General Chat

However you read it Rita, that is not what I said!

If you want my actual opinion on 'how many children ' is too many...I'd personally say 'more than 2' lol.

Certainly I don't think that child benefit should be paid after the first two..if you want more then you should be able to finance it.

That can't of course apply retrospectively but it is definitely something i would like to see a government introduce for the future , as a 'deterrent' if you like.

My hubby had always been in work prior to having a serious Heart attack,& at the time he took ill he had been a Postie for 25 yrs.
Some would have thought that WE had rather a lot of children (5) when my husband became sick & out of work,& probably thought we were getting this that & the other in benefits because of having 4 of them still in school,unfortunately for us this was not the case.

We cannot judge all those out of work,sick etc who are receiving benefits, most are not playing the sysem & do not get a lot of money or other perks for not having a job.
Until one has been in the postiton of having to claim benefits they really do not know what it is all about!

Joan.

How do they arrive at figures such as £352 per week for two adults and 2 kids.

Single person who has worked for over 36 years and now unemployed get £65 per week to survive on. Surely then that is below the poverty line ?

You should see the parents when they collect their kids from school - straight into the newsagents and buy the kids made up bottle of squash.

My local council converted a pair of semis into one house for a large family and they a people carrier as their vehicle.

Exactly Joan, and that is my argument all the way through, each case is different, each 'poor' family may have become so through different circumstances.

We all know people who have 'played the system'...but they are the minority and the ones that make the news!

I have a young relative who constantly would have a go about those on benefits who were getting this that & the other instead of being made to get out there & find a job!
That was until she found herself pregnant with her 2nd baby,& her husband losing a nice clean,well paid computing office job! she soon changed her tune when she discovered that the grass was NOT greener being a benefits claimant!

And newspaper stories citing those benefit claiming couples with loads of children,getting loads of money & other such perks etc, do nothing to help the normal regular benefit claimant, because too many people start to think & believe that ALL benefit claimants must get the same!.

Joan.

I have a friend aged 60, who has been unemployed for 2 years.
He's a carpenter who learnt his trade through work - so no bits of paper to say he's done this or that.
He has a car, because one day he hopes to work again and needs to transport his tools.
Also, the nearest town is 5 miles away.
He keeps it running by:
1) cashing in a pension he had for a major service- which led to his being deducted £25 a week jobseekers allowance - despite the agency telling him it would make no difference to his benefit.
So much for being honest.
2) His sister has paid for an MOT on the car, and 2 telephone bills (as far as I know)
3) I give him petrol money
4) His sister, my sister and I feed him whenever we can - just to take the monotony out of his rice/pasta based diet

He hopes to work again., having worked non-stop since he was 17.............

....but of course he's now just a 'scrounger'!!!

Just remembered a hilarious situation he was in.
Certain clients (including my friend) were ordered into the Benefits office, as they had jobs for them.
About 20 of them were sat in a room. They were told to apply for jobs at the 2012 Olympics! (Just shows how much chance they had of getting jobs in the next year!)
One of the clients asked if they would get the train fare back.
Apparently,there was a possibility,but the office weren't sure.
So says Mr 'Scrounger,we spend a weeks money on train fare (It's £60 from here) with a 'possibility of a job?
'No' was the response- not all of it'.
'Oh no'. says Mr Scrounger, we can buy a cup of coffeewith our 'spare' 7 quid in London while we wait!!'

Even if they did get a job - no doubt on minimum wage - how much would they have left after a £60 daily train fare?
I'm sorry , but the government/benefit agency are taking the p*ss - all thanks to the Daily friggin' Mail!!

AND, the office have suggested my friend gets himself a computer!!!
OOOH YEA