Proposed benefit cuts Options

[massifheed]

Was just reading this...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16812185

and wondered what people's thoughts were. The example family in the link get approx £30,000 per year in benefit, and could stand to lose £4000 if the cap were introduced. Looking at the family's ougoings I find it hard to have a great deal of sympathy. The guy has been out of work for 10 years (so one wonders why he hasn't retrained or at least found something in that time), they manage to find the funds for a Sky TV subscription - with movies, 200 cigarettes and 24 cans of lager a week.

They clearly go without in other areas - they have no car and don't go on holiday every year (although many other people don't either!), but it seems obvious to me that if people are able to be in receipt of the equivalent of a respectable salary (30k is way more than I earn) without, in theory, having to leave the house or even get up in the morning, then we will end up with generations upon generations of families who will simply choose not to work. Cutting benefits so that people can no longer afford to use them to fund Sky TV, 24 cans of lager and 200 fags a week may be the start needed.

[Guest_xjay1337_*]

Agree, I saw this and was thinking exactly the same...sorry but a good chunk of your money goes on booze and tobbaco...They have £585 a week or something, regardless of them being unable to understand the concept of contraception, that's a little over 4 times what I have a week to live on (and I work for it!!!) and I can get by, even with buying stupid bits for my car.

Cut their benefits, I agree. Maybe it'll teach them to be more choice with their spending. Also Mr Software Engineer should know that in IT it's evolve or die - being a software developer, if you know C# or C++ or some other coding format you can easily (well, relatively) learn to code other things which means you could get a job.
Work is hard to find especially in specialised sectors but it's out there if you want it.

[massifheed]

...being a software developer, if you know C# or C++ or some other coding format you can easily (well, relatively) learn to code other things which means you could get a job.
Work is hard to find especially in specialised sectors but it's out there if you want it.

This is what struck me too. He's been out of work for ten years, but if he came from a job where he was writing educational software then it's straightforward enough to learn to code another language. And there is work out there for good developers.

However, if you have decided that the only thing you're ever going to do is write educational software, and you've decided that you'll wait until exactly the same type of job comes along that pays more than the £30k in benefits that you're currently receiving - well, I can see why you could be out of work for ten years.

The other thing, and I'll admit it's just my opinion, is that I don't think this is a family that was chosen as an example of people milking the system. I'd be willing to bet that this kind of set-up is widespread.