Are you dHow many of you are on benefits and what are you doing about it?

Question

Seen as my husband and I pay tax on everything from our wage to our petrol, I'd like to know what people who don't pay tax are doing to lift themselves out of the gutter.

And if you're jobseeking, why are you on Yahoo and not on the jobcentre website?

I'm not including genuinely disabled people by the way.

You know who you are. Answer the question please.

Answer 1

I'm on benefits at the moment.   :)

I sometimes do work but only about six months of the year on cruise ships as a lounge pianist (2 hours per day) for £350 per week and because I work abroad mostly I'm not liable for tax.

When I come home  I get housing benefit to pay my rent and £59 per week to pay my bills.

Then again, I have NO KIDS so that saves the State about about £1000 per year in schooling not to mention the savings in child benefit tax credits etc which also amounts to £1000's per year .

I'm glad I don't contribute to the system and certainly not while it chips in for every F**ker with a kid who can't afford one while single/childless people get F**K all and subsidise everyone elses.

I am still liable for council tax though even though for half the year I'm not using any council facilities

I forgot to mention I SMOKE about 20 cigs a day but abroad they are much cheaper than UK and I make sure I bring enough "tax free" back for me and my UNEMPLOYED friends to last while I'm home

If you are jealous you should try it It only takes about TEN years to become good enough to be a professional musician.

It's a nice job on the whole.

Have a nice day  at the office dear  :)

How come I got more thumbs down than the guy with the TWO council houses.?

I've only got ONE council place.  :(

Answer 2

Wow!!! Tact and diplomacy are obviously not your strong point!

I would suggest you really should try to relax, all that bile cannot be doing you any good at all.

Answer 3

Sure is odd how no-one on benefits has replied...lol

Answer 4

i am not on benefits and i dont work, i dont need to work, my husband works and we have had some luck come our way. i must say though that there have been times when i have needed to work and have had to visit the job centre and i must tell you that getting a job is a little bit harder than just visiting the job centre !

its not inherited money either ! nor a lottery win. will you be refusing child benefit then ? that is a benefit is it not.?

Answer 5

Yes, I am. What am I doing? I'm studying for my A levels so that I can go to Uni, get a better qualified, and therefore higher paying job in 6 years time. From that 6 years I will have another 40 odd to pay into the system. That alright with you?

Answer 6

I am a self-employed-slút and that pays the rent!

Answer 7

no i don't work, i am a stay at home mum, and the only benefit we claim is child benefit and my o/h is disabled!! BUT if he lost his job, i would have no qualms on him taking benefits..its a safety net, it should not be abused, but yes it is, but i would rather that than have no safety net in place,

if you know someone is abusing the system ..it's easy report them, but don't judge everyone the same way.. you could easily find yourself in the situation of having to claim benefit... then imagine reading an obnoxious question like this.. not nice is it?

edit ... i never thought i would agree with 'er indoors ...but well said love! x

Answer 8

As the saying goes "there by the grace of God go I".

I hope you and your husband are always in full time employment and always healthy and happy together.

Most people do not chose to be a benefit claimant, many unforeseen things can and do happen that leave them with no choice but to claim.

Hope you never find yourself in that situation, the humble pie may choke you.

Answer 9

you seem to have some issues, maybe you should sort them out before insulting people just because someone doesnt work and they are not disabled doesnt give you the right to call them spongers,  and getting a job isnt always as easy as looking up a web site

oh and i do work and pay taxes

Answer 10

i do both but get pissed off with how little benefit i get. i think they should make all the lazy workers work harder and pay higher taxes so i can buy some more cars. maybe sterilise them so they can work longer and stop wasting time on their ugly kids. only suckers play it straight.

edit- i also have two council houses one of witch i rent out on the pq. i got them because i got some dozy tarts pregnant then threw them out when we got housed. all three of them are on benefits and i dont pay them a penny.

edit2- you can report me if you like, this laptop was stolen from a sucker like you and has his ip address. life is easy.

Answer 11

Oh dear, 'it's a long lane that has no turning' as they say!

ps...Be nice to your friends on the way up - you may need them on the way down!!

Answer 12

my son is looking for work me and his dad are supporting him at the moment

he got made redundant from the construction site 2 months ago , he has attended interviews and even second interviews and not even had a reply from the ignorant people to say if he has or hasent got the job . he waits for the post and tries his absolute  best to find work how dare you tar everybody with the same brush  

Answer 13

I'm not on benefits, and never have been. I've worked from the age of 16, and I'm now 52. My husband has also worked all his life, and so have all 3 of our kids. However, our son has just been made redundant, and is now claiming benefits whilst he finds another job. I would like to think that with all the taxes we have paid over the years, we have MORE THAN PAID for the meagre benefits our son is claiming, so don't include yourself as being his provider, we've paid in enough over the years to more than cover the costs, THANKYOU VERY MUCH!!!!

Answer 14

I was.  There was a time where I had severe panic attacks and couldn't leave my own home.  I started a college course and despite my attendance being appalling to start off with (I would walk out the front door and start hyperventilating) I stuck at it. I even got taxis to and from college to save me actually thinking about it.  I ended up doing so well at my college course, I won an award. It gave me the confidence I needed to get over this.

I will never be 100% with out the panic attacks but I now have a full time job.  

Answer 15

Wow what anger, yes there are spongers but there are also people who hit rock bottom and with the help of the taxes they have paid in the past and willing to pay in the future they are able to survive.

My first husband walked out on me and my daughter without a backward glance, leaving me with a large mortgage and childcare cost as well as working, THANK YOU TO THE STATE i had to cut my hours in my job which i adored to claim benefits

When my life got back on track i went to the Social office in my area and thanked them for helping me, they looked stunned!

