does it really pay to work ?

[videojetman]

bit of a moan really.
just got a bill from tax credits for £1500.
from over payments,
apart from that why when working class people have to pay for dental, prescriptions, opticians, school meals.
some lazy can't be arsed people just sit smoking & drinking at the tax payers expense.
and get all the above benefits for nothing.
this isn't a dig at genuine benefit claimants.
just the scum who screw the system for all they can.
if i didn't have any self respect i'm sure i'd probably be doing the same myself.
i just think if i'm paying huge amounts of tax every week, don't i deserve some benefits ?
thank goodness we have the nhs at least.
rant over.
see if i can come up with a plan to pay back this debt without losing the roof over my head.

 

[Alison]

We got an overpayment of about £1200 and they asked for about £60pm my husband phoned up and said he could not afford that and they asked how much he could afford, he said £20 so that's what we pay a month.

As to does it really pay to work, yes it does, we would not even be able to afford the internet or BT vivion or the computers or our car if it wasn't for my husband working, it's a myth that you get more benefits than if you worked because I now we certainly don't and he's not that highly paid.

Alison

 

[gavinda]

of course it pays to work. after a point. i believe where the problem lies is when people have become dependant on the 'benefit salary' and can't fidna job that will be worth that much more and make it worthwhile getting out of bed. the problem is, you have to start at the bottom and the low level salaries available in some jobs arent that much more than what you'd get on benefits anyway. an extra £50 (over benefits) a week for working 37.5 hours may not seem worth it to some one who doesnt work anyway, where as that same job to some one in no receipt of benefit ( young, migrant etc) is a job worth doing.

when i satrted out working i was living at home and had no financial responsibilities so i was happy to take any work I could. pot wash, supermarket cards, auditorium seating and waiting to name a few. however at this point in my life were i on benefit and having my rent paid for a 3 bed house, there is no way i could afford to do those jobs and the subsequent career path i did.

 

[greenstiles]

The benefits system has some big ' stupidities' in it...ie too much cash to some who don't need that much so 'why work' .....then some people on a low wage sometimes get help, but if you fall in between the rules slighly but are still working your arse off you get nothing..............yet others who earn plenty to live on without help get benefits sometimes..................it's all to cock.

 

[widowmaker]

I have probably got a bigoted view of the subject because of the area i work in

But

I drag my ass around every day as a postman walking around 10 miles + each day laiden with bags of mail and parcels usually delivering to people who answer the door wearing pyjamas in the afternoon stinking of cider and fags who have never done a hard days work in their lives, my whole body aches every night, my knees are going, my back is going and i barely break even :roll:

Sometimes i wonder if the feeling of having done a hard days work is enough :| :cry:

 

[Barneyballbags]

I think it's all relative.

When I was out of work for a few months, I was amazed at just how easy it was to get money, provided you knew which forms to fill in. I had been made redundant and was panicking because I, like lots of other people, had rent and bills to pay which wouldn't pay themselves. After my first 'interview' with the job centre I had found out what I was able to claim, and what forms I needed to complete in order to be able to claim it.

I was claiming enough money to get all of my bills paid, as well as my share of the rent. I still had a little left over too. I can understand why some people choose to stick with this lifestyle as it's 'easy money', as it were. However, the whole time I was on the dole, I was very conscious that I was being tarred with the same brush as the "Jeremy Kyle Generation" who see benefits as an easy life with everything paid for.

I have since had other jobs, and although it was difficult to begin with (ie. having absolutely no money left on payday once the bills/rent had been paid and wondering why I bothered), I am now glad to be in a position where I live in a nice house (albeit rented), can afford to pay all of my bills, and have enough money left over each month to be able to afford to go for the occasional pint or to feed my Retrobike & Rugby habit. Yes, I have to work full-time in order to be able to afford this and I have to watch the pennies, but I don't mind.

I'd rather work full time and earn my money/pay my way than be like the benefit-sucking scum who sponge off the Government and give nothing back.

 

[Andy R]

As to does it really pay to work, yes it does, we would not even be able to afford the internet or BT vivion or the computers or our car if it wasn't for my husband working, it's a myth that you get more benefits than if you worked because I now we certainly don't and he's not that highly paid.

Alison

Playing the devil's advocate here - surely you could even afford more stuff and experiences if you both worked, rather than expecting your husband to be the sole breadwinner? My wife and I have this argument with our daughter, who's always complaining about the fact that they're broke (and expects me to go round and do work for them for free).
Ok, so she has an 18 month old son but plenty of people who have children go out to work. However, she's chosen not to, for some reason......
My wife has always worked - when our daughter was very young my wife used to deliver for Grattons (the catalogue people) and just take Jenni round in the van with her.

And of course it pays to work - otherwise my wife and I wouldn't still be doing it.

 

[Alison]

the problem with four children is the child minding especially during school holidays would mean I would be paying to go to work, I can only work when my husband is home to get any benefit from it. When I only had one child I paid for childcare for him while I worked full time and we were still just living on his salary. He's more than welcome to swap with me

 

[twain]

Sometimes i wonder if the feeling of having done a hard days work is enough :| :cry:

it would if you were working the land that gave you the food you need at the end of the day.
jobs these days make you lose all focus about why you are really doing it and its a self perpetuating circumstance coz we work in a world that provides for consumers who work to consume, which feeds the businesses that 'provide' for consumers who work to consume....

basically, if you want to break out of that cycle, go live far away from any other people and live off the land around you.

 

[Andy R]

When I only had one child I paid for childcare for him while I worked full time and we were still just living on his salary.

So then, for every extra child doesn't the situation just worsen exponentially? - you can't afford to pay for childcare so that both parents can work, you have extra children to feed, clothe, educate, you need a bigger house to have enough room for everyone - it never ends, as I know only too well. It doesn't even seem to end when they're in their late twenties but that's another story......

We brought up two children with both of us working and it was a struggle at times - and that was never paying anyone else to do any work on our house, we did it all in the evenings and at weekends. Plumbing, electrics, plastering, tiling, decorating, we just had to get on with it. Just like lots of people do, I know.
I honestly do not know how anyone expects to be able to do all this on one wage - the answer, I suppose, is that some people must earn a hell of a lot more than we did or be in a position to claim all sorts of "benefits". Oh to be so lucky....