Welfare spending to rise by £73.2bn to £406.2bn

[topicalaffair]

Over the next five years, the OBR is forecasting that UK welfare spending will rise by £73.2bn to £406.2bn.

How does everyone feel about this? I’m livid because I pay lots of tax. I don’t mind paying tax to maintain a civilised society - but this? This is surely taking the piss and will result in weaker and weaker services as the amount of £ available reduces day by day.

YANBU - it’s totally deranged. The every growing uk population can’t function effectively on such a benefits for all basis.

YABU - this welfare spending bill is truly representative of need.

Social housing could include short term lets and dorm type accommodation for students.

I agree owning rental properties should be banned - although I'd make the concession of allowing one rental per household/disregards for a certain time for inherited properties/properties being let out for care home fees. Stringent rules to avoid loopholes though!

Are you serious?

From the rent. The administration costs would be far lower than the rent collected because of the economies of scale, and rental income that would have gone to private landlords and investment firms (especially good in the case of overseas firms with massive portfolios) would go to the state. Renters would also have more disposable income (and, in the case of those who sold their properties, lump sums), a healthy amount of which would be spent in the UK.

Incentivise companies to hire more disabled people. Prioritise unemployed disabled people for jobs over career changers. Hell, I'll even go for quotas of disabled people in workplaces, so that employers no longer find spurious reasons to refuse interviews to disabled applicants.

What does it mean to say you’re “livid”?

A large proportion of this is going on the state pension as the population average age is rising. Do you want to cut the state pension? Do you want to further cut pension credit or welfare benefits to this with age related disability?

What about unemployment? What is your answer to ageism in the workplace? So many people over 50 have lost their jobs since Covid and can’t find a new one. What is your solution to that? Do we leave people in destitution? The threshold for claiming benefits is already very high. Anyone with household savings over £15k but potentially paying £2-3k a month in rent can’t claiming housing benefit. There are so many families under around age 38 who will never earn enough to buy their own home but can’t get social housing and are spending up to 60 per cent of their monthly income just on rent.

It’s really not as simple as you not “liking” what your tax is going on. There’s a reason we don’t each get to pick and choose.

How do you know who is genuine or not- it’s impossible.

Then you do that for all benefits. Why should someone on UC be able to use it to get their nails done, etc but a disabled person has to show what they're spending their money on?

Some of us already have enough disability admin. If you told us we had to show what we spend our benefits on, how would we find time to work like everyone wants us to?

Well, do you not think disabled people need to shop? If they're not online, please say how they get food, clothes etc.

Jeez, disability is a 24/7 thing - not something that finishes at home time. 🙄

In Denmark, if they want to get rid of a disabled person they have to pay 2 years salary. They are also entitled to 2 years salary for sick leave.

They have quotas which they have to reach. And they have to have tried and tried and tried to find alternatives or support for 2 years before they can get rid of a disabled person.

Companies which reach the quotas or above are rewarded by the government.

That’s what needs to happen

Actually hiring disabled people to begin with.
They wont, because someone who is disabled and has been out of the workforce for years is not going to be their ideal applicant. And they wont take the risk with the employee needing adjustments, time off, calling in sick at very short notice etc etc. Yes, I know some employers do, but they are the ones that are after experienced and qualified staff that have particular skills that are sought after. An employer with a low skill and paid vacancy is not going to take on someone disabled because they are not after someone's knowledge and skill set. They just want a body to do the work, and they want a reliable body.
There have been lots of threads on MN where someone has complained about a disabled colleagues reasonable adjustments, and also threads where OP has complained about ND staff in shops.
Look up how many autistic people are in employment. Many want to work, but no one will give them a chance.

Well, no, until they get on top of the processing, it'll never be sorted. 🤷‍♀️

It does.

It already does. Almost all new affordable housing is let on an initial six month - 2 year contract.

there is just not enough social or affordable housing full stop

In reality, do you think employers will choose disabled people who may require changes made to the workplace , and may have frequent flare ups etc, to someone who is more straightforward, reliable and easier to employ?

Exactly, especially if there is no documentation

If they won't, how can we advocate for cutting benefits?

What's the answer? "We're taking your money away, go and get a job, but no one will hire you, oh well, soz"?

Sorry, I misread. I thought you were trying to say that if they can get a cab to go shopping then they should get a job. Or along those lines.

This. We ALL pay for others. I, through taxes, pay for children's education, subsidised nursery, free meals, health etc - even though I've not got young kids.

Society is about subsidising each other.

Why should disabled people have to justify their costs, yet others on means tested benefits/top ups not have to? 🤷‍♀️

No, not at all. I am disabled. 😉

“Yes. And millions of the electorate will continue to vote for the party that pays them.”

@topicalaffair I presume you mean Labour but until just over a year ago millions of people were voting for the party that said they would cut them.

This is such a sweeping statement which is totally out of line with the trajectory of British politics over the last 20 years. Austerity ruined many lives but people kept voting Tory. And now they are voting Reform in greater numbers. Neither party has any commitment to upholding benefit support.

People on here have previously said our benefits should be vouchers. But they have problems with it when it's suggested that if disability benefits are vouchers, so should child benefits

I think when people see those on pip doing stuff like diy, renovating houses, gardens, physically demanding jobs at home etc they are going to wonder why they are getting it, what is the extra money for, and if they’re getting pip for mental problems but are still able to do all these other things, even more so.

Lol, what an imagination you have - or no understanding of communism at all, or.. even my post.

The problem with the voucher system is that it’s much more often to fraud and exploitation. That’s it. It’s a worse system, full stop.

Why are people monitoring what PIP claimants are doing? Why is it their business?

Looking at it from the employer’s point of view, it is understandable though. How do we separate those who really can’t work from those who don’t want to, but convince assessors that they’re unable to do any work of any kind ever again.