300 city households claiming £26,000 a year in benefits (From Daily Echo)

After studying for 5 years and working in the Engineering industry for 7 years my salary was 26k. To think I could of earned this by sitting on my arse and watching day time television is an absolute insult.
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Put an end to this and stick them on the bread line.

Bring in Food Vouchers & a few workhouses.

Totally Agree with Shoong in respect of food vouchers, not quite so sure of workhouse.
Boot camp for all unemployed u21's

Food, clothes and utility vouchers for households claiming benefits for over one year.

This should put a stop to households being better off than working people.

So I worked nightshift in what was suppose to be a good paying company but I would have been able to earn more by doing nothing & staying on the dole?
After tax & N.I stamp I took home £1,700 a month with overtime I could take home £1,900-£2,000 yet these people don't have to work to earn more than that?
Before any of the bleeding hearts brigade come on here let me say.
It's totally wrong that people can earn this sort of wage by not working if they have a large family that was their choice if they couldn't afford it they shouldn't have done it!
If like the single mum on the telly it's because they only want to live in the best areas maybe they should have thought of that before having children?
we as a caring society will look after the worse off but that lady was paying ( we were) £1,600 a month in rent ? a house to live in or a flat & that should show gratitude but it does not they think they deserve it?
Also you have to realise if this & all other aspects of the welfare state was sorted out until it was fair on the working man many would go & get a job & maybe there wouldn't be so many opportunities for our European friends
The money saved could go along way to paying off the countries debt & the cuts wouldn't have to be so harsh

We should be told which house and in which road...

loosehead wrote:
So I worked nightshift in what was suppose to be a good paying company but I would have been able to earn more by doing nothing & staying on the dole?
After tax & N.I stamp I took home £1,700 a month with overtime I could take home £1,900-£2,000 yet these people don't have to work to earn more than that?
Before any of the bleeding hearts brigade come on here let me say.
It's totally wrong that people can earn this sort of wage by not working if they have a large family that was their choice if they couldn't afford it they shouldn't have done it!
If like the single mum on the telly it's because they only want to live in the best areas maybe they should have thought of that before having children?
we as a caring society will look after the worse off but that lady was paying ( we were) £1,600 a month in rent ? a house to live in or a flat & that should show gratitude but it does not they think they deserve it?
Also you have to realise if this & all other aspects of the welfare state was sorted out until it was fair on the working man many would go & get a job & maybe there wouldn't be so many opportunities for our European friends
The money saved could go along way to paying off the countries debt & the cuts wouldn't have to be so harsh

Jesus Loosehead, I agree with you for once!

i say all benefits recipients should be drug and alcohol tested regularly too. if i fail either, i lose my job. likewise benefits should be withdrawn in event of someone failing either test

I see my income as a reward for adding value to society, but not in a direct proportion. I appreciate I have my renumeration skimmed to pay for those that need a temporary hand and that I'm fortunate enough not to have had to draw upon this fund in my life so far. Its just a shame that so many people see benefits as a career choice and a long-term entitlement.
Add value, get rewarded. Repeat after me.

Come on people, lets be fair. That £26,000 has to be spread amongst a mother and her numerous children. It probably equates to about £10 each.

Seeing as we all pay in at the same rate we should all be payed out at the same rate, but the whole welfare system has got out of control. Housing benefit should be payed out after an independent assessment of a fair rent for that property and nobody should be living in an expensive area if a cheaper property can be found unless their are justifiable reasons for them to stay in a particular area. Family allowance needs to be scrapped for all births after 01/01/2013 then if you have children you pay for them and drastic measures need to be put in place to encourage the 16 - 24 year olds to work or very soon they will be unemployable, there is no reason why anybody should not do some work for their benefit as long as they are able. Part of the problem for youngsters is that they live at home all found so the dole money is pocket money. I could go on and on but the fact is it MUST pay to work and the welfare bill must reduce.

no one on benefits should have luxury items such as sky, mobile phones etc. likewise plasma tv's, ps3, xbox. i know the bleeding heart liberals wont like this, but why should my taxes pay for , at the very least, the electricity to run said luxury appliances , never mind the actual funding of the purchases of said items.

