Lazy Jobless

[flip_flop]

Should people who choose not to work be entitled to any benefits?

[Booldawg]

No - being the simple answer.

[Myriad2112]

Why should they? I w've been paying into the system for 25 years and when I was made redundant I receiced about 40 quid a week to live on which they called job seekers allowance so that I didn't appear on the unemployed figures.

[wildwood]

This is always a touchy subject. They certainly shouldn't be entitled but it has a flowon effect.

Many of these professional unemployed are already dabbling in illegal activities and getting no benefit would only force them to increase their shady behaviour and cost heaps more while in prison. This is not a good reason to give them a benefit but what can be done?

[brionon]

If there is unemployment in the Land is it not better that those who want to work have jobs and those that don't-don't ?

[ludwig]

There's nothing wrong with being lazy and jobless - If I had the means to do it I'd be both of those things.
The problem is when you expect someone else to fund that lifestyle for you. So my answer to the question is no.

[flip_flop]

If people choose not to work, then fair enough - but should we fund them?

Absolutely not.

[david1702198]

why dont they have them out sweeping streets and removing graffiti then?? if they choose to claim benefits and not work for a living they should be made to contribute something to society to justify the benefits. im the same i got made redundant depsite paying into the system for 10 years and i felt like a criminal when i went to the local jobcentre to enquire if i could claim anything until i gained alternative employment.

[Ethel]

david - how would you feel if you were a street cleaner with the council, facing redundancy because the unemployed had to do it on the cheap?

And if you were the council supervisor, how would you feel overseeing people who simply did not want to be there or did not have the nous to follow direction?

[cazzz1975]

I agree with flip flop, if they refuse to work then they shouldnt get paid.

[Ethel]

Cazzz - so you let their children starve?

Or forcibly remove them and put them in to care?

[theonlyone]

My step daughter hasn't worked for 8 years..
her GP says she has depression ...there's
nothing wrong with her ..she's in a rut ..
lays in bed until midday as she is bored ....
if she went to work she wouldn't be bored ..
meet people ...have a chat ...she is 32 ..
what a sad life ..

[cazzz1975]

no ethel, I mean people who are fit and well, have school age children who refuse to volunteer at the very least for a couple of hours a week.

my mom lives next door to a lad in his early 20s who spends his days getting drunk and having parties every evening. It would be more beneficial for him to do something more worth while.

its not black and white ethel, I wouldnt want peoples children to starve, but the people who refuse to work and are fit and healthy should at least help in their communities if they cannot do work

[cazzz1975]

I think it would be also beneficial if theyy were issued food stamps especially for unemployed who have children

[PatriciaH]

In a nutshell.... NO

[theonlyone]

Cazz they would sell the food stamps to
buy booze ,drugs and ciggies ...I went to
Post Office on Monday ...benefit day ..
the single mums ..a white child ..and a
brown one ..have never worked as they are
only 17-18 years old ..what a sad society we now have to pay for ...

[gonzo00]

i think that people who say they can't get a job and who receive benefits should have to do something to earn those benefits....i know that in some countries if you don't have a job then you are given a job by the local council such as street cleaning or sewers maintenance and paid a very low wage,thus prompting those "employees" to rush out and get a job with an employer.....the obvious exceptions being those with a REAL disability...why couldn't this work in the uk??? give those layabouts thier benefits but only if they do a 40 hour week for the council...problem solved!

[cazzz1975]

you cant sell them, they are used very sucessfully in the states, you cannot swap them either. its the way forward really..

[Ethel]

Food stamps and vouchers ARE sold on the black market in the US.

Exaclty as milk vouchers used to be sold for cigarettes in the UK.

Make the unemployed work for the council for benefits, and there would be far fewer proper jobs in the council. Why should the council or any other organisation take on staff, unpaid or not, that are not willing to work or not have the mental faculties to do a proper job without close supervision?
They would be responsible for them and end up paying hundreds of thousands in compensation because of accidents/ill health and lord only knows what else.

[Ethel]

And a not small per centage of long term unemployed have criminal records for theft, dishonestly, violence ....

Who would employ them? I wouldn't.