What will it take for the Government to enact welfare reform?

[Schlossadler]

What has to break, before the Government is finally willing to enact welfare reform?

This!

We don't anymore but you seem to be against both higher tax payers and lower ones who save.

Well they wouldn’t be forcing them. Merely providing them as an alternative to the families being on the street. The families would of course be welcome to find their own alternatives (which in fact is the preference). It also presumably would only be a temporary measure and not intended as a lifestyle choice.

yes they’d need to be designed accordingly. Presumably there’s perhaps also a benefit. More people around = more people to help with day to day challenges and less social isolation.

Would ''there are predatory strangers everywhere in life, your child can't be fully protected from that'' be an acceptable excuse for you if you were removed from your council house, placed into communal living with strangers and then your child was sexually assaulted?

It would feel like a punishment even if that isn't the intention. For many people, it would be their only choice. It would be a workhouse with a different name.

I’m certainly not against higher tax payers, not sure what gave you that idea.

I’d actually prefer a flat rate of tax for all. Keep it simple to administrate (= cheaper to administrate) and incentivise working rather than increasingly punitive marginal rates of taxation (whilst the entitled still bark: “tax the rich!”)

Taxing wealth above 10 million at 2% will have zero negative impacts.

For a start PIP should be used to cover actual expenses, not a no strings attached handout. People with low level anxiety or depression should not get PIP. After all we all get depressed from time to time. PIP should be only for people with genuine life limiting issues. More should be done to help people into work. The Job Centres are pretty useless at this.

I do think the UK is broken. The selfish on this thread proves that. No humanity. It's awful.

Oh they bark now do they?

You agreed with a poster who said there should be no child benefit. Fruit vouchers instead.

But folk go on holidays and stay in hotels all the time. There’s a certain tranche that love all inclusive deals with everyone eating the same soggy chips together at the buffet.

I don’t hear them raising any concerns about the dodgy strangers in their communal living space. Only seems to be an issue when they’re no longer getting their council house for free (/or massively below market rates). 🤔

Yes. That’s got 0 to do with being against higher taxed people. I don’t believe anyone should have child benefit. The money instead should be invested in child services and education.

if people genuinely can’t afford to have a child without child benefit then they can’t afford a child.

Disability isn't a lifestyle choice. The only reason why I live in social housing is due to my son's disability.

The only reason why I'm on benefits is due to caring for my disabled son.

I'm far from the only one out there.

I think lots of people don’t want punitive Dickensian times when you get down to policy and impact. I think there is a lack of critical thinking and knee jerk reactions to dog whistle politics. Farage and his ilk are trying to get us all to blame immigrants and benefit claimants so we get them into power so they can push through policies that increase their wealth and power. Not to mention him being buddies with Putin who wants nothing more than the Uk to be an unstable place.

Are you very young?

I’m not sure about that otherwise this wouldn’t be the case

The 10 developed countries that dropped or repealed their wealth taxes since the 1970s are Austria, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Iceland, Luxembourg, Sweden, France, and Ireland.

Nope. Have my own children. Pay for them myself.

Agree.

So you don't get free childcare?

Exactly. The vast majority of people claiming benefits and using social housing are absolutely in need of it and the fact there are systems in place to ensure people have (mostly) got homes and can eat is the sign of a civilised society. Additionally it allows people to benefit society when they have that safety net. You are caring for your son and you wouldn’t be able to without that support. Your son would then need state care.

Of course there are some that milk the system. You can’t avoid that. But benefits are not the issue.

I did too.

Then my son almost died and will now need care for the rest of his life and I lost my job and home due to it.

Life can change in an instant.

I don't think this thread represents how people are in general. They are much kinder in real life. Social media brings out the worst in some people.

What would the net negative impact of it be?

We redistributed wealth after WWII and it means that we had greater social mobility, less social inequality and ordinary working people could buy their own home and build modest wealth. Everyone had a better quality of life.

I think you're right. I think the selfish seem to be overly represented on here.

You have to be disabled by your anxiety or depression to qualify for PIP and the assessment criteria are exactly the same as for those with a physical disability. So you have to provide compelling evidence that you are unable to do basic things like cooking a meal, managing your finances etc on most days to receive it. Evidence of these things might look like a medical test showing serious malnutrition, legal documents that show your sibling has power of attorney for you and is actively having to pay your bills and manage your finances etc because you cannot. You aren't awarded without evidence and diagnoses are not considered sufficient evidence on their own although they will often strengthen a case. If there is evidence that you can do things like look after children or a pet, drive a car, leave the house to take your kids to school etc. these can be used against you to deny you enough points to qualify. If there is evidence you are leading a normal life that is indistinguishable from that of an able bodied person (many of whom as you say do indeed have low level anxiety or depression) you will not be awarded PIP. The politicians know this but they also know it's a vote winner to pretend that the system is a lot more lenient than it actually is so they can make endless promises to make it more strict. It's already strict enough to stop people with mild anxiety or depression from qualifying. Of course there will always be a very small amount of fraud but that doesn't mean that people routinely get PIP for mild anxiety or depression. You get disability benefit by providing evidence that you are disabled.