Benefits explosion- where will it end?

[TheBlueKoala]

"PIP benefits explosion: Anxiety and depression handouts have nearly TRIPLED to £4.3bn since Covid - with autism and ADHD bill hitting £2.2bn and 'back pain' £1.6bn"

Something is not right here. When I have written before on here telling about people I know who claim for anxiety although they have rich social lives (funded by 440£ extra per month from PIP) I've had many people telling me that it's not possible etc. It sure is. How many 16 year olds are claiming PIP for anxiety?

Instead of benefits why not pay for therapy- invest massively in the NHS mental health support so that people with anxiety, adhd and autism can see a therapist regularly to help them. This would make a difference for tje individual and the society. Throwing out money won't.

AINBU- I agree with about
AIBU- No, extra money is always useful

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15510221/PIP-benefits-anxiety-depression-austism-ADHD-pain-Covid-Labour.html

How do you spend the money you receive? Im genuinely interested to know how the money helps you be independant.

Totally agree that system needs a complete overhaul. It's not fit for purpose in any way and there's no reason why people shouldn't be allowed to work and contribute to taxes while waiting on an asylum application. It would help massively with social integration and cultural integration as well.

No, it was never £350 a month. Maybe £100 on average based on stuff getting lost and broken. I was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult and it caused a lot of MH difficulties because of the way I was treated when undiagnosed and that's why we got her her diagnosis and made sure she got support. The support that has made a difference has been the medication and the RAs made by school. The money- beyond paying for the private diagnosis at the start- hasn't really done anything.

No parent should be able to walk away from their responsibility.

The state should actively pursue any absent parents and use all means to ensure they contribute to the care and financial costs of the child they made.

@Playingvideogames Can you say more about why not? I KNOW it looks like perks. It's a real problem for me - so the more I understand about how it doesn seem fair, the better I can explain.

For those quoting my post, the benefit system can be extremely tough (,I grew up with a severely disabled parent who was medically retired at the age of 35) Yes, these benefits can be extremely difficult to get, but I don't see any consistency in how they are refused or granted. Yes, the mental health system is on its knees. My post is purely a personal reflection of what happened to us. PIP is a great idea in principle, yes there are very low fraud rates, but it is still being misused. Its also not an 'out of work' benefit, yet increasingly it's being treated as such.

Good luck with that. My dad paid my mum two quid a week till I was 16 and my brothers dad emigrated and paid not a penny his entire Iife

Social media and lack of parenting

But if you were not (for whatever reason) able to care for those people then there would be a large cost created for the state to do it yes? Because someone has to. Unless you think we should be leaving vulnerable people to die which is the alternative.

So that means that there is a significant saving to the state by you taking on that care role. Which means there's monetary value attached to people providing care for relatives. And carers allowance does not match up to this value or even anywhere close to it. And that's the point people are trying to make. Just because you see it as your responsibility doesn't mean there's no value to it.

There are so many parents scrimping to pay for private care because the NHS doesn't provide everything, so yes, I agree, because then you know the money is being spent on things people need.
I am definitely not one of those who says disabilities aren't real, and I know we live in a very ableist society. But there are some people who just take the money because "why not?" while others go without, so your suggestion is much fairer.

My dad has never paid a penny for me in my life either.

@scottishgirl69 Surely you can see that they should have been pursued to provide support.

Again, why should they waltz off into the sunset and expect others to pay?

I'm not expecting sympathy @scottishGirl . We can manage it financially for now. DS will not stay in the SE long term, and will move for the next job. Probably to an area where property prices are more in kilter with average earnings.

@NeverSeenThatColourBlue DLA is awarded on how much TIME you are spending on things that a 'normal' child wouldn't, not just how much money . The level of supervision you describe would absolutely cost that to buy in. And if a parent is doing it, they aren't doing other things. Like earning money. No way I could have worked when mine was little.

Well at least this shit hole of a thread is nearly over

I heard that people on benefits get a free goat

Well mine went and died. What should I do?

I want to know where I can claim my free goat

Well biologically everyone started out with two parents. Some people will sadly lose a parent in childhood but most single parents are through men being allowed to walk away and not contribute and I must say that does piss me off.

Child maintenance income does not count towards benefits and I understand all the good reasons for that and I do not think children should suffer for their parents poor decisions but getting full benefits and generous maintenance is one of the reasons that some single parent families on benefits can appear better off than some 2 parent ones in work.

I do think feckless men should be made to be more responsible for the children they father. Abandoning your kids is associated with very little shame for a man vs a woman and that is not right.

They didn't ask me what colour goat I wanted at my PIP interview

Boring boring boring

Let the thread die, kill it if you must

If this is how I get banned from MN, what a way to go

Benefit goat