To think too many people are happy to live off benefits forever?

[BritishQueue]

Okay, I know this is a touchy subject here on MN, but I need to ask, AIBU to think that too many people are just choosing to stay on universal credit rather than work?

Obviously, I’m not talking about people who genuinely can’t work - disabilities, carers, etc (even though a lot of those who claim to be unfit for work are perfectly capable, and I’ve seen “carers” for people who don’t actually need any care…). But I know multiple people who are completely able-bodied and yet have no intention of ever getting a job. They say things like “it’s not worth it” or “I’d be worse off working,” and honestly, I don’t get it. I work full-time, pay tax, and yet I see people getting rent paid, extra handouts, and still managing holidays and luxuries I can’t afford. Not to mention that a lot of women think the government should subsidise their SAHM lifestyle.

I just don’t understand how it’s fair? Surely benefits should be a safety net, not a lifestyle choice? AIBU?

Yes. And too many men happy to steal other people's stuff instead of working for their own

Missing a flat screen tv and a couple of goats….

They aren't if you are disabled. Which as it turns out, millions of people in the UK are 👌

If you know people who fall not each of those categories, you need to look in the mirror and ask yourself ‘what type of circles am I mixing in?’

I don’t personally know anyone who is in any of those categories.

I would much rather the government do something about the tax dodgers, tax fiddlers, big corporations who pay a pittance in tax and the so called non-doms who fleece us all, make a fortune from the UK public and don’t pay a penny in tax.

I am on UC in the LCWRA group, and what you mentioned is what I am worried about too. The system is so binary - you are fit to work full time, or not at all
With the changes that might come in, if I am bumped off LCRWA (which I will be as I don't claim PIP) then the work search commitments alone will finish me off, let alone having to work full time too. I have only managed to work in the past with a lot of support.
My CV will have a massive decade and half gap in in, which is me trying to keep myself alive and fighting with my own head.

UC decimated this concept instead making people fall into one of two camps. Fully fit for all full time work, or they claim LCWRA and dont have the requirements. This is a massive fuck up on their part.

This isn't quite correct. There's a middle "layer" for want of a better word. LCW. Means you get no extra money like on LCWRA, but no work commitments beyond "preparing" for work. And, as far as I know, you can work part time on it. Or so my job coach says.

And yet all the people I know on universal credit work.

Watch he Dispatches : Britains Benefits Scandal and it some of the reasoning becomes quite clear.

We've got to a point people are better off on benefits and there are so many hurdles / red tape to get past the government have made it difficult.

Obviously, I’m not talking about people who genuinely can’t work - disabilities, carers, etc

The OP isn't talking about people with disabilities. Irrespective, basic disability benefits aren't going to give you a luxury lifestyle.

Yes, you can work on it.
Still the same as job seekers and not enough to live on at all.

I saw that. The people "better off" had disabilities. Have their money but have their health too.

Let me guess, you're one of the workplace bullies?

Do we get a prize if we are the closest guess?

I'm in for 6,346,728....

So you think ignoramuses guessing is more reliable than official stat's? Because "many" (the favoured word of the ignorant) is such a precise measure. 🙄

😄 good guess, definitely over 6 million

I bet if the fraud rate was something like 15%, then no one would say anything. It is because it is so low, it seems some people just point blank refuse to believe it. The figures do not fit their agenda.

So your source is "Trust me bro"

People always do whatever works. Regards of politics or system or footpath. It’s human nature.
If you live in a lovely leafy town it can be in your interests not to stick out as a twat milking the system ( in whatever way including profiteering/ tax evasion etc). If you live on min wage it’s handy to have a cash in hand job.
If you get benefits it’s sometimes more financially beneficial to stay on them.
Why would people chose to be worse off financially unless there was some other incentive?

Hi OP, I live in SE (Brighton and Hove) and see so many ppl in part-time work receiving Universal Credit plus Housing Benefit who are in line for significant inheritances and have credit cards that paid each month by well off parents. There is zero incentive for them to change their circumstances - and it all just feels like a massive scam.

Edited to say that by 'see' I mean that I personally know through school and friends of friends. They don't boast but don't try to hide it either. It's like they think its just normal / OK down here ??

I do. A local family - the woman has never held a PAYE job but manages to cadge all the benefits while working cash in hand cleaning. The husband quit his full time job when he moved in as it would have ruined her claim. I have no idea how they get away with it. Neither is disabled.

People on here asking for proof off Op 😂open your eyes. Look around you you’ll see it everywhere. Yes, it’s a generational thing & tips are passed down like family heirlooms.

It's always the middle class lefties that come on here and say those anecdotes don't count. What kind of gaslighting nonsense is that. You are told things you see with your own eyes are not true! Just because, darlings, in your middle class bubble you don't see and mix with those on benefits doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Us Working class people that see it day in day out, both parents picking up and dropping off to school because they don't work. People working the minimum hours and getting the rest topped up. Getting their turkey teeth done but the kids on free school meals. It very much does happen. We are more pissed off than you because we go to work do the right thing don't claim benefits and everyday see people taking the absolute piss. So stop telling us what we say isn't true because some stats say so, those stats that give the fraud rate aren't right because it only shows the percentage that have been caught not the ones that haven't. The system is also set up so people are better off to work less hours and get top ups. The more they work the less they get topped up. Those people aren't commiting fraud just using the system that's allowed them to do this. So yes the benefits system does need a big overhaul. No one is upset with those who fall on hard times but it should be to help people into work not to sustain a lifestyle of doing the bare minimum.

I don't know about you, but when I look around at people I don't get info on their financial situation.

She still works, albeit cash in hand.

You have no idea how hard it is to be on benefits if you haven’t got disabilities etc. My parents are on universal credit as my mum is disabled and my dad’s wage isn’t a lot so they get a top up. He’s self employed so his hours vary and often this means universal credit are on their case constantly.

so I cannot imagine people who have no limitations or disabilities trying to live off of universal credit ‘forever’ - you physically can’t with them on your case telling you to look for work. Again, my brother got made redundant and had to go on uc - they deemed him not looking for work enough so sanctioned him and his pay for a few months. It’s impossible unless you have limited capability on their for either you or your children, which again is disability - you cannot live off uc without a reason.