... its not doom and gloom as some portray

Absolutely it needs an overhaul. It needs to return to being a safety net for a small proportion of the population. The government would then have more money to pay essential unskilled workers better. We are still importing skilled labour. At the rate the world is skilling up it won't be long until it is turning to us to be making its low cost clothes if we don't keep up.

Carers allowance is valid if they have disabled children.

We all know these types of people. That is why no one believes this people would do anything to not be on benefits because it is so hard - we have known examples that prove that to be proved.

Having disabled children isn't a lifestyle choice, is it? Their parents caring for them is cheaper for the public purse than the state providing professional care.

It's also so much harder to get a job than when I left school. When I was at 6th form we were encouraged to get part time jobs. My DC were told not to as they needed to concentrate on school.
When I was at school there were options other than GCSEs for non academic kids. There wasn't for my DC. Friends of mine who left school with no/low grade GCSEs had options. None of these seem to exist now. So if you didn't do well at school you're screwed. Even shops aren't interested.

I have an ex who's on benefits, she has FAR more money than I do for working 30 hours a week. But, I have home security and assets and pensions etc...

The only people i know with this kind of life on benefits either have disabled DC/are disabled, or are on the fiddle.

Completely agree with 5128gap’s posts, and thank you for being so kind and understanding.

reading some pp’s comments about how easy it is to improve yourself / get a better paid job. It’s quite hurtful to read as someone desperate for a better paid job and has been trying so hard for years just to get a foot in the door of a career path.

Not all employers are willing to train you up and some jobs offer no progression. I self taught advanced Excel, and attended a coding bootcamp independently because my employer doesn’t offer those things. There is also an element of luck to be offered opportunities for your career.
You may think well why stay in a job without any progression - I’ve been desperate to leave, 100s of applications but when I apply for other jobs even if I meet requirements I still face rejections, and yes I’ve had my CV peer reviewed. I have above average grades and got a 2.1 degree with industrial placement but in todays job market doesn’t count for much.
Not everyone will get promoted even when you have excellent performance and feedback, and I wish it were as simple as moving companies (extreme competition).

My Mum left school without many qualifications, CV gaps due to being a trailing spouse and had children young. She was simply lucky to have supportive bosses, and worked for employers willing to invest in entry level staff. She even says she has never been career driven, never intentionally cared for promotions but was still offered them. She thinks I’m obsessive about jobhunting, and “it’ll all fall in place eventually” - easy to say when you’ve not been stuck in a job without prospects.