What's your honest opinion on people on benefits?

[Natsku]

Me and OH are on benefits. I never really gave people on benefits a second thought before we had to go on them (OH can't work right now because of his health, although we opted for unemployment rather than disability benefits as we're hopeful he'll get better with the right treatment and be able to work again) but the system is much better here I think, than in the UK. We'll able to live ok off the money and it is near impossible to scam them as far as I can tell as you have to give in all your bank statements every month so they can tell if you have money coming in from elsewhere and under the table paying jobs aren't common here.

So u dont work either and look after your LO?

Yeah I'm on maternity leave still, dunno if that counts as benefits? I'm full time carer for OH too

carers dont get enough support at all in the UK so i dont no if finland is any different. its such a hard job and it really is a job

I'm not officially recognised as a carer so I get no support at all

 

[hb1]

What confuses me about some people on benafits is how non earth can some of them afford to smoke, be drunk all the time and have somthing like £60 a day drug habbits.

There was a women where we used to live who was constantly drunk on special brew, I have never seen her without a can in her hand day and night, out for a walk.
Her and her parner who also was never without a drink even used to get in the car and drive to the shop to get more with the can still in their hands.
How on earth can people afford that sort of thing on limited money

alchaholics and drug addicts can claim incapacity benefit which is higher - will also get housing benefit etc and alcaholics can claim an alcahol allowance

The ones that annoy me are households claiming massive amounts and essentially working/milking the system - there should be caps at below the minimum wage - it should be about maintaining the minimum living standards - eg food and roof over your head - clothes for children ( again basics ).

 

[moomin_troll]

i no a alcoholic that claims disability aswel as eveything else because she claims to have a bad leg which is bullshit.....and the idiots have also given her a brand new car shes always pissed and she has a car given to her.

she gets all her rent paid and income support aswel as alcohol allowence.

i also no a girl who wouldnt go back to work because she was £20 a week better off on benifits, and then she would spend what little she had to pay for rent on designer clothes for her daughter and was always redecorating her house and spent a fortune on paint all the time

 

[Harveysmum369]

A lot of the things we have are things that we got when we were working mind you.. so I can imagine people probably think the same thing about us. x

Nooo I mean the ones who you know have been long term unemployed and you see them taking the stuff in. xx

 

[Pramaholic86]

I got given a book while I was pregnant outlining who gets what and I could not believe the amount of money people can get for, well, nothing!
I think JSA should have a time limit, it shouldn't be for living off indefinately. People who are full time carers should have a decent wage, caring is a full time job and should be recognised as such
On the estate where I work there are hoardes of people just living off benefits, all manage to afford a big flatscreen and some have nice cars etc, which is wrong.
I worked full time prior to having LO and I am selling my car because I can't really afford the running costs once I go back part time, so why should someone who doesnt work have that luxury?
Genuine cases - yes, benefit frauds and lazy layabouts, no!

 

[angelandbump]

I end up on my high horse when i talk about this... (please note, i am mainly on about people who dont bother there butts at finding a job and 'choose' to live off benefits)

In my family, our saying is "we will shift shit if it puts food on our table, clothes on our backs and a roof over our heads"Thats the way i have been brought up and i always will feel that way.

I went throgh depression when i was 16 and was very unwell especially when my partner at the time died. I wasd on DLA and income support for 7months. I then found a course called CCP and with in 6 weeks i got my job.

There are millions on jobs out there, people just are too picky at times. If you go on the sector 1 website there are soo many for all different trades. Were i work are taking on but they got such a poor response yet where i live it has one of the highest levels of unemployment in the UK.

I saw on the fairy jobmother that the goverment is going to make people earn their benefits and i think that is an AMAZING idea... Why should they just sit there and recieve when i have to work full time to get around about the same amount of money. It makes me laugh when people say they don't get employed because they have work experience... there are plenty of voluntary job possitions where people can get expierence.

If in some cases, genuine people who have lost there job find it hard to get a job then i seriously feel for them but sadly thats a minority.

What really gets me is when people say there child had 'x y or z' so they can get benefits. If your child has ADHD or something similar, what extra money do you need? Genuine question (not a dig)

Also, i understand caring for someone is a job in its self, but wouldnt they benefit from going to work for the 16hours a week just for a break (and getting professional carers in) but to also keep them in the earning mode as when that person no longer requires care, they may find it very hard to get back into working.

 

[Pramaholic86]

If you look hard enough there are jobs out there, just depends if people are willing.

 

[moomin_troll]

ive had friends on jobseekers and if they are on it for more then 6 months they have to then do volentary work which is found by the jobcentre and also are placed on training and their "wages" is there jobseekers money

 

[ShanandBoc]

What about mothers caring for their children and living on benefits? How do u feel about that? Is that similar to a carers allowance do u think? As they are 'caring' for someone who cant care for themselves.

Just curious as to peoples opinions? Or do u think the child should be put in childcare and the mother work??

 

[moomin_troll]

i think it should be cheaper for childcare. full time nursery in my area is £900 a month and i dont no many people who can earn that and still pay the bills.

obviously if ur talking about a single mother whos child is under 5 so not at school then benifits can be very good for them, as like i said nursery is so expensive so all ur wage goes on nursery (even tho in my area a full time working single parent still get help from benifits and 100% of their rent is paid for)

but for a mother to stay at home on benifits when her children are in school is pointless to me

 

[ShanandBoc]

but for a mother to stay at home on benifits when her children are in school is pointless to me

Agreed

But i have seen many times on here that people dont approve of those claiming benefits to stay at home with before school age children which is why i asked

 

[Natsku]

Here municipal daycare is free for all children and if you want to go for private daycare then you get it subsidised or if you want to stay at home with your child you will be paid to do so until they are 3 years old but after that you either have to support yourself at home or put them in daycare til they start school.