The Salv wrote:
After studying for 5 years and working in the Engineering industry for 7 years my salary was 26k. To think I could of earned this by sitting on my arse and watching day time television is an absolute insult. . Put an end to this and stick them on the bread line.

You could HAVE earned more, perhaps, if you learned English too.

Verbal Kint wrote:
no one on benefits should have luxury items such as sky, mobile phones etc. likewise plasma tv's, ps3, xbox. i know the bleeding heart liberals wont like this, but why should my taxes pay for , at the very least, the electricity to run said luxury appliances , never mind the actual funding of the purchases of said items.

Whilst I appreciate your sentiments here, I'd hardly describe some of these items as luxuries.

Goldenwight wrote:

Verbal Kint wrote:
no one on benefits should have luxury items such as sky, mobile phones etc. likewise plasma tv's, ps3, xbox. i know the bleeding heart liberals wont like this, but why should my taxes pay for , at the very least, the electricity to run said luxury appliances , never mind the actual funding of the purchases of said items.

Whilst I appreciate your sentiments here, I'd hardly describe some of these items as luxuries.

are they necessary to be able to live ? if not then surely a luxury. just saying...

Verbal Kint wrote:

Goldenwight wrote:

Verbal Kint wrote: no one on benefits should have luxury items such as sky, mobile phones etc. likewise plasma tv's, ps3, xbox. i know the bleeding heart liberals wont like this, but why should my taxes pay for , at the very least, the electricity to run said luxury appliances , never mind the actual funding of the purchases of said items.

Whilst I appreciate your sentiments here, I'd hardly describe some of these items as luxuries.

are they necessary to be able to live ? if not then surely a luxury. just saying...

Like I said, I appreciate where you are coming from here. But mobile phones are hardly a luxury (there are over 80 million of them in the UK apparently) and with the demise of the analogue TV signal I can't really see that digital is a luxury either. OK, I accept that a large number of people choose to pay for expensive services. Why they do so when all they watch is Jeremy Kyle is beyond me.

Whilst there ARE some large families, who have generational worklessness etc, there are also just as many in fact double the number of genuine claimants, who have not 'sat on their ars*' not working! their family has broken up, they are paying a huge amount in rent because landlords knew previously that they could command high rentals. When they say benefits these could include Taxable benefits like Carer's Allowance and Disablity Living Allowance. If a parent had a disabled child with complex health needs (in addition to other family) members it could then mean that they suddenly find themselves in a position and unable to work. Or someone with children who suddenly has to care for a partner with a terminal or long term illnnes or a parent with dementia as well as their own family, meaning again that they may not be able to work or have to work less hours.

This is what our welfare system is for, not for those people who appear in the Daily Mail on a weekly basis. Yes things need to be done to tackle the problem of generational worklessness but I do wish people would STOP tarring all people on benefits with the same brush. Or heaven forbid suddenly find themselves redundant, lose their home, have to rent etc. Sometimes life comes along and deals some terrible blows that is noone's fault and I'm proud to live in a country that supports that.

Spend more on weeding out fraudsters and proper fraud teams who are cost effective rather than dissing a whole sector of people who are genuine, which makes up 90% of benefit claimants, and stop paying out to European transient workers for Housing Benefit, unless they fall into the above categories.

freemantlegirl2 wrote:
Whilst there ARE some large families, who have generational worklessness etc, there are also just as many in fact double the number of genuine claimants, who have not 'sat on their ars*' not working! their family has broken up, they are paying a huge amount in rent because landlords knew previously that they could command high rentals. When they say benefits these could include Taxable benefits like Carer's Allowance and Disablity Living Allowance. If a parent had a disabled child with complex health needs (in addition to other family) members it could then mean that they suddenly find themselves in a position and unable to work. Or someone with children who suddenly has to care for a partner with a terminal or long term illnnes or a parent with dementia as well as their own family, meaning again that they may not be able to work or have to work less hours.

