General Chat

Hi Springtime, Years ago I worked in a housing department dealing with homeless people while at the same time my aunt was a supervisor at the DSS. I always used to hear about new benefits, changes etc before she did. She used to say those of them working at the DSS were always the last to know so it looks like nothing has changed!!

OC I'm so sorry to hear about your friends daughter - she sounds like she was very determined like my son. He too likes IT which he's studying at college so hopefully one day he will be able to find some sort of job where he can use that. Although we know the likelihood of him getting a job is slim, me and my husband are not prepared to be negative about it with him, but will just see how it goes. Personally I feel that the Benefits Agency target the wrong people in some, though of course not all instances. I work but am unable to work during the holidays as I am also a carer. During the Summer holidays last year I applied for Carers Allowance which I don't usually do as it's so much hassle, not for the money as it's hardly worth having but because it gives me NI credits, something which I have become aware as I've got older is important for the future, my pension etc. I was called in for a 3 hour interview before they would pay me anything. I phoned and explained my circumstances but was told that unless I attended the interview I wouldn't get any money. I then had to arrange a carer to sit in for me, go down to the Job Centre and explain that I wasn't looking for work at that time thank you (the fact I was applying for Carers Allowance surely should have alerted them to the fact I had a job already - as a Carer!!) , but would be returning to work after my short, enforced break!! What a complete waste of my time and theirs.

I know Joan, it is always the same. I know a chap who has rarely worked, and took a motorbike one Boxing Day without permission (uninsured etc) rode it fast and knocked down and killed an old lady. He went inside for a while and came out, used to sit outside Tescos doing drugs etc and only lately has sorted himself out and got off drugs. He inherited £20,000 off his late dad, a friend of mine, and is on disability benefits etc as he damaged his leg in the accident and cannot walk without pain (Shame!!) He gets extra benefits and a car and all the running costs etc. I worked for many years, often two jobs, and bought my own house, brought up my son, working part time etc,and now I am disabled through this fibromyalgia and cfs, I get a pittance. The details come to me, headed 'What the government says you need to live on' What a joke, they mean exist don't they? Many people spend as much as I get weekly, on a hairdo, I have seen them talk about it on here!

When my son (aged 24) lost his job in the summer, he was unable to get an appointment to sign on and apply for more work for TWO weeks, and then he was sent to jobs where the wages would not have paid his rent, much less allowed him to buy food. He was also sent for jobs where he did not have the right qualifications, the people at the job centre were useless. Eventually he found a job through his own efforts and because he is still not earning sufficient to pay all his dues and demands, he is working two nights a week delivering pizzas, in all weathers, on a scooter! He is not a scrounger and worked part time to get himself through a year at college. The council screwed up his council tax benefit for the 6 weeks he was unemployed, and the other day he got home to find a bailiff on the doorstep for the outstanding council tax for this year, which he thought was being taken via direct debit from his account, yet insufficient was being taken, due to this mix up. I know people who didn't pay their council tax for years and had the debt written off! Makes my blood boil.

This has made me think of my daughter's friend. She was born with severe cerebal palsy - father took one look and cleared off, and mother was put under pressure to put the girl into a Home. She didn't. I first met this child when she joined my daughter's nursery class in an ordinary school. She could neither speak nor walk, but she had such a strength of character, that she went on to the ordinary Comprehensive. She left school and somehow got a job in IT, which she did from home. She was very very good at the job and was soon earning very good money indeed, living in a specially adapted flat and leading as independent life as she possibly could. Tragically, she died last Christmas Day, aged just 29, from cancer of the liver. But at her funeral, her mother spoke of her determination to live the best possible and most productive life that she could - and did. I am sure this had something to do with an inbred work ethic - some have it, some don't. Yes, it IS difficult for some young people, and disabled people to get jobs - but not impossible. OC

Hi Springtime, I totally agree with what you say, that someone with a disability will find it hard to find work. As I commented, his chances of finding work are severely reduced and we are aware of that. We will, however, continue to support him in his quest for work as we have brought him up to believe that he should make a contribution to society in whatever way he is able to, even with his limitations and not just regarding working. An advisor (not the idiot who told him not to bother) has said there are specialist workers who can advise him and we live in a city, which might make it easier. At least if he doesn't find a job it won't be for the want of him trying, unlike some who are able bodied but can't be bothered.

Me and my OH have spent the last 20 years bringing up our severely disabled son and have always managed to work and have never claimed benefits, even thought it's been really difficult at times. We've obviously given our son the right attitude as he's determined that he's going to get a job and is now studying at college. Even though the likelihood of him being able to get a job due to the severity of his disability is vastly reduced, some idiot adviser told him that it wouldn't be worth him even considering working as he would lose some, if not all of his disability benefits. We've told him we'll support him in every way to find work, even if it means losing his disability benefit, as we believe in the dignity of earning your own keep whenever possible. If we can manage to work under difficult circumstances, I can't see why others should be allowed to laze around while I struggle to work to feed them.

Joan, I know this isn't what this thread was about originally, but you invariable get one who throws all claimants into the same pot, and that does get my goat. However, the idea of getting the long term claimants back to work by cutting their benefits is a good idea. The thing is, they will treat all claimants the same. Look at the shambles they called the CSA, supposed to be targetted at absent parents, and they stung everyone and made matters far worse. Who suffered? The children. Besides, I thought jobseekers allowance did that already. I did claim a few years ago when I first moved to Norfolk from Essex, out of necessity, and I had to prove that I had applied for at least two jobs every time I signed on. If I didnt', they said my benefit, for what it was worth, would be cut.