I think thats a good system because it means mothers (or fathers, it can be either that stays) don't have to go straight back to work after their maternity leave is up but they are still guaranteed their job back after the 3 years.

 

[moomin_troll]

but for a mother to stay at home on benifits when her children are in school is pointless to me

Agreed

But i have seen many times on here that people dont approve of those claiming benefits to stay at home with the children which is why i asked

my mum still is a full time carer for my older brother. shes struggled on benifits and in winter so we had the best shoes she wore sandles and she walked everywhere. soon as my brother and sister were in school i was put in nursery and my mum found a job cleaning as she couldnt find a better job so she did what she had to.

my mum worked her arse off for us so for me to see people choose to live on benifits and waste money drives me nuts.

 

[5-a-side]

I've been on both sides of this.
For me being on benefits as a single mum was the hardest thing I have ever done. The money I received covered the bills and basics (our cupboards were tesco value, no internet, didnt even have a tv for about 4 months, school uniform was either donated to us or I got from lost property sales) my youngest was only in pre-school part time whilst my eldest at school. But finding a job was very difficult, I applied everywhere, McD's factories, cleaning, whatever came up and I didnt get anywhere, it was a low depressing time for me and I honestly feel for the genuine people who are living that way.

Then there's the others, the ones that have no interest what so ever in getting a job, helping themselves or training or volunteering towards anything.
I wonder if they pay the bills, sleep freezing cold while worrying if the one radiator that's on in the house will keep the kids warm enough before running out of fuel?
Are they bothered that putting £5 in their child's birthday card is enough?

If my life was luxury when having to claim, maybe I wouldnt feel so bitter towards the ones that just dont seem to give a shit. But when I see the ones struggling to provide for a family its heart breaking, especially through no fault of their own.

Previous poster was right, I'd do whatever it takes to have pride and positivity restored, its a very worthy thing earning the money that keeps the family surviving.

 

[Pink1981]

My and dh were on JSA for 2 years after he lost his job. It was the hardest 2 years of my life! Yes we got our mortgage and council tax paid but we still didn't have enough money to cover everything. We ended up £3k in debt after those 2 years. Dh got a job in sept and we have set up a payment plan and will have that 3k and our 3k overdraft paid off by june next year.

The thing is, im so so grateful it is there otherwise we would be homeless now! I think its fab for people who need it but they really do need to find a way of monitoring it.

Also i think the job centres need rehauling or something. We got so much conflicting advice. For the first year of job hunting my husband turned down any temp working on the job centres advise (they said we would have to wait 13 weeks for mortgage help again) but it turns out that if he had taken a temp job for 6 months or less we could have put in some form that would have got us the help straight away again. And i think that temp jobs open up so many opportunities, if nothing else he would have had something else on his cv.

He only had 6 interviews in 2 years because at the time the recession was terrible and employers literally had their pick. Soe recruitment agencies wouldnt even put dh on their books because they had so little jobs and so many people looking

Sorry didnt mean to write so much. Was a really tough 2 years!

 

[hb1]

What about mothers caring for their children and living on benefits? How do u feel about that? Is that similar to a carers allowance do u think? As they are 'caring' for someone who cant care for themselves.

Just curious as to peoples opinions? Or do u think the child should be put in childcare and the mother work??

I think once the children are at school then yes the mother should work. I think that in the case of 2 parent families at least 1 person should be working, the 2nd person should have the option - either way they are contributing by "caring" for the child or paying income tax. Then receive tax credits dependent on the household income.

I am working f/t after mat leave finishes so it isn't impossible. I also feel that after the age of 1 then all households where all the parents work ( either single parents or couples ) then childcare should be free - as school is - childcare is usually the biggest issue preventing mums from returning to work.

But below school age a mother should be able to choose without the cost of childcare being the driving force.

I know, however, that it would be economically impossible so will be paying a chunk of my salary for childcare and getting no benefits back.

 

[Blah11]

but for a mother to stay at home on benifits when her children are in school is pointless to me

Agreed

But i have seen many times on here that people dont approve of those claiming benefits to stay at home with before school age children which is why i asked

i dont mind topups from tax credits if one parent is working full time but i do have an issue with both parents being at home and both claiming.

 

[Blah11]

What about mothers caring for their children and living on benefits? How do u feel about that? Is that similar to a carers allowance do u think? As they are 'caring' for someone who cant care for themselves.

Just curious as to peoples opinions? Or do u think the child should be put in childcare and the mother work??

I dont think its similar to carers allowance, no. You pick to have children, people don't pick to get ill.

 

[ShanandBoc]

I agree Blah, thats a good point.

Well my DH is about to start a new job and i will be staying home looking after our DD and claiming family tax benefits. He will be earning too much for me to recieve any actual parenting payment, or virtually next to nothing, im sure exactly yet

I am not required to look for work until our youngest child is 7 by law here in Aus, although once our youngest is at school i will return to work

 

[Blah11]

I believe your benefits for mothers staying at home stop at 7 here too.