£25,000 benefits cap

[Xenia]

Average family has £26,000 to live on including housing. So from 2013 the most benefits available for one family will be £26,000 including housing benefit. Sounds like a sensible plan. Well done George Osborne. How did we ever get to a contrary position in the first place?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11463435

Fucking hell Xenia, go and hang out outside your local job centre and tell me if you want any of them near your granny, would they bring the staffordshire bull terrier with them onto the ward or tie it up outside ?
My DH had to sign on for a while and he shat himself at times in the offices, he felt like it was a prison, you were ok unless you made eye contact (and that was just with the staff ).

'or play cards'. 'feed each elderly patient very slowly'

Xenia. You are hilarious. (I loved Little Britain too!)

I'm off to the local care home tomorrow to offer them all a game of canasta. Whatever it takes to get this Big Society off the ground... (Would you be a love and pop round after to feed them?)

oh yes - you'd have had great fun trying to play cards with the residents I worked with. Most had dementia, and even the ones that didn't, to be blunt, had the attention span of a young child.

hey now mama - they're not all that bad.

i sat in a packed job centre the other week waiting for my Work Focussed INterview. (the floor staff btw at ours are lovely which is a big plus). And one of the "bouncer" blokes is about 6' 8 (at a guess - maybe taller!) and a bit burly bloke as well - he'd sort those scrawny little chavs out if they started trouble

Yes there were the ones you wouldn't want to meet in the street even on a bright sunny day. But there were people of all ages, many of them well dressed, well spoken, many of them looking utterly fed up of having to go and sign on again.

'For a start every person over 80 would probably like someone just to talk to them for 3 hours a day or play cards. We could revolutionise the lives of the old if the unemployed had to spend 3 hours a day chatting to an old person in return for getting benefits for example.'

I'm very sure every elderly person would love for some stranger whose background is completely unknown to them, come and have access to them alone for 3 hours/day.

Many elderly are vulnerable, and this is why people who work with them are vetted, to try to prevent criminals from preying on them.

I wouldn't want some one "forced" to feed my mother in her old age. I want someone who wants to do it. Xenia, would your 'teams' also wear bright yellow illuminous jackets?

People can already go and visit old people for voluntary work-people that actually want to do already do it. some people get paid for it too.

haha expat - I don't know why - but your post reminded me of a lovely old lady at church. She was in her 90's, but still lived at home on her own - just up my road. In fact the day we moved into our house she came marching down the street about 100m probably - with a tray in her hand with Teapot with cosy, proper tea cups, a sugar bowl and a milk jug - for us and the removal men

She loved my DS's (she passed away last year) - I once offered to go round to see her for a natter and a cup of tea (baring in mind that she knew me so I wasn't a random stranger being forced to go in).

She looked at me in and - and told me in no uncertain terms she didn't need people coming round to talk to her and have tea. If she wanted people to come round she'd invited them (and did invite me round several times before she died).

ahh RIP Mary - you were a wonderful woman.

MaMoTTaT At the risk of being predictable though the nicely dressed and spoken ones tend to not be around very long because they get jobs the ones that need sorting out some how, I don't pretend to have the answers, aren't the ones I'd want near my vulnerable family members or anyone else's for that matter.
I always think you have to be very motivated to go into care work because the elderly aren't cute like babies I'd find it hard to even wipe an 80 old mans chin and yet am up to my eyes in 16 week old DS's shite daily.

' What I do know is that a few years ago I was recruiting for several jobs paying over minimum wage, did a day in local job centre as part of the recruitment campaign and had 2 people come forward for interviews! Please don't tell me all people on benefits are desperate for a job!

I don;t doubt that

2 years ago

things have changed

650- read it and weep- for a job at a lcoal Spar.

I don't know - most of them I've never seen again, but (I walk past the place to get to town) I've seen some of them going in for long periods of time.

and never mind an 80yr old mans chin - try an 80yr olds mans arse, when he's doubly incontinent and has a hernia down there the size of a bloody grapefruit - and he had dementia (very badly), and was also immobile - now that was hard.

If i ever get like that MaMoTTaT i want somebody to smoother me i really do i couldn't bear it.