This is what our welfare system is for, not for those people who appear in the Daily Mail on a weekly basis. Yes things need to be done to tackle the problem of generational worklessness but I do wish people would STOP tarring all people on benefits with the same brush. Or heaven forbid suddenly find themselves redundant, lose their home, have to rent etc. Sometimes life comes along and deals some terrible blows that is noone's fault and I'm proud to live in a country that supports that.

Spend more on weeding out fraudsters and proper fraud teams who are cost effective rather than dissing a whole sector of people who are genuine, which makes up 90% of benefit claimants, and stop paying out to European transient workers for Housing Benefit, unless they fall into the above categories.

stop paying out to transient 'workers' full bloody stop!! what economic benefit are they bringing to the country? Comes to something when you have eastern europeans selling big issue on the street. simple solution for transient workers is in the name. if they aint working, should return from whence they came!! Am sure any right thinking person would agree
Or should they be renamed transient benefit claimants...

sass wrote:

The Salv wrote: After studying for 5 years and working in the Engineering industry for 7 years my salary was 26k. To think I could of earned this by sitting on my arse and watching day time television is an absolute insult. . Put an end to this and stick them on the bread line.

You could HAVE earned more, perhaps, if you learned English too.

It's a colloquialism.
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Pedant English is not that necessary in the Engineering industry. As long as you’re Math and Science is up to scratch then you should be fine.
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As for earning more I now do. I left that job a went self-employed and now earning double that.
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But me thinks your conveniently missing the point ;-)

The reason many families are claiming vast amounts in housing benefit in because many families are forced to rent privately, this is due mainly to lack of suitable housing from RSL's (3 bedroom shortage)

Private landlord can charge almost whatever they like to tenants knowing full well the state will pay it, I do not see any criticism of private landlords charging over the odds for rent.

freemantlegirl2 wrote:
Whilst there ARE some large families, who have generational worklessness etc, there are also just as many in fact double the number of genuine claimants, who have not 'sat on their ars*' not working! their family has broken up, they are paying a huge amount in rent because landlords knew previously that they could command high rentals. When they say benefits these could include Taxable benefits like Carer's Allowance and Disablity Living Allowance. If a parent had a disabled child with complex health needs (in addition to other family) members it could then mean that they suddenly find themselves in a position and unable to work. Or someone with children who suddenly has to care for a partner with a terminal or long term illnnes or a parent with dementia as well as their own family, meaning again that they may not be able to work or have to work less hours.

This is what our welfare system is for, not for those people who appear in the Daily Mail on a weekly basis. Yes things need to be done to tackle the problem of generational worklessness but I do wish people would STOP tarring all people on benefits with the same brush. Or heaven forbid suddenly find themselves redundant, lose their home, have to rent etc. Sometimes life comes along and deals some terrible blows that is noone's fault and I'm proud to live in a country that supports that.

Spend more on weeding out fraudsters and proper fraud teams who are cost effective rather than dissing a whole sector of people who are genuine, which makes up 90% of benefit claimants, and stop paying out to European transient workers for Housing Benefit, unless they fall into the above categories.

You have to credit the Daily Mail with the reports of court cases where the defendants claim for disability allowance(s) doesn't tie up with their ability to run marathons or play golf. The disability allowance(s) does seem to be fairly widely claimed fraudulently as more ailments allow the claimant to qualify.

Disability Living Allowance is probably the most fraudulently claimed benefit.
When you read the eligibility criteria it is a joke to find it is also paid out for example to an alcoholic who is deemed 'unfit for work'.

Verbal Kint wrote:
no one on benefits should have luxury items such as sky, mobile phones etc. likewise plasma tv's, ps3, xbox. i know the bleeding heart liberals wont like this, but why should my taxes pay for , at the very least, the electricity to run said luxury appliances , never mind the actual funding of the purchases of said items.

I see your point but what about people who have all of your luxury items and then lose their job ? would you suggest they sell them for a fraction of their worth or just not use them so that you are not paying for the electric. If you think about it logically its a bit of a non starter don't you think.

Rockhopper wrote:
Disability Living Allowance is probably the most fraudulently claimed benefit. When you read the eligibility criteria it is a joke to find it is also paid out for example to an alcoholic who is deemed 'unfit for work'.

