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Original poster

I do not know anyone who is having a 'party' living on benefits....post here if you do

444 replies

electra · 03/05/2010 13:01

On MN, I keep reading on many different threads that Labour has been giving away loads of money in benefits to people who don't really need it which has caused the financial crisis.

All the people I know who rely on their tax credits and have children seem to have to watch every penny. I do not see evidence of them having any sort of 'party' life.

I had thought the banks were mostly responsible for the financial crisis by lending money that didn't exist.

Can anyone correct me on this? I'm open to different opinions.

OP posts:
posieparker · 04/05/2010 18:19

But the real injustice is not the woman that tops up her benefits but the bonus the banker gets which is more than that woman's total income, or the councillor that earns over £100k. The woman taking benefits when working doesn't stop anyone else's money, she's still not rich either...an easy victim iyam.

rhondajean · 04/05/2010 18:19

Point taken Tiggy - I forgot its okay to let one man keep you, just not one country....

SanctiMoanyArse · 04/05/2010 18:22

'Your man' (a pharse I hate, I don't own DH!)- if he chooses to spend his money on me then his cchoice. I of course would be saving him a small forttune in childcare (not our sit but anyway)

The country- no bloody choice

SanctiMoanyArse · 04/05/2010 18:22

OOps it was one man

sorry

CheekyVimtoGal · 04/05/2010 18:25

Like i said i am not claiming anything illegally and everything i get we are entitled to. We got a lump sum from Tax credits so treated ourselves. Whats wrong with that?

SanctiMoanyArse · 04/05/2010 18:29

Cheeky if you can't work or are trying but unable- nothing at all

if you are working very ahrd but in a low incoe job- no problem

If you ahev chosen to claim benefits when you could be working- huge problem IMO

ssd · 04/05/2010 18:30

my ex neighbour is better off than us and has never worked

3 kids, both parents live together but tell the social they are single, both claim benefits seperatly

are better off than me and dh who earn minimum wage and I know this as ex neighbour gave me a detailed breakdown of their benefit income

people on benefits who are claiming honestly are usually skint, those who play the system and lie are usually better off than a couple like me and dh, who are living off £20k a year with kids and a mortgage

babybarrister · 04/05/2010 18:30

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

rhondajean · 04/05/2010 18:31

Does too have a choice - check out say the Indian government benefit system!!

Im partly on a wind up here - but why would anyone think they are superior to anyone else just because of WHO keeps them?

I of course work in publicly funded job and therefore am completely entitled to the taxpayers money which I earn.

Hilarious isnt it? Bickering about this when as someone identified earlier the real problem is with the people taking indecent amounts in salaries and bonuses while the rest of us just get on with it...

PassTheWineNow · 04/05/2010 18:33

By SanctiMoanyArse Tue 04-May-10 18:29:54
Cheeky if you can't work or are trying but unable- nothing at all

if you are working very ahrd but in a low incoe job- no problem

If you ahev chosen to claim benefits when you could be working- huge problem IMO

But i am not claiming benefits, have you read the thread, i only get CTC/WTC/CB. I am a SAHM so were not paying over £1k a month in childcare fees.

posieparker · 04/05/2010 18:33

But it's the system that doesn't appear to reward people who want, and can, work. you should be better off working than on benefits and by a long way. And if you can't work you shouldn't live a substandard existence.

5inthebed · 04/05/2010 18:34

CVG, I think the reason why you got such a hard time on this thread was because you didn't tell us that you'd paid for it because you got some FTC back, it was assumed you used your usual FTC to buy it. I don't think you're a sponger , you're obviously claimiing what you're entitled to.

PassTheWineNow · 04/05/2010 18:35

No we used our Renewed money from TC to get it.

HappyMummyOfOne · 04/05/2010 18:37

"Free school meals, free lap-tops and internet subscriptions, free adult prescriptions, dental and health care, free milk, fruit and veg, baby formula, housing benefit, council tax benefit and then money for a disposable income on top of this. To be able to afford all these things people need to earn more than minimum wage. Some people are not prepared to work and live a subsistence lifestyle. They don?t see the point in working and doing without Sky, consumer goods like cars, mobile phones, games consoles and flat screen TVs, and even pets, which are expensive. DH and I work, and it really galls to see neighbours on our part owner-occupier owned and part council estate who do not work have the things that we do not. Plus, they don?t have to worry how their income will stretch if they decide to have another child, as the amount they get paid increases. We would have to make our income stretch. We don?t get a pay rise just because we have another child! The system sucks!"

