The Stigma Of Being On Benefits

[Anna B]

£16 Billion remains unclaimed in means tested benefits.

 

You wouldn't think that, if you knew how difficult it was to claim things like Universal Credit or PIP and the hoops you have to jump through. It really is incredibly difficult, and the claimant is often treated like a criminal by the powers that be. 

 

And yet many of the claimants are saving the country a fortune by looking after sick or elderly people, all because the state is totally inadequate in this department. They may have had to give up a well paid full time job, in order to look after an elderly relative or a sick child. For this, bone numbing 24/7 care, they receive a pittance of about £60 a week. (Yet if the elderly person was put into a care home, they would be charged getting on for £1,000 a week for minimal care.)

 

How a country treats its sick, elderly and vulnerable is supposed to be a measure of how civilised it is. However far from living in some sort of  Welfare benefits Utopia that people seem to imagine, we are falling well behind other countries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[The_DADDY]

3 minutes ago, Anna B said:

£16 Billion remains unclaimed in means tested benefits.

 

You wouldn't think that, if you knew how difficult it was to claim things like Universal Credit or PIP and the hoops you have to jump through. It really is incredibly difficult, and the claimant is often treated like a criminal by the powers that be. 

 

And yet many of the claimants are saving the country a fortune by looking after sick or elderly people, all because the state is totally inadequate in this department. They may have had to give up a well paid full time job, in order to look after an elderly relative or a sick child. For this, bone numbing 24/7 care, they receive a pittance of about £60 a week. (Yet if the elderly person was put into a care home, they would be charged getting on for £1,000 a week for minimal care.)

 

How a country treats its sick, elderly and vulnerable is supposed to be a measure of how civilised it is. However far from living in some sort of  Welfare benefits Utopia that people seem to imagine, we are falling well behind other countries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

👏

[fools]

so lets not pretend 6million people of working age on out of work benefits, only take up 0.8% of the budget.

 

 

Edited October 1, 2022 by fools

[fools]

You are trying to paint a picture that the cost of the unemployed is tiny aren't you? When it isn't.

 

Everyone knows the stats are a game, everyone got shoved onto incapacity to fiddle the unemployment stats. Then the figures got muddled further with in work benefits.

Edited October 1, 2022 by fools

[Jack Grey]

People on minimum wage actually cost the economy money

 

They cost the NHS an average of over £2000

 

Thats why the workshy dole scroungers should be made to work

 

No point importing workers who the taxpayer has to subsidise when we have over 3 million sat on their backsides watching 'Homes Under The Hammer' (Repeats)

[fools]

Do you see those words anywhere?

 

I'm saying, the cost of the unemployed isn't a piddling amount, (dwarfed by pensions), as suggested by your 0.8% figure.

 

9.5 million people of working age claim benefits, it's a massive amount of money.

 

Job seekers allowance is 137,000. -- suspiciously small don't you think, when 20+% of the country is economically inactive.

 

We have a minimum wage, and a 12k tax allowance, there is no need for in work benefits.

Edited October 1, 2022 by fools

[Anna B]

52 minutes ago, fools said:

Do you see those words anywhere?

 

I'm saying, the cost of the unemployed isn't a piddling amount, (dwarfed by pensions), as suggested by your 0.8% figure.

 

9.5 million people of working age claim benefits, it's a massive amount of money.

 

Job seekers allowance is 137,000. -- suspiciously small don't you think, when 20+% of the country is economically inactive.

 

We have a minimum wage, and a 12k tax allowance, there is no need for in work benefits.

 With rents, energy and a fast inflating cost of living, how can you say that? 

It's all relative.

There are many working people who can't make ends meet because the bills exceed their income. Especially those working in the gig economy with irregular hours and shifts. 

[fools]

I know you want the state to do everything, and if there is any imperfection in someone's life, it's always the government/state/Tories at fault.

 

Does it not appear a nonsensical system, that the state (who can mandate anything they like to business), can't come up with a system where anyone working full time earns a sufficient amount to not need a taxpayer subsidy? For example, you could mandate employers to provide a minimum income, and adjust their tax rates to pay for it, abolish ni etc.

 

Lots of people manage without in-work benefits. We have a system which encourages single parent families.

 

There are too many benefits, the tax system is ridiculously complicated, flatten the lot, and start again

 

Giving handouts just feeds the costs. Landlords have had a ton of regulation and tax disincentives forced on them, that's only going to put rents up.

 

The fast inflating cost of living is largely down to the massive handouts and enforced idleness of the last couple of years.

 

If the gig economy doesn't suit you, don't do it.

 

Edited October 2, 2022 by fools

[El Cid]

6 hours ago, fools said:

 

Job seekers allowance is 137,000. -- suspiciously small don't you think, when 20+% of the country is economically inactive.

Economically inactive is a poor statistic to use. Back in the good years, many mother's would be at home looking after their children.

[Anna B]

18 hours ago, fools said:

I know you want the state to do everything, and if there is any imperfection in someone's life, it's always the government/state/Tories at fault.

 

Does it not appear a nonsensical system, that the state (who can mandate anything they like to business), can't come up with a system where anyone working full time earns a sufficient amount to not need a taxpayer subsidy? For example, you could mandate employers to provide a minimum income, and adjust their tax rates to pay for it, abolish ni etc.

 

Lots of people manage without in-work benefits. We have a system which encourages single parent families.

 

There are too many benefits, the tax system is ridiculously complicated, flatten the lot, and start again

 

Giving handouts just feeds the costs. Landlords have had a ton of regulation and tax disincentives forced on them, that's only going to put rents up.

 

The fast inflating cost of living is largely down to the massive handouts and enforced idleness of the last couple of years.

 

If the gig economy doesn't suit you, don't do it.

 

Like I said before £16 Billion goes unclaimed so your arguments don't follow. Benefits are very heavily regulated and over complicated, it's certainly not easy to get  them, despite what you read in the Daily Mail.

 

I don't want the state to do everything, far from it. What I do want is  a fair tax system which is the fairest way of redistributing wealth, and also a way of making sure it's used for the benefit of those that pay it,  The rest of your post  I disagree with. For instance, we need a stock of council housing for renting out instead of just relying on private landlords who have driven up the cost of housing. 

 

As for the gig economy, what makes you think everybody has a choice? Judging by the huge number of distribution centres being built around he city this might soon be the only choice of occupation for some, and it is notoriously poor on workers rights and regular pay. So if it doesn't suit, are you suggesting people stay unemployed? I wouldn't have thought so.

 

It's about time employers had more respect for their workers, instead of just using them as dispensable worker drones. There used to be a level of self respect in working for your family, but that has been all but driven out of people by unscrutable employers who don't give a **** about their workforce.

 

It works both ways.

 

Edited October 2, 2022 by Anna B