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"Unemployment Benefit"

[URL]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3745580.stm[/URL]

Government is planning to cut benefit for pensions. Personally, I don't see the problem... especially when I met someone the other day who has been living off unemployment benefit for years and told me he has no intention of getting a job.

Kind of made me angry, didn't want to start another fight though.

Views?

Scope wrote:
> munn wrote:
> There shouldn't be an unemployment benefit full stop.
>
> It's their fault if they can't get a job.
>
> You don't know how hard it is to find a job nowadays do you?

Hence why I retracted my statement afterwards.

I don't see how anyone can possibly get away with not working for that long, especially without qualifications.

I was on Jobseeker's Allowance for the last 3 weeks, and here's how it worked for me:

I'm entitled to £44 a week. Yes, £44. That's because I've never had a full time job long enough to make significant contributions to NI payments... therefore I don't get the 2nd part of the Jobseeker's allowance. Only the bog standard, absolute rock bottom £44 pw.

Now, in order to even qualify for this much, I have to be actively looking for a job. I have to report in every fortnight and tell the JobCentre what I've done. And here's the crunch - If they find me any suitable jobs, and I don't follow them up, I will get my benefit reduced.

How it's possible to go a few months without (admittedly crappy) jobs coming up, let alone a few years, is completely beyond me.

I've tried numerous stores, including Tesco, and nothing.

While I agree that there may be occasions when a person is unable to find work, I still dont agree with the benefit system as it is now. Its left wide open to exploitation. As someone already said, its really not hard at all to go out and get a simple job in Tesco, or some other retail store. Most require no experience, no official qualifications and very little training. Ok so the pay may be low, usually minimum wage, but its still more that you get on benefits. The simple fact is that people are lazy, or they refuse to do "crappy" jobs. One way or another, the system needs changing to make it harder to exploit. People should be made to accept the "crappy" jobs, at least in the short term while they look for something better.

To the person that mentioned disabilities and sickness, there is a seperate benefit system for people in that catagory, which involves medical tests and real proof before being paid. (I once worked for the Disability Service Team, part of the former ES.)

On a slightly different note, I used to live opposite a couple that had eight children. On speaking to the Father one day, he told me that he got so much benefit for the kids that neither he nor his wife had to work at all.

Seems to me that all our benefit systems need to be looked at.

I claim JSA, and have been since February. I have no job experience and that's probably why I can't get a job. I don't abuse the system. I'm just about to start volunteer work for something called the community press office in my area. I just wish I'd been made aware of it earlier on.

munn wrote:
> There shouldn't be an unemployment benefit full stop.
>
> It's their fault if they can't get a job.

You don't know how hard it is to find a job nowadays do you?

Hey, I don't have a problem with that.
It was a bit stupid to say it should be abolished, without it, you wouldn't have been able to afford food etc, and at least you were looking for a job.
But you get people that havee been on it for years and stuff.
They suck.

Don't want to cause any trouble but I've been on it for the last three weeks or so. It's not that I don't want to work, I'm really trying, it's just proving much harder than I expected. I'm starting a job at WHSmith on the 26th October, so then I'll be off. It's really helped me out as I'd been living off my last pay for months before someone advised me to do it.

I didn't want to, and felt quite bad, but I had to. Like a lot of people do. Not everyone getting it are lazy idiots, there are some people that need support while they're looking for work. The service doesn't just give you money, it also helps you find work. I signed an agreement to do all kinds of things including applying for at least three jobs a week, contacting the job centre once a week, looking at certain websites/papers/windows, and it helped me out.

I think part of the problem is that people don't respect the system enough. And I hate to sound so right-wing but it is the working class.

The amount of people I've seen demanding everything... in my hospital they ring bells, want special services. Even though they're in because of a fight/alcohol abuse or something... and then nick the televisions out the ward.

People don't seem to appreciate the NHS/Benefit system... sure it is crumbling away but some people are just so GRRRRRRRRR

They should change the unemployment benefit system, if you can't find work then you should have to do some work in the local community to earn the money you are given.

Cutting grass, cleaning up trash from the streets, any kind of thing that would help the community you live in and not require training etc.

There are far too many folk who just go in and claim money that have no intention of getting a job. Almost as bad as the women who have babies just to get more money.