Hello from America! Glad to be able to ask ?

Question

in the UK, how does one become eligible to receive benefits as a poor person or someone without a job?

are you required to look for work if you receive benefits?

does the UK have a foods program like the US with food stamps to be used to buy groceries?

what about assistance with utility services, like heat, electricity etc?

Answer 1

Hi in the uk you must pay for all your food and bills your self even if you are on state benefit you may qualify for help with rent & rates but if like some and i am not being racist, people from other ethnic races come here and stay they seem to get more in the way of benefits then the english people who were born and worked all there lives here.

Answer 2

Hi there

There seem to be a lot of rules and regulations relating to benefits in this country and it results in a huge percentage of the workforce involved in working out the amount of benefit for those who are not in the workforce!

If you earn less than £58,000 and have children under 18 you are entitled to tax credits.

If you are out of work and receive unemployment pay, after a certain amount of time you are required to actively seek work or lose your benefit.  Government centres then assist people to apply for jobs, put together CVs etc.  Unfortunately, many of those out of work are unskilled and are the first to lose their jobs in times of recession.  The benefits are such that often people LOSE money if they go back to work - it is a really crazy system.

As far as I know, there is no food stamp system, this was suggested for use with illegal immigrants at one time, but I am not sure if this came into being.  There was an outcry at the time, at the thought that these people would be stigmatised by receiving vouchers instead of money.

I know that senior citizens are entitled to help with heating etc, especially if there is exceptionally cold weather.  They also get free public transport on local buses.

It may seem that our government hands out money hand over fist, but the alternative would be that we would see far more beggars on our streets and that is something that I don't think our politicians would accept, and would not be a particularly good advert for this country, given the normally huge tourist trade some of our cities and coastal towns enjoy.

Answer 3

Hi, ill cover one part for you as there's a lot to cover there.

If your unemployed you receive "job seekers allowance". As part of this you are required to seek a job down the local job centre. If you don't attend the job centre on a regular basis to sign on you lose your job seekers allowance.

If your deemed "unfit to work" you can receive incapacity benefit. This is payable for as long as your physical or mentally deemed "unfit for work" and will be reviewed at regualar intervals over the year.

Elderly people recieve a state pension which is relativley little but is supposed to encompass services such as you utilitys (gas, electricity etc). They also recieve a free bus pass when over the age of 65.