The Student Room Group

What do you think about people on benefits?

Some people really do need help, others are capitalising off their problems
I'm not on about like disability claimants
It's these people raking in equal to middle classed salaries just because they purposefully have 100 children and don't lift a finger
It's just annoying, to say the least, that the more "dire" your situation is the more money you get. I'm seriously considering just getting several people pregnant and letting them all shack up with me so we can claim
I'm impartial to JSA sanctioning as well. The concept is rather simple:
If you don't follow the rules, you don't get your JSA
Even though I do know some people sanctioned for stupidness but the general idea is rather foolproof

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The vast majority are legitimate claims, if anything its getting more stricter. Your claim is both skewed and fallacious.
Those who are on benefits due to short term unemployment I have no problem with whatsoever. They deserve all the help they get.
Those who are long term unemployed due to laziness, loss of motivation etc don't deserve any benefits. Those who keep having kids from 8 different fathers & live off child benefits don't deserve any either. I do think the number isn't as large as papers like the Daily Mail make out though.
Original post by Mard_arse
Some people really do need help, others are capitalising off their problems
I'm not on about like disability claimants
It's these people raking in equal to middle classed salaries just because they purposefully have 100 children and don't lift a finger
It's just annoying, to say the least, that the more "dire" your situation is the more money you get. I'm seriously considering just getting several people pregnant and letting them all shack up with me so we can claim
I'm impartial to JSA sanctioning as well. The concept is rather simple:
If you don't follow the rules, you don't get your JSA
Even though I do know some people sanctioned for stupidness but the general idea is rather foolproof


I couldn't care less about benefits in the sense that they are given out.

The amounts are tiny in the grand scheme of things.

In work benefits however should be phased out, the government shouldn't be subsidising business' to pay a wage that people can get by comfortably on, that's the job of employers.


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Having a welfare system per se is not bad. The issue arises when exploitation of said system takes place. Incentives should be in place that promote people to actively look for work. The current government seems to be doing a good job of introducing such incentives, even if at times they may be harsh.
Reply 5
Benefits can massively improve and change people's lives for the better. I understand some may abuse these systems, but a majority of people genuinely need these benefits. Television and media shines a negative light over people who are on benefits making them look idle and useless, when in fact this isn't the situation. And in my opinion anyone who labels all people on benefits as idle or describes them as useless is single minded and ignorant.
Reply 6
Corporate fraud costs us more money than benefit fraud as a country, shouldn't we be more concerned about that?
I'd judge each person separately. Of course some people fall on hard times and work their ass off to get off benefits asap and I fully respect those people for getting out of a bad situation. I don't understand people who are long term unemployed, it is not that hard to get a minimum wage job doing crappy shift work and I would always want to be working, even in a shitty job, over being on benefits. I would really judge anyone who has a lot of kids and so on as I think it's really selfish to be claiming loads of benefits which were avoidable because you fancied having another baby, if you want to do everything you want in life get a job and pay for it yourself, don't use people's hard earned taxes to fund an unnecessary lifestyle.
Reply 8
Nothing wrong with being on benefits. But benefits as a lifestyle ? not acceptable. Unless you literally can't work for health reasons.
The benefit system is getting stricter, which is good. My parents are on benefits, although my dad also works, due to mental health issues resulting in my mum unable to work. For those that really need it it's a great system and I see no problem in them receiving benefits.
(edited 7 years ago)
Most claimants are simply hard-working people who have found themselves out of work and need a hand while they go out looking for a new job.
Benefits should be a safety net for the needy, not a career choice for the lazy.

Tighten them up so those who CAN work, DO work, but ensure that those who CAN'T work, DON'T NEED TO work.
Witnessing people suffering because they can't get a leg up for these stupid sanctions and benefits being cut £100s

It adds to increasing homelessness, despite Clegg's claims homeless rates increased by 300% in just the past couple years. 100s of thousands of people are qualified homeless all over England because they suddenly cannot afford what they couldn't afford to begin with! I agree some people shirk the system but what can you do? People need to survive while they're out of work wth. Also what you mentioned is child tax benefits. If you can't afford your kids perhaps not have them but there are people who get themselves in situations for unpredictable reasons and suddenly find themselves needing benefits or at least council housing. You want people on the streets?
Original post by Serine Soul
Most claimants are simply hard-working people who have found themselves out of work and need a hand while they go out looking for a new job.


:lol: where are you getting this info?
Original post by BubbleBoobies
:lol: where are you getting this info?


Common sense?

Sure there's a big number of fraudsters or long-term unemployed but it's not as major as the Daily Mail makes out (which is where I'm sure you obtain your information on the welfare from)
Original post by Serine Soul
Common sense?

Sure there's a big number of fraudsters or long-term unemployed but it's not as major as the Daily Mail makes out (which is where I'm sure you obtain your information on the welfare from)


how optimistic of human nature are you? :lol: jeez
and I could say your "common sense" is a social construction of the guardian kind.
Original post by BubbleBoobies
how optimistic of human nature are you? :lol: jeez
and I could say your "common sense" is a social construction of the guardian kind.


Not too much of ignorant right wingers :smile:
Original post by Serine Soul
Not too much of ignorant right wingers :smile:


hahaaaa you just kind of avoided my questions but hahaaaaa
Original post by Serine Soul
Common sense?

Sure there's a big number of fraudsters or long-term unemployed but it's not as major as the Daily Mail makes out (which is where I'm sure you obtain your information on the welfare from)


Quite.

It's worth bearing in mind that from the fraud and error side of things, although it is undoubtedly a large sum of money, fraudulent claims do only make up a very small percentage of the welfare bill. The majority of overpayments come from customer error rather than deliberate fraud, and tackling that is one of the priorities in that area at the moment. The introduction of the Universal Credit system should aid some aspects of that too.

Long-term unemployment is obviously an issue, but again it will be interesting to see how the full introduction of Universal Credit affects that. Sanctions have their place, but working on incentives to employment and overcoming (internal/external) barriers to employment is crucial.
Original post by BubbleBoobies
hahaaaa you just kind of avoided my questions but hahaaaaa

I only saw one question there 'how optimistic of human nature are you?'

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