Great post MrsThePoint. If you add all that up plus the extras like maintenance, grants, not paying for school trips/events, uniform assistance, free college courses/leisure passes - I would imagine you'd have to have a salary of £25k plus. No wonder people have no desire to work when life is handed to them on a plate.

A benefits lifestyle obviously provides well for thousands of people or they would not chose it as a choice and a choice it is now for many thanks to Labour.

SanctiMoanyArse · 04/05/2010 18:38

Well then 2 applies to me- someone in your household is working

I can't see why it os worse for the state to pay it out in a bit of TC than childcare for a child under school age tbh

SanctiMoanyArse · 04/05/2010 18:42

HammpyMummy you have one thing they do not:

in a few eyars their kids will leave home and they will get a pittance

You however will have an income, house probablky paid off etc

Thos things do add up yes- it for example makes me a bit that some things like free school meals are only for those on benefits: if tehy tapered with employment it would less of a barrier to work

rhondajean · 04/05/2010 18:45

Just a small not to Moany and Happy - as of October 10 all single parents go onto JSA when their youngest turns 7, meaning they must be actively looking for employment to keep getting benefits.

Heard about it at a meeting with JC+ the other day.

rhondajean · 04/05/2010 18:47

note not not!!

expatinscotland · 04/05/2010 18:51

'in a few eyars their kids will leave home and they will get a pittance'

My SIL plans to keep having babies!

She's on no. 3 now.

She joked that she'll keep churning them out till she's in her mid/late 40s.

Then when the last leaves, she'll be due her pension.

She just got allocated a lovely, 3bed flat in a lovely part of Edinburgh. It's HA, she doesn't have to leave even once her older two go. In fact, she doesn't have her older two full-time anymore.

She is 31.

She has never worked. Ever.

She just had a baby a couple of weeks ago.

Their dad, by contrast, will be 62. Despite having type II diabetes and having to inject insulin now, having terrible osteoarthritis, he still works as a groundskeeper.

His wife finally retired. She's 69, with type II diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis already causing her considerable pain in her knee and hip joints. And she has an incredible pain threshold.

londonone · 04/05/2010 18:52

It makes me laugh when people bleat about how they are not on benefits as they ONLY get CTC/WTC/CB etc. These are all handouts! This thread has made my mind up utterly, I am now definitely voting Tory. IMO benefits should be a safety net and that is it, it shouldn't pay your mortgage, your council tax etc etc If you can't afford to pay your mortgage then sell your house, if you can't sell it drop the price, if that leaves you in negative equity then so be it buying a house is a risk.

expatinscotland · 04/05/2010 18:53

'You however will have an income, house probablky paid off etc'

For an increasing number of the working poor, there is no house paid off. There is no chance for homeownership at all.

Many, many also have to live with the uncertainty of private renting.

For life.

I don't blame people one bit for staying on benefits, tbh. I really don't.

The system does need overhauling, though.

SanctiMoanyArse · 04/05/2010 18:54

Blimey ExP

But most peopel don't fall into that extreme, and I think an awful lot of people don't realise how ahrd things will become at some stage tbh. And just how fast they grow up.

expatinscotland · 04/05/2010 18:54

Sorry, I meant SIL's and DH's dad.

expatinscotland · 04/05/2010 18:56

'But most peopel don't fall into that extreme, and I think an awful lot of people don't realise how ahrd things will become at some stage tbh. And just how fast they grow up.'

You'd be surprised how many do, unfortunately, Sancti.

We live in a council block of flats where, statistically, only 20% of the occupants are in work at all.

I know it's hard, but it's hard for many, many people.

MrsMorgan · 04/05/2010 19:00

Can I just point out that some single mothers on IS are actually looking for work and not sitting on their backsides living the life of riley waiting to be shoved onto JSA and made to look for work.

There seems to be a bit of an assumption that because someone on IS doesn't have to look for work then they won't.