To wonder what else can be done to break the cycle of generations living off benefits?

[Allonthesametrain]

Sounds harsh because It is. As a former teacher, then eduation social worker, now the past few years more heavily involved with school attendance.

My desire has always been to help children from unprivileged backgrounds to know their worth and achieve the best they can and this has been my career from age 23 to 57.

The number of times I've cried, torn my hair out, is immeasurable. I and colleagues have gone above and beyond to support the families, genuinely care about them, but unfortunately the outcome has been, as I've said in title, it's a continiation of the cycle of being brought up within a small community and low expectations.

So many gorgeous kids (supported throughout their young lives until they leave school) who tell you their dreams of what they want to to achieve in life, we do everything we can to enable it and some have indeed broken out of the circle but unfortunately the reality has been...

Parents who live lifestyles of no bedtime routine, tell their kids not to come back before ...pm, sleep in and don't get them out of bed ready and fed for school and as for weekends, pub and take back a new bloke

Parents who have issues themselves and project them onto DC. The kids soon realise they can stay off school for feigning illness and would actually be a comfort to Mum

The parents who just cba and say shall we just still in bed?

Of course there are so many other mitigating factors but these are the 3 main experiences we've dealt with. Unfortunately it really does come down to poor parenting and no matter what interventions we do to encourage attendance, only a minority are genuine.

So the cycle...DC think education isn't important, parents are hopeless role models and can often be aggressive to teachers, a deflection of blame.

Then oh DD gets pregnant at age 15, DS has been reprimanded by the police for scooting around in a balaclava. Then pure hostility when we try to continue to talk to them and what could be done to help.

Basically it's just such a shame, these sweet young kids who say they want to be ... become so influenced by their homelife, a need to fit in with their family and peers from the same estate, that they ignore the support we give them, don't turn up to appointments etc.

For the genuine cases, DC with SEN, the effort to try and ensure they are in best place is utmost and it's heartbreaking there aren't enough of them. Yes, we do know genuine cases and not just so many parents striving for a diagnosis because they feed DC a terrible diet and let them stay up late so are tired and irritable at school.

Expecting some backlash, whatever anyone says I can reason with.

Not anymore

I definitely think there’s a lack of motivation and ingenuity in job hunting. With the right attitude and work ethic I honestly believe 99% of people could get a job within a month or two. They tend though to just fire off lukewarm applications for online chain stores like McDonalds and Next, then wonder why they don’t get through. They need to branch out - ask in person in pubs and garden centres and cafes, look at cards put in post offices (elderly people needing cleaners and care often do this round here), post on Facebook community groups as they’re often really willing to help if they know of anything going.

That's fine. Apologies. Btw I'm not furious. I've been name called all over here today

You’re right. No hope. Might as well give up and claim.

@Pinkypromise43

so you diss English people working in trades too? Lol 😂. I have hard working family members in the construction trade. At least they’re not on the benefits 😉. Just sounds like you’re a little bit angry so you’re just here benefits bashing.

I get the frustration at its core. I do. In my opinion, there’s huge swathes of the population who genuinely could do more. I worked full time for years as a teaching assistant and had to claim UC whilst I was off work banned from working (due to an allegation). I claimed UC initially whilst I looked for shop work, factory work, anything that didn’t require a DBS. Got my first payment. Stunned to discover I was £500 a month better off NOT working.

That doesn’t incentivise many people. My allegation was cleared and I was told I was “free to work”. Oh, is that so? Well, guess I don’t really feel up to it now. Not when I’m 500 pounds UP each month. Basic maths. There lies the problem. This country is not paying some people to go out and do an honest days work in an entry level job. I was a good TA, doing work that is valuable to society but yet it didn’t pay me ??

Me personally? I’ll be back to work in September, although not in education. Long term this life isn’t for me. I do need challenge. But I do still have the empathy and awareness to realise not every single person on benefits is lazy or unmotivated. It’s not possible for a lot of people to go out and find a better paid job. And that’s a system problem. People will not work their arses off for not much in return. A lot of people have lost hope.

I live in an area of high deprivation where 300 people chase one job

Which job?

Do people get their first payment quicker now? I thought it was still 5 weeks.

Yes, it's a straight choice between doing something that nobody could actually do because it's fantasy or resigning yourself to a life on benefits. And everything that's wrong with society is caused by individual laziness.

Must be weird living inside your head.

It is, after you've applied online. Not easy for people without access to the internet or lacking digital skills.

Could you honestly please be a bit kinder to people who are on Uc. I ended up on it after a complete nervous breakdown that I have still not recovered from and all I have had today is people calling me a lazy scrounger.

Any job more or less

I don’t think everyone who is on UC is a lazy scrounger. But surely you see that if half the population had a very compelling reason to claim we still couldn’t afford it?

Where did you hear this? Source?

Your kids must be proud of you.

There are fewer than you think. Maybe your area has more going on but I have worked in this arena and funding for such projects is cut year on year. It’s shortsighted in my opinion. No, you might not get young people digging. That’s why we need much more varied options. And it’s more the “unemployed parents” that I was thinking of for those than the kids. Education isn’t inclusive enough at the moment, more could be done to foster skills in different areas than just academic subjects.

Being on UC is genuinely harder than working in a lot of cases. It's massively stressful too. I have every admiration for people who can budget on it although it pisses me off greatly that they have to subsist on so little. Governments shouldn't be able to dehumanise people to score political points with the spiteful and uninformed.

I’m not talking about class or what work a person does . I’m just musing about those on the margins of society , career criminals , drug / alcoholic addicts etc having children or such low IQ as to not function in society . Tbh I’m just stating that the problem will never be solved because the only way to do it is too unpalatable for us .

Who says we can't afford the welfare state? No guff about income tax receipts and the benefits bill please.

Please stop replying to me.

@SpryTaupeTurtle

I wouldn’t take it personally, I certainly don’t. Everyone knows not every person on benefits is a lazy scrounger. People who seriously do think that lack empathy. Life can humble them too along the way. My point is, entry level jobs need to pay more. People need to feel valued at work, they need to feel motivated and like there’s a chance of upward mobility. I’ll be okay, I have the means to find a job that isn’t entry level but I’m aware not everyone has that capacity and then there’s people like yourself who’ve had accidents etc. ♥️

You don’t deserve to take from other people’s kids if you have kids you cannot afford.

The poor suckers paying for this gravy train are sacrificing what they could've spent on their own kids to support the lazy and feckless.

🤷‍♀️ ok, but I will draw my own conclusions.

That literally makes no sense.

Lots of people.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7vrlvqp5pdo