Should there be restrictions on what people on benefits choose to buy?

Lol whut? I was a civil servant, I went out to drink at least once a week as did most of my colleagues. Some occasionally smoked weed. Some even had babies!

This was on the Beeb a while back, caused a bit of a stir...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16812185

The article is actually about the benefits cap, but it shows something related to this topic. For those who can't be bothered to read it, it is about a Welsh family, with both parents unemployed, who are worried about the impact of the benefits cap, by which they stand to lose just over £80 a week from an already tight budget. You begin to feel sympathetic, until you read what they're spending their money on.

Every week, they buy/pay (as well as all the normal necessities):
-200 cigarettes
-A large pouch of tobacco
-24 cans of lager
-£15 worth of Sky TV, including Sky Movies (or £60 a month)
-"3 or 4 pints of beer"
-£32 worth of mobile phone bills (£128 a month)

I'm not saying I expect a family on benefits to live an entirely Spartan lifestyle, but there are quite a few things above that my family (both parents employed) survive quite happily without. Also, I know that this example won't be entirely representative (see the adjoining article), but it does show that at least some people are spending their benefits on things that are completely unnecessary.

No, it's their money.

I'm sure lots of people will now cry that it's the tax payer's money. Yes, the money has come from taxes, but similarly the staff at Starbucks are paid with money that comes from us buying coffees - does that mean we have a say on how they spend it?

Well why are they unemployed in the first place? Most unemployed people cant be bothered to get off their backsides to do something about their situation. If they tell me they're trying, I will tell them they are not trying hard enough.

If they are unemployed and have little money, why on earth would be bring new life into their lives.

It shouldn't be hard working people - British taxpayers- that have to foot in the bill for other people's ill life choices.

Makes me angry when I see mothers/anybody who clearly are the benefit claiming type with better clothes, phones and whatever else better than ordinary hard working people working 8am-late, at least 5 days a week.

It makes me angry when I see people with attitudes like yours, who think that people like me and my family should be treated like dirt compared to you, when me and my mom work harder than you probably ever have, for very little or even no pay.

I'm sure he's referring to the people who 'milk' the system; not genuine benefit claimants - at least I hope not!

And did your colleagues use benefit to fund their babies?

Our tax money pays the wages of civil servants is what the person you quoted is getting at I believe (please correct me if that isn't what you meant gateshipone).

And did your colleagues use benefit to fund their babies?

no you nailed it. They used tax money to fund their drink, drugs and babies should point out the drug ones weren't the same as the baby ones!

I thought so, but I didn't want you to feel like you couldn't correct me if I was wrong.
And I would hope the drug ones were not the same as the baby ones. At least not straight away. When the kids are grown up then fair enough, but please look after your children!

no you nailed it. They used tax money to fund their drink, drugs and babies should point out the drug ones weren't the same as the baby ones!



They did actually get things like child tax credits so yeah, i guess they did use benefits to part fund their kids, as well as the tax money they got in the form of wages.

Orange juice isn't essential. Theoretically only bread, water and vegetables are. This is just a moral issue of no benefit to the economy whatsoever. people like you don't like to see poor people enjoying themselves with the "vices of cigarettes and alcohol" Infact a bag of apples is more expensive than a bottle of cider so it would be of far greater benefit to the economy for the government to ban the sale of fruit to people on JSA as fruit is one of the most expensive foods around. Have you seen the price of a little pack of grapes from LIDL of all places? £4 at least. Obviously due to transport and storage issues.

At least they work. Teachers and emergency services are contributing to society so they deserve their wages (from the taxpayer; even if they are doing a poor job). How is a benefit claiming scrounger contributing to society beats me.

It's their wages, I couldn't give a ***** how they choose to spend it. The government of the 40s created this welfare state and frankly, some people who don't earn a wage (state wage or private wage) don't deserve to be part of it.

Most people (workers) get child tax credits in the UK; not just civil servant.

But your point seems to be that those on benefits are wasting tax payers money on things like drink, drugs and kids. Why is it OK for civil servants to do that then? If people had to work part time for their JSA, would you still care about what they bought or would you still want a different system for them as they are claiming benefits?

My point is you can't say one group who get tax payers money should not be allowed to buy those things when plenty of other groups that get tax payers money can. More of your tax money goes on civil service wages than on benefits so why not limit what they can buy? You're just following the ridiculous idea that benefit claimants are all criminals and second class citizens.

Oh and I know it's not only civil servants who get child tax credits, I never suggested otherwise.

Yes, that's my point.
It's ok for civil servants or teachers or policemen to do so because they earned that wage through working. It's their salary, I've got no problem with them doing it.

Why should free money be given out to people who don't work/can't work for some ridiculous reason?

I know people who claim benefits (young people) and not a single one of them actually need it.

I know people who claim benefits (young people) and not a single one of them actually need it.

I don't understand this obsession with controlling what people on benefits spend. Do you not understand that they are putting back into the economy?

Honestly, anyone would think that you didn't have anything better to do all day. Oh, wait...

£1 for a 500g pack of value grapes from Tesco...