Why Can't People Manage On £500 Per Week?

[magsmay]

So - the Cap on Benefits will commence, along with a chorus of moaning minnies who say they can't possibly manage and will have to cut down on food and heating -so bloody what!!! If two working people had the misfortune of one of them losing their job they would have to cut down until things got better - your weekly cheque is a benefit For Funks Sake not a wage - Some WORKING couples barely clear £500 after off takes -this makes my blood boil -people these days are like spoilt children when they get their sweeties taken away - Quote from one moaning minnie this a.m. on TV '' I've tried to get work in the past but for me its not an option'' -then suck it up madam- if you want the State to provide for you then cut down and budget like the working families have to.

[Sharingan]

That is a very simplistic view.

[magsmay]

Its a simple question - I'm not arguing than anyone should not receive benefits -I'm remarking that people should be grateful for what they are getting and pull their belts in and learn to budget -its an old fashioned attitude perhaps, that people should manage on what they have. In my long(ish) life i've been very well off ,then poor, on benefits in a council house when my husband died suddenly and left me with two small children - then pulled myself up and out of it and am now 'comfortable' -I cut my cloth as they say and had to cut down on things, buy more pasta and less meat -I've been there Sharinox -not read it in a book ;-)

[jake-the-peg]

I think about half affected will be single parents

Very often low paid work will not cover child care - fine if you have familly that can help out but many do not.

[magsmay]

jake - I'm not saying they should go out and get a job -sometimes childcare is more than the wage they could make -I'm saying people should stop moaning about how much they are given -for nothing- and learn to budget and be grateful.

[mrs_overall]

They would be better off cutting down on things like huge flat screen tv's, the latest mobile phones and every electronic device known to man that they all seem to have, rather than food and heating.
I know two couples on benefits (one pair are genuinely ill & disabled, the other pair are healthy scroungers). Both couples run cars, have holidays abroad and have very good lifestyles....all funded by us taxpayers

BTW well done to you for coping so well when your circumstances changes

[emmie]

not just a simplistic view, but they trot out these people regularly, just so some can shout at them, get a job, stop moaning and so on. Most people work, many in low paid jobs and are struggling to make ends meet. And as been pointed out any number of times, many that get housing benefit, however much are in work. Just that they don't earn enough to cover all bases. Not to mention pensioners who manage on a good deal less, if you get the basic state pension that is.

[Sharingan]

Would you mind not calling me Sharinox please? My name is Sharingan. I thought that had already been established to everyone else's satisfaction. Thank you.
The problem is that the benefit that invariably puts anyone above the £500 threshold is housing benefit. Putting a ceiling on the amount of weekly benefits overall anyone can claim ( down from the the normal LHA rate to whatever is left over which makes it up to £500) will simply lead to ghettoism, destabilisaiton of the family and to people being forced to move to poorer areas. This will in turn bring it's own problems, surely you can see that?

[mrs_overall]

*changed*

[Svejk]

Yes Mags, heard a girl on news this morning saying she'd have to cut down on school trips, be more careful with heating & food shopping.
Mmmm,I thought, behave like everybody else has to, in other words.

[youngmafbog]

Quite possibly so Jake, but how many have put themselves in that position simply to get the benefit and housing?

And don't say it does not happen because I know it does; first hand exposure.

One area I would like to see the State do more is childcare. It should be attached to schools (not provided by teachers). the rate should vary on income (and of course not be available to those on benefit unless approved by jobcentre for interviews). I dont think it would cost too much. The reason it is so expensive now is because of the over-reation of the last lot.

[pips1]

Take no notice magsmay, you are right. My ex left me with nothing and 2 kids and I would love to see £500 a week, the most benefit I have ever received in my life has been £11.50 a week and that was with me working two jobs!

[emmie]

if these people had worked once, then presumably they had contributed to the overall spending pot. Those who haven't perhaps are the ones who should be moaned at.

[Svejk]

Sharingen. Can't you see that at the moment unrealistically high rents are being subsidised.
I often worked up in London but I never went looking for digs in Kensington or Mayfair. Lol.

[naomi24]

magsmay, I agree with you completely.

[emmie]

no one but the very rich live in Mayfair or the really posh bits, but look at most parts of the capital, the rents are high, it's because we attract lots of folk who want to live here, those with enough money to pay 500 quid a week, or indeed a lot more, thus shoving up the rents for the majority with average or lowish incomes.

[sara3]

I don't earn £500 a week. I'm a working single parent, I have never received maintenance, I have a mortgage and the usual ever-increasing bills.. plus a pay freeze for the last 7 years.

I can manage.

[sara3]

magsmay, that's a shocking memory problem. I assume you're 90+

[emmie]

Naomi, whilst i agree with some of what has been said, i also know from long experience that it is not as simple as made out. I agree 500 quid sounds a lot, and it is if you have nowt.

[magsmay]

One of my daughters and her husband both have minimum wage jobs -by the time they have paid their NI contributions and Tax they have just under £500 a week between them -and they pay £450 per month rent -they manage -just - they have no children but the child benefit, I believe -is not calculated in the £500 cap so someone with 5 kids will be getting another £100 A WEEK CB on top of their Welfare Benefits -oh and free school meals/ dentistry/prescriptions.