i think food banks should be asking for proof of benefits and bank statments ,, this way the right people that need it get it ,,,,,, the people on benfits with new gear and phones ,,, get a loan and pay bk at £7 week < so this loan has to be made sure its spent right like for things u need to live ....fridge or micowave/cooker ?
Taboo topics and the lack of evidence
- Thread starter fez
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I get £144 a fortnight (single, over 21).
£60 of that is spent on a room in a house
£20 of that is spent on car insurance (no public transport to the dole office where I'm at and have to get mums prescriptions)
£5 of that on petrol
£3.50 of that on tax
£20 of that is spent on minimum payment of a C.C I had before I lost my job.
That's my fortnightly outgoings.
So that's £18 a week I have for food, electric and heating. It's enough to survive on. If I wasn't picky about finding a job, I could get one within a week - There's no shortage of sales or warehouse work.
If I had a child, I would be able to get 50% on top of that and a house paid for me as well.
The thing is - people want to go out, drinking, holidays, buying nice clothes, tech (phones etc.) and don't want to give that up. IMO this is what leads people to saying "My benefits don't cover cost of living."
As far as I'm concerned, benefits cover cost of survival. If you want more, then, get a job and earn it.
£60 of that is spent on a room in a house
£20 of that is spent on car insurance (no public transport to the dole office where I'm at and have to get mums prescriptions)
£5 of that on petrol
£3.50 of that on tax
£20 of that is spent on minimum payment of a C.C I had before I lost my job.
That's my fortnightly outgoings.
So that's £18 a week I have for food, electric and heating. It's enough to survive on. If I wasn't picky about finding a job, I could get one within a week - There's no shortage of sales or warehouse work.
If I had a child, I would be able to get 50% on top of that and a house paid for me as well.
The thing is - people want to go out, drinking, holidays, buying nice clothes, tech (phones etc.) and don't want to give that up. IMO this is what leads people to saying "My benefits don't cover cost of living."
As far as I'm concerned, benefits cover cost of survival. If you want more, then, get a job and earn it.
Soldato
Exactly this....
I work in a second hand shop selling electricals and we do pawning etc...
The ones who are always pawning the kids consoles and living day by day, tenner here and there are always and i mean ALWAYS dirty toothless druggies and drinkers, smokers.... if you gave them a thousand pounds to sort themselves out i bet not one would pay debts and buy leccy, gas, kids clothes! they would just buy smack and fags and booze.
The genuine decent people who pawn things, always come back on time.... dont argue and actually dress with pride, even if its clothes from charity shops.
Throwing money at scum will not suddenly make them change and take pride in how they live.
I too have seen chavs trying to sell food they just got from a food bank, these kind of people have zero morals and will do anything for that next fix.
And while i am quite liberal and easy going the one thing i think that is destroying young lads and even girls now is weed. It turns people into utter dreg heads who barely even stir from bed, and if they do its only to find more weed!
No matter how well thought out the plan a goverment implements to raise living standards you will always be scuppered by the low life scum that seem to latch on to any and all scams going.
If we could wave a magic wand and make everyone a good decent law abiding citizen with morals and a good attitude to life, the whole system would work better and you would see less crime and better communities within months...... sadly that magic wand does not exist.
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Soldato
It's so much easier to demonise the people on the bottom than the people at the top. Expenses, tax loopholes...
Soldato
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Yep, whole benefits debate has become a bit of a witch hunt tbh...
Soldato
Oh i quite agree.... but pandering to the scum at the bottom who choose to live like they do ( and they DO choose to be like that ) doesnt help either.
Having no money/job does not automatically mean you should behave like a cave troll and smoke weed and drink all day, god knows where they find the money to do it for a start but they do!
I know enough customers who have literally nothing but have pride, the kids are fed and clothed and the parents dont drink, take drugs or steal.
Case in point: I know a young mum who comes in shop a lot... she has 3 kids by diff dads ( no sign of them of course ) and shes in council tax arrears, the kids are in need of new clothes and so on... she told me excitedly one day that she was approved for a hardship loan and got £500 from gov. They take it back from the benefits each week.
I see her again few weeks later as she is pawning an xbox one so she can "put some leccy on!".... turns out she spent it ALL on xmass and not one penny on arrears or clothes for kids.... just blew it on xmass.
When you are dealing with this sort of mentality, no matter what you do its going to get some people nowhere.
If you did have a credit card that can only buy food and essentials they would just buy nappies and sell them down the pub and buy fags and booze.... no matter how you do it the rat brain chav mentality will find a way to turn it into drugs or booze!
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Soldato
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Criminal activity most likely.
Commissario
Aye, from memory the governments own studies suggest that more money is paid out due to errors by the people making the decisions than by cheating, and even more is simply not claimed because people either are not aware of the benefit, are too proud to claim it, or can't face the claim process. I know a couple of people who were put off claiming for years because they tried and had a horrible time filling the form in and getting turned down even on appeal*. When they claimed again about 2-3 years later with the same condition they got it no question.
I think the changes to DLA etc to save money are actually expected to cost more in admin and processing than the savings.
*One of them went to an appeal where IIRC the tribunal were running about 4 hours later from the first case, no one won an appeal, and then when he appealed on a point of law got a tribunal panel where the head of it was the business partner of the previous panel.
We can thank Channel 5's endless torrent of the 'Benefits and proud' shows for giving people this perception.
Totally agree, this is even worse part of the same problem
You can't just show up at a food bank and receive food. You need to visit the council first and they determine your eligibility.
Soldato
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Indeed, you'd be forced up north if that was the case.
i work with homeless 16-25 year olds and theres plenty of evidence of people blowing money on crap they dont need. but again what do i know seeing this on a weekly basis.
and thats what annoys me, you prove x and suddenly its the wrong answer for whatever reason, all il say is i see it weekly at 2 sites with a combined occupancy of nearly 40 residents. funny how many people who are supposed to be on the bread line have money for tobacco, booze, drugs and video games. yet when it comes to paying a token rent payment, food or sorting out a bus pass for a job interview they stick their hand out asking for more.
iv seen this on council estates as well, so i suppose thats also not a reliable sample size ?
Soldato
See this is the problem, I'm one of those that has never experienced benefits life, but I know people who have and they aren't the kind of people that get shown on TV or in the newspaper.
The problem is it definitely makes me more judgemental, the constant barrage of 'oooh look at all them beggars drinking and smoking' eclipses those who dont abuse the system
il agree 110% the media are a set of lady parts, buts so are various groups of political know it all's. iv had to live on benefits before now and guess what, i made sure my bills where paid first before id even think about buying anything that could be classed as a luxury.