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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to think some people actually wish we didn't live in a welfare state?

181 replies

milkgoddessmakesthefinestmilk · 01/06/2008 09:48

all this talk, about whether it is right for parents to choose not to return to work, and why do people keep having children when they are on a low income.
and all the other million threads on MN about people on benefits etc.

makes me wonder, do you actually wish we didn't live in a welfare state?

i certainaly don't, no NHS people dying because they counldn't afford treatment.
people that are disabled, sick and unable to get a job, struggling to eat, living rough etc

be a pretty unpleasant country then you know.

OP posts:
squilly · 02/06/2008 20:15

...sorry TBM.. Thought it was me....

TinkerbellesMum · 02/06/2008 20:23

No problem glad to have someone not wanting to dig!

squilly · 02/06/2008 20:30

I'm too dizzy to keep track on my own life, let alone looking at other peoples!!!

Hope you're enjoying the lovely evening!!!

wannaBe · 02/06/2008 20:44

Caprica6, tbh I think beggers cannot be choosers.

If you need a job and you want to work to earn money rather than live off the state, you will do anything to earn money. That doesn't mean that you have to spend the rest of your life chained to that one job, but it is far easier to get a job when you already have a job, and whether it is politically correct or not, an intervieweder interviewing two candidates, one who has spent the past x years on benefits doing nothing, and the other who has been doing any work that's around to earn his living, the one working is far more likely to get the job.

And I have been there.

When I came home from South Africa I had never had a job. Plus the laws on discriminating against the disabled weren't exactly in my favour back then, so employers could legitimately say "oh no sorry, we can't give you this job because your blindness will prevent you from doing x/y/z.". I did not want to live on benefits. Imo there is no self respect in sitting on one's backside collecting from the government. So I managed to get a job doing telesales, selling double glazing. I absolutely detested every minute of it, but it was a job. Then a couple of months later I had an interview with a large insurance company, and I got that job. And some months later my boss, who interviewed me said, "you know one of the reasons why we employed you was because of your determination. It is much, much harder for someone with a disability to get a job, because they have to prove that A, they are capableof doing the job, and B, they are capable of doing the job despite their disability. But you were prepared to do anything to show that you were prepared, to work, even though it was a menial job at the time, you still were prepared to do it.".

If I had to start earning money tomorrow I would do whatever it took before signing on the dole. Apart from prostitute myself obviously, but I really think there is no self respect in claiming benefits purely because you can. Because you have to is another matter of course, but if you are capable of work then you should be working imo.

Tinkerbelle'smum by "physically incapable" I was not referring to people with physical disabilities alone, I meant that people who are incapable of working for any reason, the term "physically" was just a term.

TinkerbellesMum · 02/06/2008 20:59

Wannabe, I thought you meant it that way but was a little

Squirlly, I've just come home from a residents meeting with the HA and had to take Tink as my sitter fell through at last minute - was rather entertaining! At one point one of the guys from the HA said "she doesn't work for us" as I was singing their praises I need to go and make myself dinner at some point.

findtheriver · 02/06/2008 21:28

There are two separate issues aren't there:

  • overhauling the system so that it's fairer and provides a greater incentive to enable people to pay their way and be independent
  • catching the people who cheat the sustem and making the penalties harsh enough to act as a deterrent.
I haven't seen anyone on this thread argue in favour of scrapping the welfare system (unless I blinked and missed a post) but there have been plenty that believe the system needs a radical overhaul. ssd's post sums it up really - she is in a position where she would be better off financially not working. How can that ever make sense?? Fortunately, she has the wisdom to see that getting out of the house and making a contribution brings other rewards too, but the point is that she should be significantly better off by going to work. In terms of people who cheat the system - they deserve to get caught. Doesnt matter whether they are a multi millionaire or at the low income end of the spectrum. If you choose to cheat, you pay the price.
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