How come everything is free for the unemployed?

Question

my friend lost his job six months ago the dhss pay his rent he gets his rent paid and council tax and free pericptions , they are now sending him on a free plumbing course which would normally cost over 1000.00 pounds , does it seem you are rewarded for not working

Answer 1

Maybe in socialist UK but it's not true in the US

Answer 2

Not EVERYTHING is free, that would be ridiculous.

Answer 3

It's because democrats have come up with programs that award people to do nothing.  Why work when you can get more money from the government?

Answer 4

If he lost his job, and cannot find another one... How is he supposed to pay his bills if he doesn't get benefits? Trust me they are pretty meagre compared to actual wages.

Do you want to go back to the eighties when the miners striked and starved in undignified conditions and the government only looked after business interests?

Answer 5

sometimes it does, many ppl abuse our benefits system, work on the side and live for years happily doing so, but as your friend is going on a course, it sounds as if he wants to get off benefit

Answer 6

I had to check if you were in England or the US, I know that doesn't happen here.

It makes sense to retrain him for a new and needed job.

It helps the economy and you do have to remember that he has worked and shown a willingness to get up daily and go to school and he wants to go to work again.

In the US, when you are employed you pay into Unemployment Insurance funds, so that's what you get when you are laid off.

No free rent or anything else unless you still can't find a job when the benefit expires, in which case you need welfare, which means you can get some training.  The alternative is have someone without skills being a permanent drain on the economy.

Given the stress and shame to most about being unemployed its not much of a reward.

Answer 7

I bet even with those things paid your friend still has a pittance to live on and has no money spare for any luxuries. The problem is that you pay them less they can't survive, pay them more and its not worth working (especially with the minimum wage so low).

Answer 8

I'm in a similar situation. I will be waiting to accept help as a last resort for that reason. It doesn't seem fair, and it isn't fair. I have done my part to help others and so when it's my turn I will try to remember that I have "earned" the help.

Here in the states, however, the job market isn't easy on the worker either. It's harder and harder to find a job that pays a living wage and MA is the new BA...bachelors degrees aren't worth the paper they are printed on. I could work in fast food for minimum wage, and I would still get thrown out of any apartment in the same town.

However helping a person who is unemployed is a lot easier than helping a person who is unemployed, homeless, and unskilled...so they are providing resources to help that from happening. Emotions aside, it's just harder for any society to take care of people who have begun the downward spiral.

Answer 9

No it sounds like they are trying to help him get out of a bad situation. They will get all that money back when he finds himself a good job. :-)

Answer 10

No, they are helping get a new job.

Answer 11

The point is that they are training them with long term skills so that they can work in the future and contribute to society. Isn't that better than having someone continually struggling throughout their life? If this person becomes a plumber for only 1000 pounds imagine the money he could make in the future with his own business.  

Answer 12

The system was designed with good intentions, helping people get back on their feet or helping those who could no longer work etc.  Unfortunately some abuse the system.  It was created in a time where people had pride in themselves and wanted to pay their own way (so taking benefits was a last resort).

Answer 13

you get help because dhs is ot a lot of money to live on and paying for the plumbing corse is only so he can get back to work and that will tec save them thousands

Answer 14

socialism at work my friend. rob the working class to pay the bills of freeloaders. Here in the US we call them democrats.

Here in the US our unemployed get welfare, housing, utility assistance and many more tax payer funded freebies.

If you enter America illegally you get more and it's all thanks to our modern day freedom mooching liberals.

Answer 15

The crime is that he has had to wait 6 months before he could get on a course, so waisting all that tax payers money.

Answer 16

The UK.gov is Labour and the Labour Party and Co-operative movement have an agenda and that agenda is to get as many people as possible back into work.

In some cases it might mean re-training, learning a new trade.

Anyone can take a free education course at UK.gov expense.  See link below.

Your friend is probably a fully paid up member of both the Welfare State and a Trade Union and is up-to-date with NI contributions.