Now 15 yrs on my new husband and i work hard and have no benefits, no working tax credit or family tax credit, we have to pay for everything.We have 4 children.

But i don´t hate those who claim, i pity the spongers as they have no motivation to improve themselves and set a very poor example to their children, if you´re luck you get what you put in. Remember your husband could leave you and then what.

  

Answer 16

Well I do not 'work' for a living and have not done so for almost six years, however my private pension is taxed on the 18th of every month before it is paid into the bank.

Another 5 years to go before I can claim for anything, so you see, even some of us that do not 'work' still have to pay for those who don't!

Answer 17

I have never claimed a penny from the State.  If I needed extra money I have always got a second or sometimes third job.  I was bought up in poverty but in my parents day, the last thing you did was to claim benefits or go on the "dole" so, we were bought up with a strong work ethic - you want something you go out and work for it - starting as a child with a paper round.

I watched Dragons Den last night.  There was a single mother on there who had set up a successful business.  She had £30k in the bank a gross profit of over £100k and net profit of £20k. She didn't take a salary.  When asked by a Dragon how she survived she replied with a smug look on her face "the State has been very good to me - if you know what you are doing you can claim for everything" I was livid.  She had also managed to find loopholes in the system to ensure that anything of her profits over the minimum she could take without losing her benefits were invested in someone elses name.  What a disgraceful individual.  This should not be able to happen.

The benefit system was invented for people in their hour of need - not to actually manage to live comfortably off.  Where is the incentive for people to work?  There are now generations of famillies who have never lifted a finger.  

Answer 18

Some of the people who have answered before me might think different if they came a cross the spongers. I use to live on a council estate in a flat that I brought. I lived there for five years. In that time I came across so many spongers it changed my views on how selfish people were for life. In my block of 10 flats there was a bloke who had not worked for 7 years & another bloke for ten years. Both had families of 3 to 4 kids which they had when they could not afford to bring them up. I went to work every day thinking why do we bother paying out tax to the government. I may as well just pay my tax straight to these 2 families that contributed nothing to society. At the time I reckon it took about 10 people like myself to support these 2 families. If I duplicate my block of flats around the country it makes for a lot of spongers. As I said these are just 2 examples that I have personally come across but I could write about a lot more. After awhile it starts to wear thin. Why should we pay for these irresponsible people.

Edit:- Do not get me wrong I know there are lots of peole that do need help. But I think there are far too many people that abuse the system.

Answer 19

Steady on, it's only Tuesday. :-) No f**ker will give you a job now if you don't have experience. And you can't get experience without getting a job. Even the crappy little office boy jobs wanted 2 years experience. Now I work in a warehouse at the place where my dad works and the guy who took me on happens to be my dad's mate. The JobCentre don't want to help you, all you are to them is a problem and they just shift you onto some unpaid work or training out the way. I was better off without them I just got a job through my dad in the end, the JobCentre didn't do anything that got me that job.

Answer 20

In all honesty I don't know where your living but if that Ivory tower ever collapses god help you.

Answer 21

I sincerely hope your kid grows up to be more tolerant than you are.

Answer 22

I will answer on behalf of a man staying with me, as he was homeless and is on benefits.

His wife and child were kiled in a car accident 2 years ago.  Understandably, he fell apart and couldn't face work - prior to this he had his own building company.

He lost his house, and ended up staying with friends until evenually sleeping rough with nothing but a bag of clothes.  He is a lovely guy, who does not drink or do drugs.  Because of this, the council won't let him stay in the local shelter - only registered addicts or alcoholics are entitled to this.

Luckily for him, we have given him a place to stay.  We claim his housing benefit - fifty five pounds a week. My partner and I work full time, and yet can barely meet our bills as it is( i work for a charity, my partner in a shop.  We also run an animal rescue with no funding - we struggle to make ends meet anyway, without helping another), so we need this money to cover the cost of his food and to drive him to potential jobs. He was a builder, but now has no tools or ability to get a job.

But he's looking.  He's applied for a job with a security firm (we'll hear soon) and we are saving up to get him some tools.  Then, we can look at getting him insured on my car so that he can use it while i am at work. As it is, he is desperate to work, but there's nothing he can get to right now - having been self employed, he has no references.  But I'm forever taking him to people to give quotes on work in the hope that someone will offer to pay upfront.

He's not shy of work - every day I come home to find he's done all the housework, washing and taken the dog on a long walk.  He hates having nothing to do, but has no choice at the moment.  As soon as he gets a job, of course he'll stop claiming.

He's a lovely guy and it's been a hellish time for him. and as such, I'm happy to pay for him to sort himself out - both with taxes and what I physically give him.  I consider myself lucky not to be in his shoes.

Of course, with any benefit system there will be scroungers who don't want to work.  But there are also a lot of people like my friend who have just had the most godawful time and need a little help.

There but for the grace of God go you, and everyone.  We can't tar everyone with the same brush, or imagine that we'd "do better" in the same situation.

Answer 23

Your question structure and content says it all. I suggest you forget posting on Answers and sign-up for an on-line literacy program.

Answer 24

Luckily me and my husband both have jobs (lucky because I'm sure if we didn't then you would hunt us down if I had the gall to claim any benefits).

True it is galling to know you work hard and pay tax, but don't be so naive as to group every single unemployed person together when you don't know their circumstances.

Due to a number of reasons, my Mum was on benefits for a few years but she paid tax for years before that and all the years since.  She didn't want to claim but her circumstances meant she had no choice.  Luckily for us that option was there or God knows what would have happened to us.

So I agree I don't like spongers either, but I also know there are genuine claimants out there and you're question sounds a little too much like a witch hunt.