Yeah, but we've got to pay for our cheap white cider somehow, haven't we?

Seriously, though, this amazes me- and I'm assuming it to be true- because some years ago I had to take my partner (in a wheelchair) for a DLA medical, only to discover that the office was on the fifth floor of a building with no lift. You are sure you aren't confusing it with Sickness Benefit or ESA or whatever they call it now?

freemantlegirl2 wrote:
Whilst there ARE some large families, who have generational worklessness etc, there are also just as many in fact double the number of genuine claimants, who have not 'sat on their ars*' not working! their family has broken up, they are paying a huge amount in rent because landlords knew previously that they could command high rentals. When they say benefits these could include Taxable benefits like Carer's Allowance and Disablity Living Allowance. If a parent had a disabled child with complex health needs (in addition to other family) members it could then mean that they suddenly find themselves in a position and unable to work. Or someone with children who suddenly has to care for a partner with a terminal or long term illnnes or a parent with dementia as well as their own family, meaning again that they may not be able to work or have to work less hours.

This is what our welfare system is for, not for those people who appear in the Daily Mail on a weekly basis. Yes things need to be done to tackle the problem of generational worklessness but I do wish people would STOP tarring all people on benefits with the same brush. Or heaven forbid suddenly find themselves redundant, lose their home, have to rent etc. Sometimes life comes along and deals some terrible blows that is noone's fault and I'm proud to live in a country that supports that.

Spend more on weeding out fraudsters and proper fraud teams who are cost effective rather than dissing a whole sector of people who are genuine, which makes up 90% of benefit claimants, and stop paying out to European transient workers for Housing Benefit, unless they fall into the above categories.

So do you think it's right that a couple working earn £16,000 a year( Sainsbury's) & some one not working can get £26,000 a year tax free?
Most councils will give you points dependant on your conditions so someone in the situation you have mentioned will get a lot of points & would stand a very good chance of getting a successful bid on a house.
The reason many don't is because they choose not to live in a council area but still expect us to pick up the tab.
Before you give me your usual bleeding heart stuff. My dad was in nick my mum was on Social & we were more than grateful for the council house we lived in & not once did we think we were better than the others in that area.
Try listening to some of them! I have a standard of living to keep up & I think it's highly unfair that the government is only going top give me £26,000 a year as I will have to move to a not so affluent area & not an area of my class.
That was a comment from a single mum You cannot tell me that's what the social was designed for!
The Welfare system was put in place to help people until they could find work & that meant any work. It was not as a way of life or a way to have a good life with out ever having to work for a living

Rockhopper wrote:
Disability Living Allowance is probably the most fraudulently claimed benefit.
When you read the eligibility criteria it is a joke to find it is also paid out for example to an alcoholic who is deemed 'unfit for work'.

I really do not believe that you have actually read the eligibility criteria.

There are so many schemes looking for volunteers maybe these people should be used as volunteers( volunteer them army style) .
this could be away of earning the social they're claiming.
A bit of hard work will get many crying "it's not fair" but if they don't like it go abroad & see if you can live for free.
Canal reclamation are looking for volunteers all the time & many rivers & environmental groups could do with the help. this would not take paid work from some one but would show which ones would like a job & which ones don't ever want to work.
As for high private rents if we never had students & Eastern Europeans there would be a glut of rental properties & the rent would come tumbling down. Look at the past before when we had only one Uni.& no migrant workers I rented out a two bedroom house the most the social would pay was £400 a month Labour changed that & allowed the landlords to charge what ever they wanted & now we're seeing the cost to us all. but saying that these people can shop around & find properties for a lot less than £1,000 a month even with that they still would get more than a thousand pounds a month to spend Are you honestly telling me that's not enough?
I get from my pension £1,400 I pay £429 mortgage a month so I get less than £1,000 a month & I & my wife still manage to save money so stop the cr+p this should be sorted & maybe the teenagers who were offered jobs on a farm wouldn't say I get more on the dole & I won't get out of bed for that