BLimey, every eighty year old

My Grandad, whilst not having dementia, would not be someone you'd want to assist: banned from pretty much every shop in the neighbouring locality for his racist comments, can you imagine if they sent anyone other than Mt white from Whitington in to him?

(Actually I can, you don;t want to, honet you don't).

And I can just see infection managers in hospiotals smiling gleefully at rows of people being drafted in to see elderly aptients whoa re already at high risk in hospital of all manner of viral and bacterial threats.

the private sector woudl take you up though: and dismiss several care assistants immediately, based on the places I have worked.

I;'d much perfer compulsory training for those who are under qualified etc (from basic skills up) but no, that would be too productive wouldn't it?

I used to do that too Mam, albeit pushing fifteen eyars ago now.

I didnt mind it- there were rewards in many palces. I always found that preserving teh dignity was worth the hardships but there's no way we could ever cover SN childcare at +++ prices on care assistant wages.

It is the area I hope to be a SW in though, hugely neglected area, elderly care.

he was actually a very lovely man, very sweet (obviously talked a lot of nonsense but chatted non the less). He used to be one of the first to wake up, so we'd get him up and dressed and take him through to the dining room in his chair and he'd sit there with yesterdays paper and we'd supply him with endless cups of tea - our "base" was the kitchen/laundary area - so he saw us coming and going and always gave us a huge smile.

can I just say I think a lot of you are kidding yourself if you think that many of the people working in Old peoples homes/as carers are doing it for love, round here it's a minimum wage job done to put food on the table or by overseas nurses whose qualifications aren't recognised or as a route to a visa!

Sorry but I think that needs recognising.

In answer to the question it seems fair except of course in London it doesn't go far, I noticed that there is pressure (and incidentally the paper seeemed to imply agreement) to exempt a lot of Londoners from the housing benefit cap which of course defeats the purpose!

I'd rather they went in 'in teams' to NO.10 for a few hours a day and helped out making a few sensible policies.

LOL Lego

freefruit- it avries; i;ve worked in the best and worst (worst now closed down). the staff always match how much of a damn the managers give I think.

I do wish I hadn;t ever touched the field, given that ds3 may need a care home; it's hard to remember the best over the worst iyswiim

freefruit - have you worked in a care home?

Believe me - the ones that are doing it purely for the money don't last long. They can't hack it and quit - usually within in a month or so. The ones I worked with that stuck at it were doing it for love.

care assistant jobs aren't a route to a visa.

SanctiMoanyArse don't worry in Xenia land at least he will be fed.......

A route to a visa? That loophole was closed in 2007.

PMSL @ 2shoes.

I know what you mean Sancy about knowing the bad and the good.

That much he can do thankfully!

Seriously, a friend's lovely dad did die in part ffrom malnourishment when on an elderly ward (he had end stage alzheimers as well though) as friend would go in and find he hadn't been fed or food was still cold- she was trying to be a mum, employed and care for her sis with MH probleems and cope with her dad (he did die there). A horrid time for her and him.

Elderly care needs improving.

And dragging in people who don't want to be there won't do that.

I'm still wondering whether existing "community" work counts - and what is covered in that?

Agree Sancti I suppose in that respect the manager is a lot like a headmaster

I don't know how people do it bloody hard job have to be a particular type of person to last I expect

MaMo yes a while ago now I didn't last since I was only doing it for money so to speak, but very importanty I had other options, I also would have found it too distressing long term.
I now work in social/health from another side so to speak, as I said I've come across many people doing it for money, they do last (as far as I can tell) since they in reality have little other choice to put food on the table, I was including nursing homes in the discussion (I din't realise they weren't) so then yes they would be a route to a visa for some just as for others here on a student visa they provide the money needed to live.

oh I'll never forget the maggot infested pressure sores (which required an amputation) I saw from one nursing home) poor poor guy

Oh poor man

My strongest recollections are of wonderful peopel with severe demntia who flashed in with their personalities for just monents (often first thing in the morning) then were lost to us all just as quick.
Wonderful, grand men who had been at the forrefront of the war effort, otr women who ahd changed the world for females now.

TBH, I often felt very priveldged to be there for them duirng that time; so what if I was changing a pad as well? All the more reason to get it right I think.