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?

Quite a few posts about dc in the same position on here. It’s really concerning. I feel for them.

I would love to do CM. Would be ideal for working around my own childcare.

Unfortunately, my tenancy contract wouldn’t allow it. I can imagine the majority of people on benefits would be renting so would face the same problem. Might be different for council housing.

Living off benefits is soul destroying. Especially if you can't help it if you have an illness that prevents you from working.

My DP earned good money, now we take a 5th of what he earned. We have to pay bedroom tax and every other fucking thing and UC want me looking for work and don't leave you the fuck alone if you are capable. IE not dead!! So not everyone loves it.

These threads always go the same way. Lots of people telling stories about things they have experience in their own family or circle of friends, and loads of other posters piling in to tell them they are making it up, and that everyone on benefits is as honest as the day is long and wouldn't dream of playing the system. 🙄

I don’t know if my comment will get seen amongst all the others.
I come from a family where neither side has kept sustained employment and essentially never worked for generations so I can offer some insight, but I am trying to do better than them with what I’ve got.
Where do I start?
When you’re poor you can’t buy enough healthy food. So you can’t think straight and will get mood swings. It looks like ADHD.
you’re in poor health and your mind is chaos. So your mind is full of clutter and likely so is your home. Things that don’t work, things that are broken and things that have worn out or don’t fit you any more. Maybe your home isn’t very comfortable to live in. You’ll live in a deprived antisocial area without much opportunity. You won’t have many nice things or much to look forward to. You’ll have mental health issues from the subconscious messages told to you because you’ve fallen through the net and have a poor quality of life. It is then hard to get out of the trap of self destructive behaviours. It kind of spirals from there. sometimes if an opportunity to improve their lives or work comes along the damage has been done and they’re not in a fit state for it for whatever reason. It is incredibly difficult to work

Why not pack your job in and live on benefits then? I am sure that some of the myriad of people you say you have seen with your own eyes milking the system would advise how to go about this.

I agree OP. But those who do so are not going to come on this thread and gloat.

I would like to see the same level of scrutiny applied to the extremely wealthy in our society (who I consider to be those with more than £10 million pounds of assets). I would like to see a wealth tax levied on such people, to facilitate a more equal society. I don’t deny there may be a problem with people claiming benefits as a lifestyle choice, or fraudulently, but we are never going to solve the fundamental issue of inequality and all the problems that flow from it without taxing the wealthiest. Note I am not saying the highest earners. I think workers pay enough. I’m talking about the wealthy, who aren’t taxed at anything like the same level as workers. I think we should tax wealth, not work.

I’d say living on UC isn’t quite the doddle you think it is OP. Why not try it. And to add, I’ve never known a single person who has opted for this lifestyle (or lack of) and I’m in my 60s

I had a snotty sahm waffle on about it when she knows I’m on UC. I pointed out, I actually worked when I was married and had young dc unlike her.
Should she divorce, she would be in the same situation.
In her next breath she was boasting about her mortgage being paid off and their next holiday. 🙄

Yanbu. We need to drive a LOT more people to be net contributors. That’ll need some carrot but also a whole other of stick.

This ^ Tax the assets of the super-wealthy.

✅ I’ve seen it with my own eyes
✅ I know a family who have loads of kids and never worked a day in their life
✅ they’re faking their disability and I definitely know that’s true
✅ bloody foreigners claiming benefits and gaming the system
✅ tax-payers are sick of propping up scroungers and layabouts
✅ you can just pretend to look for work and you’ll get paid loads of benefits
✅ why should people on benefits get as much as me when I work full-time - I should just quit and claim benefits instead
✅women just don’t want to work
✅ I don’t mean genuinely disabled people (but then goes on to blast every disabled person they know as faking)
✅benefits are a lifestyle choice

I’m not 100% certain but I think we might have a full bingo card here?

"Not everyone on benefits is a scrounger ...". Indeed, very few people on benefits are "scroungers", with overpayments due to fraud being just 2.8% of total welfare benefit expenditure. (Source: Hansard)
I'm so glad your DD is volunteering - it will help her self-esteem and mood and may even lead into a paid job. Please wish her good luck from me! 😃

It’s very tricky isn’t it. Are there actually enough jobs for everyone?

I wonder if the government should create a few more jobs where people can contribute to society and earn money but it be more suitable for those that are not able to get a full time job. Perhaps part time or flexible or working at home. Reduced hours and greater flexibility to allow people to maintain caring responsibilities or work around illness/disability.

I’ve seen it with my eyes too. There are many people that have made more money by milking the system.

my relative refused extra hours at work for many many years, as it would have set her over the earning threshold to get as many benefits. Nothing wrong with her, just enjoyed the money for doing nothing. And working more hours would have made her worse off.

I was happy in my NMW job. It wasn't that I refused to study or train to do better. I did not want to or need to. You can't make someone train to do better.

@BritishQueue - I suspect it is, in part, due to people wanting to feel secure. If they are on benefits, they know the money will arrive reliably, but if they get a job, it may be a zero hours contract, which doesn’t guarantee them the income they need, or the job might not last - and if they lose their job (even if it’s through no fault of their own - the company retrenching or closing, for example) it may take several weeks to get the benefits reinstated, and people don’t have the savings cushion to allow for that.

So getting a job can seem less secure than staying on benefits.

I'm pretty sure one of my DH's friends is doing this and probably has for years.

She'd have been living off benefits since her daughter was born 17 years ago, before her ex-partner passed away. As a single mum, she's obviously been more likely to have needed benefits, but she has been healthy for most of it, but possibly with a back problem.

I don't know if she must prove she's looking for work but if she hasn't, it's a swizz that she's been living a life as wotk-free for so long.

Don’t you know that many people on UC, do actually work real jobs??

I hate to agree with you, but yes- I know someone on benefits who could quite easily work, and they've barely done a day's work in their life. It really annoys me when I think that my taxes fund their lifestyle. However, I think most people on benefits aren't milking the system and wages should be higher.

I have a relative who is 30, he has never had a job. His partner has had 3 jobs but none have lasted longer than a week, somehow they seem to have more disposable than me. Both me and DP have good well paying jobs, we go on holiday every other year and struggle. In comparison my relative has a caravan holiday and abroad holiday each year, they go term time but it still must be costly. They put pictures on social media at Christmas and their DCs birthdays and the pile and cost of presents is unreal, they give the children money constantly and I can’t understand how. I know that they have no disabilities or anything and they complain about having to go for meetings at the job centre regularly so there must be the expectation that they work.

@Shirking

I agree that the issue is men who bugger off & leave the state to cover their expenses for the children they leave behind. I don’t know how they can get away with it. Then people imply the single Mum is the problem. I guess they won’t want to know him when they’re old enough to make a decision. His loss!

That is definitely a barrier which is why I said some people could do cm. It's a shame if you would like to.

can you elaborate please ?
I think too many disabled or unwell people are literally 'trapped' by receiving benefits...they're scared stiff of ending up penniless if a job doesn't work out !

Absolutely. When did it become so popular to punch down instead of up? According to the ONS, in the period April 2020 to March 2022, the wealthiest 1% of households held 10% of all household wealth in Great Britain, which was the same as the proportion held by the least wealthy 50% of households combined. And that top 1% employ all possible tax-avoidance schemes to minimise what they contribute to the pot, but people ignore them to go after the poorest in society. I guess cruelty has become fashionable. 😔