He, like many hundreds of thousands of other people, is probably destitute without State Welfare.

The minimum income set by the UK.gov for everyone is £150 per week.  If a person has less than this coming in, they will be entitled to benefits.  This applies to workers and pensioners alike.

As soon as he is back in work and on his feet, his benefits will stop and he will be expected to work hard and pay tax like everyone else.

Being unemployed and in receipt of benefits is not a reward it is a worker's right which the worker has been paid for in advance by tax and National Insurance.

National Insurance

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndB...

Any UK citizen can go on a FREE UK.gov training course.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAnd...

Answer 17

I bet a lot of unemployed people would be surprised to hear that statement.

Answer 18

NO.   He is being trained to get back to work.

Answer 19

Because after part subsidising my rent i recently only had about £27.50 a week to live on !

Answer 20

This is a really difficult one.  My experiences are that when one presses the system it is quite possible to gain the benefits that you have mentioned.  They do not shout these things from the rooftops.  There is more money lying unclaimed than ever before, so always claim for all that you can if you are ever unemployed.  The system  acts actively against claimants and that includes under-paying its' staff.  Please don't fall for the old chestnut about life being cushy when on the dole, that's as daft as the morons who profess that prison is a holiday camp.

Answer 21

No rewards,Just helping him find work.

Food still costs and gas electric water telephone,All on a meagre pittance.Being unemployed is soul destroying.

Answer 22

yep i agree with you many many things they get away with.

and it comes all out of our taxes to pay for Druggies who not need to work oh sorry they WORK yes in there owne pocket

then you have the young mothers lets get pregnant so we get a council house

then you have the ones who blame some kind of illness they got specially the ones who thing they have something with there brain they are classed disabled to the rest of there life.

in my country you have 2 choises you can refuse a job 2 times from the jobcenter the third time they cutt your allowance.....

Answer 23

Everything is free? I don't think so. If your friend has children & all the kids in the child's class go to a birthday party & spend $20 for a gift I think your friend still has to pay alteast $15 for a gift or the kid can stay home. If it is his own kids birthday I don't think he can buy her a new bike she has been waiting for unless he pays for it. He might get free dental care but most likely unless he wants his teeth pulled he is going to have to pay for it. I think if Jr. has buck teeth he will not get free braces but maybe. Do people get free gas for their car so they can get to school or job interviews? What if his car breaks down does he get a free mechanic? I just don't believe it is as good as you think it is. I know many people would love to get a free education but couldn't afford the transportation when they were kids & didn't have parents that could help them. I think if he can get through the plumbing class he will pay it all back in taxes where if he just keeps going the way he is going we could all lose. If he had to steal or his kids had to or he got so sick he was put into the mental ward. It is better he goes to plumbing school & gets all this free stuff for a while don't you think it is actually a good investment. You might not be able to see the whole big picture but I can tell I can & we are all better of that he does.

Answer 24

Are you that ignorant? Perhaps you have been living off of Mommy and Daddy your whole life and don't understand what the cost of living is. Unfortunately, you don't seem to realize that FOOD, ELECTRICITY, CLOTHES, TRANSPORTATION and MEDICATION are all extremely expensive, and I would like to see you do without all of those things until you can find another job. I guess you'll also think the Americans are being rewarded for not working when they get paid Unemployment, which is barely enough to cover fuel and groceries.

Answer 25

No  you have to look long term.     To get him retrained  and into work  will mean the benefits will no longer be necessary  So saving the country and taxpayers money.   It is necessary to have a safety net for those put out of work and with no income.  how would he pay his rent and council tax  from just job seekers allowance,?  Or should he and his family starve?   Just be thankful it wasn't you    

Answer 26

No, he's being helped to get a new job.  Once he does, he will pay all this back and more through income tax.  Much better than leaving him to rot on the dole for the rest of his life, don't you think?