How do you survive on £60 per week. ?

[Forumosaurus]

Someone made an excellent post earlier on saying it's just to get you by whilst you find a job, you're not meant to be able to afford luxuries whilst on the dole.

 

People forget what the dole is for, it's not there to be a lifestyle, they're supposed to be emergency payments for people who have lost their jobs.

 

If people chose to adopt JSA as a lifestyle then that is their choice, the stories of people who have been out of work for years are inexcusable.

 

My friend is on JSA and freely admits there's loads of jobs out there but just stuff he doesn't want to do, he tells them he is applying for jobs but there's no way for them to check that, or they don't check that.

 

The system is flawed and there are simple changes they could make like, actually checking if people are applying for jobs before doling out JSA.

[Sparkasaurus]

Is this Norman Tibbit?

 

The famous 1980s MP who did not like the unemployed?

 

No I'm not. Lol

 

Also I've never voted for the Tories. And hated what Maggie did to this Country.

 

So, NO, I'm NOT Norman Tebbit. Just someone from a working class background, who understands the old school values of "the early bird catches the worm", "common sense", "life isnt always fair", "you have to work for the things you want" and "stop feeling sorry for yourself and get on with it." (And I'm only 36!)

 

I find these a much better set of values than the more modern: "I know my rights", "I want it now", "It's someone elses fault", and the ever popular "I'm a victim"!

[Rupert_Baehr]

Is this Norman Tibbit?

 

The famous 1980s MP who did not like the unemployed?

 

I don't think Tebbit disliked the unemployed. He's often misquoted as saying to the unemployed 'Get on yer bike.'

 

What he actually said was: "I grew up in the '30s with an unemployed father. He didn't riot. He got on his bike and looked for work, and he kept looking 'til he found it."

 

I don't see what's wrong with that. When I left school there was little employment (and the prospects for getting a decent job were poor) where I grew up, so I went where there was work.

[eastbank]

Tax credits just subsidise low paying employers. We should tax the low paid less, or maybe not at all for the very low paid, make allowances £15,000.

 

Tax credits are an extra benefit. I think they're wrong because they subsidise employers that want cheap labour. They're unfair because not everybody can get them. It must cost a bit to administer the system too.

 

Employers should pay honest wages instead.

 

The whole tax & benefits system should be reformed. Give people decent benefits when they're out of work, don't cut them off so sharply when people find work, especially if it's low paid or part time work - that's one of the worst things about the current system. Then don't start taxing them until they're on a decent wage.

 

Even worse than only getting £60 a week is having that cut off straight away if you find a bit of part time casual work.

 

I'm sure it could all be worked into the income tax system, have negative income tax rates so the government pays money when you're below a certain income, rather than unemployment benefits. A cut in admin costs could fund an increase in benefits paid to those with little or no work.

 

We should also have wealth taxes, as well as income taxes. Maybe 1% per year from everyone who has more than £1m?

 

tax credits are great...keeps the country ticking over....16 hours is the future...happy days

[nexusdee]

Well it can't be that much of a hardship since millions choose to live on that, although if you take into consideration the average rent of £75 per week & community tax of say £15 per week (just rough figures) that raises the weekly pay for doing nothing to £150 net weekly, not forgetting all the free care thrown in too I know many who work a 40 hour week & don't come out with much more then that.

[andrejuan]

I work full time and after all my rent and bils I have to live on less than £10.00 a day.

 

Considering most claimants also get housing benefits, extra monies for each child/dependant, free dental, free healthcare treatments, free prescriptions and access to apply for other general financial support including emergency loans, assistance with travel, food, clothing etc.

 

You can survive quite easily on a TEMPORARY basis - after all that's what non life dependant benefits are for. Just temporary.

 

I think you are missing the point if you are supposed to survive on it. Its supposed to be a stop gap whilst you are in dire straits and nothing else.

 

Yes it is supposed to be temporary, many forget that.

[Anna B]

Yes it is supposed to be temporary, many forget that.

 

Indeed it is, but as jobs disappear and new ones fail to materialise, how temporary?

 

This situation is only set to get worse, and I really can't see a way out of it, (and make no misteke, neither can the politicians...) so we had better start thinking about a new, equitable way of distributing work and money, baring in mind the unemployed are not criminals, and many would like to work if it wasn't for a system which is set against them.

[Cyclone]

Tax credits just subsidise low paying employers.

Not really, they go direct to the employee's.

We should tax the low paid less, or maybe not at all for the very low paid, make allowances £15,000.

That would seem to be simpler, and it's something the lib dems have wanted to do for a long time. But credits effectively achieve the same thing whilst allowing them to be targeted at specific groups, like parents.

 

Tax credits are an extra benefit. I think they're wrong because they subsidise employers that want cheap labour.

I don't see how, they have no affect on what the employer pays, just the same as altering the base allowance wouldn't.

They're unfair because not everybody can get them. It must cost a bit to administer the system too.

Agreed with both of these points.

 

Employers should pay honest wages instead.

Pay is determined by the market, if you have no skills then your pay will be low.

 

The whole tax & benefits system should be reformed. Give people decent benefits when they're out of work

For a fixed length of time

don't cut them off so sharply when people find work, especially if it's low paid or part time work - that's one of the worst things about the current system. Then don't start taxing them until they're on a decent wage.

That's what the current reform that's being implemented is supposed to achieve. I wonder how people can comment on this issue without even being aware of the changes in the pipeline.

 

Even worse than only getting £60 a week is having that cut off straight away if you find a bit of part time casual work.

 

I'm sure it could all be worked into the income tax system, have negative income tax rates so the government pays money when you're below a certain income, rather than unemployment benefits. A cut in admin costs could fund an increase in benefits paid to those with little or no work.

 

We should also have wealth taxes, as well as income taxes. Maybe 1% per year from everyone who has more than £1m?

I don't see what that would achieve apart from to drive the wealthy offshore, how does that help the situation?

[0742Sheff]

It wouldn't help if £60/week was already insufficient, it would just be another bill that couldn't be paid (although longer term the saving on the heating would pay for it I suppose).

 

My point was that £60 a week is more than sufficient to survive on. A doleite could live off McDonalds every day if they wanted while still paying £10 electricity, £10 gas and £5 water.

[nubile]

My point was that £60 a week is more than sufficient to survive on. A doleite could live off McDonalds every day if they wanted while still paying £10 electricity, £10 gas and £5 water.

 

£2.50 per day. ?

I suppose you could swipe their bog rolls whilst there, a man has to have some luxuries.