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The Benefits Cap
- Thread starter Barrel of Fun
- Start date
beorhthelm
A. Virgo, Football Genius
- Jul 21, 2003
- 36,019
we should also consider that this limit of £26k a week is actually equivilent of earning around £35k, is it not, since the benefits come tax free.
Since1982
Well-known member
Thats a very good point - although I suspect it is £26k a year not a week - we're not talking Vicente wages here!
Yes to the cap. Maybe with regional variations to reflect the difference in housing costs?
And maybe a different scheme for young people when they sign on. There are established families now which it may be impossible to shifyt off benefits - too many kids and not enough skill to get a half decent wage, but perhaps if the rules were different for people coming straight on to benefit from school - if they knew, for example, that having kids wouldn't get them any extra benefit than what they're on now, nor will they get housing benefit if they want to move from a bed-sit into a family home, that might stop them getting into the very real benefit trap that their parents are in.
And maybe a different scheme for young people when they sign on. There are established families now which it may be impossible to shifyt off benefits - too many kids and not enough skill to get a half decent wage, but perhaps if the rules were different for people coming straight on to benefit from school - if they knew, for example, that having kids wouldn't get them any extra benefit than what they're on now, nor will they get housing benefit if they want to move from a bed-sit into a family home, that might stop them getting into the very real benefit trap that their parents are in.
Falkor
Banned
- Jun 3, 2011
- 5,673
Not all benefits are tax free are they.
GreersElbow
New member
Is the cap set at regional, or national levels?
A national one would hurt the poorest in the south more than the north as the cost of living down here is higher than the north.
A national one would hurt the poorest in the south more than the north as the cost of living down here is higher than the north.
This topic dominated the radio on my drive back from Sussex this evening.
One key point is the £26k thing - it's irrelevant. £500pw equates to the take home pay of someone on c£35k - well above average.
If someone can't live on £35k to the point that homelessness is an option then they are living somewhere they shouldn't be and will already be trapped in the benefits vicious circle believing they "can't afford to work" and it is just these kinds of people that we have to convince that working for a living is a viable alternative.
One key point is the £26k thing - it's irrelevant. £500pw equates to the take home pay of someone on c£35k - well above average.
If someone can't live on £35k to the point that homelessness is an option then they are living somewhere they shouldn't be and will already be trapped in the benefits vicious circle believing they "can't afford to work" and it is just these kinds of people that we have to convince that working for a living is a viable alternative.
Dandyman
In London village.
Not quite : How benefits are taxed : Directgov - Money, tax and benefits
The most common taxable benefits are:
Bereavement Allowance
some Incapacity Benefit payments - not taxable for the first 28 weeks
some Income Support payments - not taxable if you haven't signed on as unemployed and you're looking for work
Employment and Support Allowance - contribution-based (if you have paid enough National Insurance contributions)
pensions payable under the Industrial Death Benefit scheme
Carer's Allowance - child dependency additions are not taxable
Jobseeker's Allowance
retirement pension - the State Pension is taxable but, unlike company pensions, it's paid to you without tax being taken off so you need to tell your Tax Office you're getting it
Statutory Sick Pay
Statutory Maternity Pay
Widowed Parent's Allowance
severnside gull
Well-known member
Clegg talking tonight about putting legislation before the House "the details of which haven't been worked out yet"
It's rather like asking someone to give you a blank cheque and promising they will fill it in accurately.................although come to think of it that is generally how the PAYE system works........................FFS
I'm in a similar situation to others having given up a £35K+ job to become a full time carer after seeing the sub standard daycare facilities they wanted to send my wife to at a vastly greater cost than all of the benefits we receive combined. There are better ways to reduce abuse than a blanket cap that makes no allowance for individual circumstances so starting by writing some detailed rules might be a good idea - after all they've had two years to plan this
It's rather like asking someone to give you a blank cheque and promising they will fill it in accurately.................although come to think of it that is generally how the PAYE system works........................FFS
I'm in a similar situation to others having given up a £35K+ job to become a full time carer after seeing the sub standard daycare facilities they wanted to send my wife to at a vastly greater cost than all of the benefits we receive combined. There are better ways to reduce abuse than a blanket cap that makes no allowance for individual circumstances so starting by writing some detailed rules might be a good idea - after all they've had two years to plan this
jakarta
Well-known member
My wife has just retired from being a Head Teacher in Bognor and has told me that the education system is now encountering a load of third generation benefit claimants so yes lifestyle choice it clearly is - you may not like the truth but it is f***ing well out there...
Still no doubt it is all the Tories fault....
My wife has just retired from being a Head Teacher in Bognor and has told me that the education system is now encountering a load of third generation benefit claimants so yes lifestyle choice it clearly is - you may not like the truth but it is f***ing well out there...
Still no doubt it is all the Tories fault....
Nobody is saying there aren't cheats, scroungers etc but once again comments like yours try to paint a picture that all claimants are in those categories. Deal with the cheats etc but you don't need a cap to do that. Begs the question as to why the Tories don't release figures as to how many households are actually receiving benefits in excess of £26k. I doubt it is that many and perhaps they could review those cases and sort them out, either by proving they have the appropriate benefit or by moving them to cheaper accommadation, work schemes etc etc.
Pevenseagull
meh
- Jul 20, 2003
- 20,686
is the correct answer
Pevenseagull
meh
- Jul 20, 2003
- 20,686
Having helped a friend with MS revise their claim for Disability Living Allowance it now seems that "If Stephen Hawking can earn millions, why can't you?" is the order of the day.
I shit you not ...... some days he can walk to the shops on his own = get to work
I shit you not ...... some days he can walk to the shops on his own = get to work
Wardy
NSC's Benefits Guru
As someone who as been on both sides of the fence having claimed benefits in the past and also working within a Housing Benefit department I have to say in theory I am in favor of the cap. However this is a big case of throwing the baby out with the bath water. Like others have said there are a number of people who have always played the system. Some of these are people who know the system as well if not better then the people who work in the sector. These people have no intention of ever going to work. Then there are others who want to work but due to the way the current schemes work find that going to work will only see them have a small increase in their household income and put together with other factors like buying work clothes and travel may even be worse off.
Part of the wider scheme is to make it more worth while to be in work. This I see as a good thing. The main downside of this is the time that they are doing it. Most people who work within benefits or deal with people who claim them, will tell you that the system needed to change. There are so many different schemes all with their own rules and their own complex forms. Most these forms ask for the same information as the others but you are forced to complete them and often supply the same evidence. Universal Credit will address a lot of these issues however such a big change in the system at a time when due to unemployment more and more people are needing to claim is madness.
Part of the wider scheme is to make it more worth while to be in work. This I see as a good thing. The main downside of this is the time that they are doing it. Most people who work within benefits or deal with people who claim them, will tell you that the system needed to change. There are so many different schemes all with their own rules and their own complex forms. Most these forms ask for the same information as the others but you are forced to complete them and often supply the same evidence. Universal Credit will address a lot of these issues however such a big change in the system at a time when due to unemployment more and more people are needing to claim is madness.
Pevenseagull
meh
- Jul 20, 2003
- 20,686
here's hoping (not the madness bit)
Pevenseagull
meh
- Jul 20, 2003
- 20,686
anyway .... raise a glass to Dave and his very special mates and f*** the smelly poor and needy (because they are poor and smelly and needy ... so f*** them)
(hopefully nobody takes this the wrong way)
(hopefully nobody takes this the wrong way)
Pevenseagull
meh
- Jul 20, 2003
- 20,686
I am full of pith and vinegar
kingcole
Well-known member
If you can't be arsed to work, you will have to leave the south and go live in the north = perfect!