Is receiving £30k pa on benefits “living in poverty”?!

[ChumpWizard]

Amol Rajan BBC R4 Today was in Colchester this week. Great interviews but one thing had me wondering.

Is receiving c£30,000 pa on benefits “living in poverty”? That’s the equivalent of a FT job earning c£40-£42k Pa.

Loving the way people on here are casually saying for people to "just" get a job. If you don't fit the employer's view of the type of people who they want then you just can't get one.

Ignoring for a moment people who have any physical issues, not all of which may be classed as a disability but can prevent manual work, I've known far too many people (me included) who have been turned down for jobs due to being over qualified. There's also personality "fit" - a lot of companies don't want anyone who is too assertive or too passive, too bouncy or too quiet, too loud or too quiet etc.

Even getting a supermarket job, which seems to be a go to suggestion on MN, doesn't seem that easy; I know a good few people who have been turned down for that too with no explanation given who are pleasant, educated people who just want a job where they can have less mental pressure.

Chances of getting a job in an area you haven't worked in are very slim, and most of those roles only seem to want school leavers who a) are cheaper at minimum wage than over 25s and b) they can mould them into what they want.

Be out of work for any length of time & your chances of even getting an interview are greatly reduced too, and heavens forbid you took time out to raise a family.

I will be er understand why benefits aren't done in voucher form - so many for supermarkets, uniform, bills etc.
Budgeting support, healthy meal cards given out and budgeting to buy the meals.

Only having monetary benefits if you have a genuine severe disability.

All other benefits should be temporary and much stricter.

So what are you saying? Because it's difficult, it gives you a free pass not to even try? There are jobs out there, but you cant just focus on what you want. You have to just take what's there.

Now that would be good

means can’t spend on booze and tobacco but will never happen

if only a bit like the milk vouchers

No I'm not suggesting that at all. But I AM saying that however hard some people try they just can't get a job. For example, I have a physical disability which means I can only do a desk job, and can't cope mentally any longer with a higher level job. But I kept getting told I was over qualified for everything I went for.

Not everyone can fit in doing every job. Not every personality fits in everywhere either.

Why not just take the quals that make you over qualified, off your CV?

Supposedly it is “othering” for people to receive benefits in voucher form; also they just sell them in return for cash. However, like you I think it has to be worth a try, as it should be possible to build in some checks and balances to reduce the risk of vouchers being sold on (ID check when using them perhaps - appreciate that is still open to abuse but the harder you make it to cheat the system the fewer people will do it).

Because it costs a fortune to run/administer and it denies people the autonomy and choices that those who are able to work take for granted, amounting to discrimination. As well as putting people in a complicated position if they don't eat food and use commodities in the correct ratio as determined by those who make the rules. And people will need things frequently that aren't covered by the vouchers and also just sometimes want things that are totally reasonable. Things like buying a meal out to be able to attend a friend or family member's birthday so we aren't excluded socially and don't lose all of our hard won relationships through no fault of our own. I have friends I would never even have met if they'd been forced to live off vouchers and been denied any autonomy over their own spending and lives.

For me its very simple - it comes down to housing costs. If 3/4 of income goes on rent or mortgage then your forced onto poverty levels

It's experience rather than paper qualifications. Trouble is, you never know exactly what a potential employer is going to look for so you try to tailor your CV to the very sparse info in the job spec. Cut too much out, or put too much in, and you're stuffed.

Anyway, this is way off track for the main purpose of this thread so I'm going to stop there. I have a job now at the right level for me, that's what matters.

Well some people who earn that amount think they’re living in poverty so maybe it is.

You'd have to take the jobs of too, then you have a big gap and they will reject you for that.

If you want to eat out get a job. There are millions of people working who cannot afford to eat out. Why should their taxes go towards the social life of someone not working? Benefits need to be seen as a temporary hardship, not a lifestyle.

Even those on disability benefits?

I have the misfortune of knowing people on benefits who order every meal as takeaway and don't cook.

Many don't have a clue how to cook, that's often why.

I probably clear £30k on benefits each year or close to it. I have two disabled children under 18, and one is over 18. I didn't choose to have disabled children though or have chronic health issues myself. Unfortunately life is often complicated. And most people on benefits are restricted to what they can do with their lives.

No one will be having fun on that money. I helped DD sort a budget quite recently, take home less then £2000 pm. Rent, Council Tax, essential car, food. She's not got much left over. Lives in a house share.
Our perception of what £30 000 buys is way out of date.

In the age of technology surely they could be issued through an app with a code or something?

We can't carry on just handing out tens of thousands of pounds to people with tenuous reasons for not working.

See we get a takeaway about once every two months due to the expense. It’s such a waste of money.

I presume there’s a reason why she moved out of home? Those just starting out who move away from the parental home (as many have to for their jobs) are going to be skint. Those who can afford to save for a deposit are those fortunate enough to be able to live at the family home while working.

You aren't being denied it though. There is so much learned helplessness.

There could be some actual cash built into a voucher system. I don't care how much it would cost to administer it would be worth every penny if it meant that children of parents on benefits got fed proper nutritious foods, clothed in a proper school uniform and good quality coat.

No Xboxs, chocolate cereal, cans of pop, vapes or Netflix. But loads of fruit and veg, the right items for school

Also I'm sorry to say it, if it was less comfortable then fewer people would see it as a lifestyle choice.

I don’t think disability benefits should be a thing. The goods and services required should be provided by the government rather than cash handouts being given.

It wouldn’t be my idea of living in poverty. 😳. But, voucher systems, in the past cost a fortune to administer, were open to fraud (shopkeepers buying them for under market value), and too complicated.

What do you suggest? Reducing benefits so that more people end up on the street?