Food Stamps instead of cash

[mungbeanz]

What do you think about giving people on the dole food vouchers and a small amount of cash instead of all cash?
Do you think this could be a viable alternative and encourage out of work people to find a job if they want to spend money on luxuries?

I think that it would encourage people on JSA to spend less money on cigarettes and playstations. Many countries don't have any welfare, so why should our generous system pay for big tellies and Embassy No.1? It seems that people in Britain expect to own anything they want even if they can't afford it.

This isn't a rant. I would like to know if this system could work. I know that many peopel on the dole do struggle, but there also seems to be a few who know how to abuse the system. This system could help stop this maybe?

[factor-fiction]

Yes, I think she said she hopes to be able to pay off the loan by next Christmas. Does that mean there will a lot less money left over for presents next year I wonder?

[Old_Geezer]

Folk will find it degrading, especially those who have previously paid into the system and so are merely asking for some back in times of need. It is perfectly possible some will not claim what they ant out of a sense of pride and then will be forced to resort to less legal ways to pay their bills.

No I don't believe it is a good idea.

If the welfare system pays sufficient to 'keep one's head above water' and the recipient misuses the money then they have only themselves to blame for any resulting hardship.

[daffy654]

If she is anything like the other single mums on benefit that I know she will just renew the loan and be paying it off for the next twelve months.

[EDDIE51]

mungsbeanz , The 'Benefits Bonanza' storys are newsworthy and the papers run them to stir readers up and increase sales. Newspapers have advertising rates that depend on the number of sales, the more sales a paper has the more it can charge for adverts. This is why they run these stories and others like paedophile child abuse . I know a guy who was a few years ago sub-editor of the Daily Mirror , he told me a paper with the word ' Paedophile' on the front page headline will sell an average of 50,000 more copies than normal. Big profit ! ' Dole scrounger' headlines increase sales as well but not as much as peado headlines

[flip_flop]

Re: the article.

There is a quote from the lady in the article which neatly sums up the problem;

"the benefits I deserve"

Deserve for what exactly?

[daffy654]

My daughter was forced to claim benefits as a single mum for a short while after her partner left her on her own with their two young sons (age 2 and 3 now) and went off with another woman. She was constantly running out of money after buying the bare essentials and I was always helping her out financially. She now works part time and claims tax credits.

I can't figure out why people think that benefits are a fortune, they really aren't!

[alid5]

The part that really annoyed me was this quote -
As she puts it: ‘I went to the JobCentre and we worked out that if I went back to work I would actually be £10 a week worse off. I receive £21,528 in annual benefits, and I’d need to earn 30 grand a year before tax to match that.
‘I’m not qualified to do a job which pays me that, so it makes no sense for me to do anything other than stay at home.

I raised 5 children and still worked, have done various jobs when children were smaller to accomodate spending as much time with them as possible.

[EDDIE51]

aid5, It may be unpalatable and annoying but unfortunately it is true that in the UK at present a single parent with 3 or 4 kids IS better off on benefits.
I think it is a terrible situation but it is true if we like it or not.

[dzug2]

<<This would mean that the money would be used for the purpose it was being given >>

But it's been amply demonstrated that it wouldn't

[Davethedog]

The benifit system would be easier with a few small adjustments.

1) Single mothers only get benifit for 1 child
2) Single mothers who do not provide the name of the childs father get no benifit.
3) The father has to pay to maintain the child.
4) No non EEC citizen gets benifit.
5) No benifit is allowed to leave the country.
6) Unless you were in work when you had your family the most you can have is a two bedroom flat.

As has been said an awful lot of very hard working people are now having to ask for benifits, these people have for years payed taxes and maintaind the system but now find themselves lumped in with career dole people.

[Ankou]

"It seems that people in Britain expect to own anything they want even if they can't afford it."

that pretty much goes for everyone, including those employed and paid a handsome wage.

[China Doll]

Having been on JSA for three months and finding it a fairly horrendous existence, I'm always suprised when people think you can live the life of riley on it, in my experience you absolutely can't and I was lucky to be able to stay at my mums and not have too many bills.

That said, I'm not completely opposed to the idea of food stamps either, it doesn't sound like a terrible idea to me.

[ummmm]

Yep...that's why so many people have maxed out credit cards...

Dave, single mothers only get benefits for 1 child? Do you mean single mothers who have a child while claiming benefits?

Also, do you know the lengths some men will go to to avoid paying maintenance?

[Old_Geezer]

There is the problem. Sounds good to start with but it means you punish the babe for the actions of the parent. (Which may not have been intended anyway depending on how they got to the state of needing welfare.) It is not beneficial to society to raise folk who feel they have no stake in society because it has shown it doesn't care for them.

[flip_flop]

It is a truly absurd situation in this country that people who are on benefits are rewarded for having more children.

Can anybody imagine asking their boss for a raise because they have had another child? You'd be laughed out of their office.

[bednobs]

hmmm i am split 2 ways. I have (luckily) never claimed JSA so don't know ifi'm really entitled to an opinion.
the problem with food stampps is this: what if you need money to get to the job centre to look for work? to get the bus, or put crdit on your phone so you can chase jobs? Food stamps aren't going to help then

[mungbeanz]

Well, I suggested a small amount of cash to cover that kind of thing.

[mccfluff]

they'll just exchange the food stamps for cash, i can see the scene in the pub now.

i get annoyed when people who have not intention of working are claiming and gettign away with it.

[mungbeanz]

If everyone's stamps had their National Insurance number emblazoned on the front, then they couldn't sell them down the pub.

[mccfluff]

seriously you're that naive?