I don't believe for a second that everyone that claims benefits are doing so for the wrong reasons but it cannot be denied that there ARE an awful lot of people that appear to make a career out of it. I have no problem with my taxes being used to pay for those that are genuinely unable to work and I don't believe many others would have a problem with that either BUT for the sake of the legitimate claimants surely a review would be beneficial to all to separate the deserving cases from the scroungers.As a tax payer it would certainly make me feel more comfortable xx

I'm with Joan, I get incapacity benefit, £59 a week, topped up to £90 by Income support and a further £35 a week as I am also carer for my OH, thats £125 a week for two of us to live on. Now thats not bad as it goes, as generally two can live as cheaply as one, but I still have to pay my bills out of that, feed ourselves, clothes, and have had to buy equipment and furniture for myself and his needs. I also get housing benefit or I would not be able to pay £425 a month plus council tax out of that. I have worked all my life, but recently had to give up as the arthritis is so bad I couldn't manage it any more. My OH is diabetic, has had two heart attacks, and a stroke, but hasn't worked for years as he was a single parent to his children and chose to be at home for them. He can't claim Incapacity due to no credits from his NI, so I claim for both of us on my contributions. Dont' dare tell me I should get back to work, and stop scrounging! Even when I was unemployed a couple of years ago, I took all sorts of temping jobs rather than claim.

My nephew no longer works - he's on incapacity benefit, suffers from depression. The irony is, he used to work for the benefits agency - very stressful, made his depression worse, but the real icing on the cake, was that he (with his degree) was so badly paid that he was on benefits!!!!!! maggie

Why is it that those who work hard all their lives, save their money, buy their own house get treated like they don't even exist. My mum who is 85 owns her own house but can't get one penny of help from the state. It is draughty, the windows need replacing, there is no central heating - My family can't afford to pay for these sort of repairs so we do the best we can for her.

How many times has the government said this, nothing is ever done about it. Sue

we have a number of people who scam the system near us.they have,nt worked in years,they continue to have babies,run a car,go on holiday,its a well known fact that these people work on the side.but they always get away with it.there in constant trouble with the police.it begs belief.i feel its unfair that they continue to have children,as we have to pay for them.unless the government do some thing it will carry on.x

Makes mine boil too OC. That is absolutely outragous! Got one across the road from me too - not quite as bad as your neighbour though - and it just makes me sick. Some years ago I knew some people who worked for DSS - doing home visits. One of them said to me 'how do you think I feel after going into those luxurious homes and then going home and tripping over my threadbare carpet'. I know how she felt! Mary

Mary There is a man in my town, my sort of age, who has never done a day's work in his life, not since he left school. He is 'disabled' - some kind of (invisible) skin disease. This disease which stops him working, doesnt stop him sailing (his own) boat around the bay every Saturday, nor does it stop him driving his one year old car (Motability - better than I shall EVER own) and going to visit relatives in the USA every year. Makes my blood boil. OC

OC These parasites know how to 'work the system' it's what they do. The rest of us who work all our lives and then find ourselves out of work have no idea of how to do it because it's not in our nature. We have a work ethos - they don't. It sticks in my throat that they all get enough money to run cars - why??? They're not working, they don't need to be anywhere at a certain time, they should catch a bus! I've long thought that they should have all benefits stopped after 2 years. That's plenty long enough to get a job. And if they still haven't got a job and their benefits are stopped and they have kids, then the kids should be taken into care on the basis that they (the parents) are refusing to look after them. I know it sounds harsh, but tough! Thanks for letting me get that off my chest - I'll get off my soapbox now :-)) Mary

In my mid-fifties, I walked out of a job I had held for ten years - crummy waitress, crummy pay, crummy conditions and unbelievably horrible working hours. My life was not my own. I just could not stand it any longer and I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I did not expect to get JSA as I had left my job, but was worried about my stamps. To my astonishment, the JC urged me to claim JSA and encouraged me to go to college to finish an accountancy qualification I had started many years previously. The JSA amounted to £11 per week (not enough stamps) but hey, better than nothing. I lived on my savings and went to college. After 6 months the JSA called me in for a special interview (I had been applying for jobs, but not service-based ones, I didnt want to waitress/clean etc, any more). They sent me for an interview as an Accounts Manager and despite the fact that I hadnt actually qualified, and I had very basic IT skills - I got offered the job. The contract was for 16 hours a week. I would have to be available 'when they needed me'. As the job was in a seasonal industry, there would be no accounts for me to do in the winter, so, for my 16 hours a week, I would have to help clean the caravans and rekit them for the following year. In my innocence, I turned the job down. I immediately lost not just my JSA (£11) but Housing Benefit (which I was claiming BEFORE I went on the dole - took 16 weeks to get this reinstated) AND my college fees. It turned out of course, that the job was being funded by an allowance of £75 per week to the employer, paid by the government, to take a 'mature' claimant off the dole lists. I was a very easy target for this reduction in the jobless figures - I had worked all my life, doing jobs few else want to do. I just don't know how to work the system and they knew it. I got myself several grotty jobs of course - I had to. It did stick in my throat though, that I was getting up at 6 am to clean, whilst kids half my age laid in bed on the dole and spent their days on the beach. Yes - if it gets the long term unemployed back to work, good for it, but how come these people have managed to get away with it for so long? I couldn't! OC

The tax and benefits system is a shambles. It simply should not be possible to get more in benefits than one would earn in a full-time job commensurate with your skills. But it is also wrong to take tax and NIC from earnings of less than half the minimum wage and then employ an army of bureacrats to give it back.

yep about time something was done. There are plenty up my street who have not done a days work in their life. One person who is in his 40's has never worked and got about 6 kids with 3 differnet women. He cant go to work as he cant leave the house by himslef. Some sort of medical condition but he is able to go fishing and bait digging to supplement his income.