Nobody is allowed to choose not to work. Fed up of hearing this expression.

[girlfriend44]

I keep hearing people say people who choose not to work. Target them.
Nobody is allowed to choose not to work. I wonder if some people actually know what they are talking about?

Nobody is allowed to just lounge around and not look for work.

Able bodied people on UC who don't have a paid job are harassed all the time.
They will probably be attending interviews at the jobcentre once a week, where they have to provide evidence they are jobsearching 35 hours a week.

They can be sanctioned over any little thing.
They have to attend any courses they are sent on, even if they are useless courses. Non attendance will end in a sanction.

The staff can arrange interviews on their behalf if the employer has a tie up with the jobcentre which some do.
If it's deemed you didn't try hard enough at the interview, the employer can discuss this with the staff,and you'll be hauled up and sanctioned for not trying.

Those who think people choose not to work please be educated.
It's a hostile environment for anyone out of work.
Not every able bodied person can find employment.
Your not just allowed to sit at home and choose not to work though.

You'll have a claimant commitment and you have to provide evidence of jobsearching. 35 hours too.

I think alot of people who comment don't really know. Everyone is under pressure.
The days of just signing on once a fortnight and not having to.prove your doing everything you can have long gone.

My MIL definitely chooses not to work. She doesn't bother going for job seekers benefits - too much work and this would involve admitting that she could actually get a job if she wanted. Why bother when there are many more easier handouts to get?
She has claimed carer's allowance for relatives and various other people (and spent their money freely) - but does very little caring.
She's claimed benefits when working for herself and not really earning anything - basically doing hobbies that she calls jobs.
She is also a professional at making up illnesses and getting handouts from charities and the church. All while living in a 5 bed house that she now owns outright (having inherited a substantial sum from one of the people she 'cared' for) and going on far more holidays than we can afford.
That felt good to vent!

I come across MANY people who enjoy benefits as a life style choice and choose not to work. They are very good at making themselves unemployable. I believe work is good for the soul. Everyone has a part to play in society. If you don’t have paid work then voluntary work or no benefits should be compulsory.

There are plenty of people who choose not to work.

Yeah, well, some people choose not to work and are happy to put up with the mild harassment. Like my mate who decided to sign on for a while, and proved he was job hunting by applying for tens of jobs he wasn't even remotely qualified for. No one gave him any grief, it was all a bit of a joke to him.

Have you really never met anyone who just can't be arsed working and plays the system like a fiddle?

I don't doubt they are a minority but they absolutely exist.

People have made it their career to not work and claim benefits

we have to stop denying this. I was shocked when I was on maternity leave and then went on a to study how many people I met who never worked and many had no intention of ever working or working full time

I think some have lost faith in themselves and some are just lazy

Of course there are people who choose not to work OP. You can’t be that naive surely? Plenty of people fiddle the system

There are people who choose not to work, you are naive if you don’t realise that not everyone is honest.

Ive met families who are the 3rd generation not to work, dealt with persistent absenteeism where the parents say what is the point of studying, just go on benefits, others work cash in hand whilst claiming. One memorable person hasn’t worked since 1994 because there’s no point … they may have some medical problems but crucially I knew them well enough to know that they could be in employment, they chose not to.

Many claimants are genuine, but not all, and dwp doesn’t have the staffing to provide the 1:1 support needed to get long term
unemployed back into work

But isn’t being a mum a job in itself? Lots of full time mums not working who are supported by their partner and they aren’t forced to work. It’s only single mothers who a forced to find a job as soon as their children turn 3.

LOL at having to prove you've spent 35 hours a week looking for work.

I’m all for people choosing not to work if that makes them happy. Work can be hard, boring, stressful, and doesn’t always guarantee a standard of living that makes the hassle worth it. I would opt out of work immediately if I could too. It can be so hard to even get a job in the first place as well, more could be done to help university and school leavers find work.

I don’t think it’s fair to ask the taxpayer to fund the choice not to work though, benefits should only be a safety net for people who actually need them, not as a lifestyle choice.

I didn't say it was did I?
I am saying those days are long gone.
Jobseekers who are able to work and want support have to prove they are actively looking.

A family friend has been deemed “not fit to work” under UC. However works cash in hand jobs 5 days a week.

Lots of people would choose not to work if they could. We just don’t have the option! Benefits are for people who absolutely cannot work, not people who choose not to or have a flimsy excuse.

I give up. I will bow out now.

I have tried to explain that people who want financial support and have been deemed as fit for work will have a claimant commitment.
If no job at all, it's 35 hours a week looking for work.

You will have to keep an online diary of employers you have contacted etc and the results etc.
Always under the threat of a sanction and can be ordered by the DWP to go on useless courses at any time and apply for certain jobs where they have a tie up with the employer.

If you choose not to work and your not expecting financial support, fine you can do what you like.🙄

I have interviewed a number of people who had no intention of getting the job

Turning up late with no reason or apology, not presenting themselves smartly, not asking any questions or show any interest, no research done, and one even turned up with their McDonalds ffs

but they would have shown to their job coach they had tried looking

@girlfriend44 you keep on saying’for 35 hours a week’ as if the rest of us have no idea what that could possibly be like! You do realise that is not even full time work?

And this is part of the problem, people want sympathy for not working from people who are working their arses off for much longer than 35 hours a week!

ive not got sympathy in me…I’m too bloody knackered

A friend who is currently claiming does not spend 30+ hours looking for jobs, and hasn’t be pulled up.

I think the problem is your original post made a very broad statement of "Nobody is allowed to choose not to work" when I think what you wanted to say is if you want to claim job seekers allowance (which is only one of many benefits those out of work can claim) then there are requirements you need to meet.

No it isn't. Many mothers are forced to go back to work immediately after maternity leave in order to pay the bills. They don't get 3 years off to look after their children.

You’re right op. I suppose some DHSS offices are more efficient than others but most people deemed capable of work are expected to show they are properly looking.

And people are replying that, although that’s what should be happening, in reality it’s not. What actually happens is that Joe Bloggs trots along to the job centre, has a nice chat to the person about the weather, says he’s been googling jobs and applied for one or two, then trots off home. Whilst in reality he’s spent the day gaming, and an hour or two a week looking up jobs and maybe applying for ones he’s got no hope of getting.

Some people know how to play the system.
A friend went to school with DH in the 1970's.
Has never had a job. But knows what to claim.
I'm sure that a lot of people know someone who
has never had a job.

Not in England but in similar situation I've one sister who hasn't worked since her eldest child was 4 ( she's now about 34!!). Sister gets an illness benefit which is totally dubious and lives a great life swanning around the country. My other sister only works 24 hours a week part-time and claims she can't get more hours so she gets a welfare payment top-up while I know 100% her employer would give her more hours if she'd do them. It's a career lifestyle for some people not to work.