The point people seem to miss about the pensioners is that the pension isn’t supposed to simply keep them from freezing to death…it’s supposed to provide a sensible standard of living i.e. have some “spare cash”. That includes things like going out to coffee shops, buying plants for the garden and having sky tv…because otherwise what is a retired person supposed to do all day…just stare at the walls?
A person of working age claiming benefits is for the purpose of supporting them until they can support themselves. That is the part of the system that is broken. These are the people who shouldn’t have the “spare cash” for socialising, fake nails, new cars, sky tv, holidays etc. The problem is that there are people working the system too much, they either don’t work at all or work the magic 16hr week to maximise their benefits. They have children without thinking about how to pay for them and without even having suitable accommodation in place before planning a pregnancy. They push for the children to be diagnosed with ADHD/ASD etc as a way of avoiding the benefit cap and claiming disability and carer’s allowances. They then don’t spend the extra money on extra expenses related to their child’s health because it all goes on other things and they don’t actually have any disability-related expenses.
When someone is working full time on a low wage and hasn’t chosen to have children to immediately be claiming tax credits because they know they can’t afford a child before even planning to have one, or someone is genuinely disabled enough that they can’t work at all…those people I would put in the same category as the pensioners…they deserve a benefit system that gives them a reasonable quality of life.
Everyone else needs a kick up the arse. The benefits system should be replaced for these people with vouchers that can only be spent on supermarket food, petrol or local buses, energy, childcare etc. People who are working age and capable or working full time shouldn’t be in a position where claiming benefits instead allows them to save up for holidays and takeaways twice a week.
It sounds very harsh, but the only way to break the cycle and push a next generation to be seeking good jobs and not scrounging is for the parents not to be able to provide everything without working for it. A child who sees their healthy parent not working or choosing to work little hours, then getting games consoles, holidays etc is not going to learn that these luxuries are supposed to come as a result of work. That’s why the pattern repeats itself in the next generation…they see having babies as a way of getting housed and having their life funded by the government.
The area where I live has a free program of activities for children whose parents are on means tested benefits throughout the entire summer break, it includes food every day and on some days quite expensive actives such as sailing and rock climbing. I have a friend who works full time but the family income is fairly low….but just above the line for receiving any means-tested benefits. Her child cannot do activities during the summer due to the cost…the program I’ve mentioned above doesn’t take payment so isn’t an option, the nearest thing to it is a childcare scheme in a sports hall (so no trips or special activities and the children have to bring their own lunch) which costs £35 a day, so would cost £175 a week. She can’t afford that so the child only gets booked in if there is no alternative…instead being dropped off with family or her/husband taking annual leave…with the main activities for the summer being playing at the local park or sitting indoors watching tv, with 1 or 2 proper days out which are planned and budgeted for. When her child goes back to school he hears from his friends who have unemployed mothers that they have been doing a lot more activities and having a lot more fun than he has. So presumably the other kids hear about his summer as a child of working parents being poor in comparison…so how does this incentivise those children to want to avoid entering the benefit system themselves?
