JSA to increase to £20'000 pa for single person no dependents
Always wondered why the British Public do not get adequate benefit payments and have to live on starvation level JSA of just over £3.5K p.a. Compared to our European neighbors British people are treated very badly. But Britain likes to follow the right wing neo liberal USA for it's social policies of Welfare to Work/Fare/House Programmes.
Unemployment Benefit 2007 single person (no dependents) (€)
Country Wages - Benefits
Luxembourg €32,604 - €21,346
Denmark €32,564 - €18,302
Netherlands €32,363 - €15,758
France €32,540 - €15,605
Portugal €32,288 - €14,323
Belgium €32,636 - €12,415
Finland €32,577 - €12,339
Austria €32,499 - €12,212
Sweden €32,643 - €11,924
Germany €32,631 - €11,821
Italy €32,529 - €11,179
Spain €32,625 - €10,522
Ireland €32,747 - €9,662
Greece €32,731 - €4,407
UK €32,381 - €3,631
Note: 1.00 EUR = 0.825498 GBP
(05 01 12)
http://www.xe.com
http://www.eapn.ie/documents/1_Social%20Welfare%20How%20Ireland%20Compar...
and the tax and benefit graph uses a handy OECD calculator:
http://www.oecd.org/document/18/0,3746,en_2649_34637_39717906_1_1_1_1,00...
The 'starvation level' benefit payments in my opinion act as an incentive to go out and look for work. Admittedly times are hard over here in the UK but the safety net offered by JSA/ESA neds to be lower than the minimum wage otherwise who, other than those in higher salary jobs will want to go to work?
I'll be the first to admit that dropping from a £20'000 salary and a company car to benefits has been a massive blow to to me and thats why i'll do anything to get back into work. I was involved in a non fault road accident which left me with epilepsy as a result of head injuries.
There are people who are genuinely forced onto benefits due to redundancy or illness and i sympathise with them, but at the same time we have people in the UK who think that the world owes them a living and would be happy to live on benefits as a career move. There was a case of a couple in the newspapers last year, admitting that they dont want to work, 5 kids, something like £37k in benefits, posing in front of their big new 50inch plasma telly in the background and pleading poverty - these are the people that should be made to live on the minimum. Plasma Televisions and Playstations are not a sign of poverty.
@jobseeker, at the risk of incurring the wrath of the people on here who do not like the approach you take (ie getting up off your backside and doing something and being positive), can I say a big well done for your recent posts, sensible words from a genuine job seeker who does not use the system to try and avoid responsibility.
Now sit back and wait for Consignment399 and Ally to vent their spleen yet again by repeating over and over and over about the poor job seekers rights and offering ways around the system.
I just believe that if you want anything in life, you have to work for it.
There should be no way that anyone can make a long term career out of the benefits system.
@jobseeker - Think I remember that couple on benefits that were getting huge amounts of money - Think it was actually £42,000 a year they were getting on benefits - they even had a Mercedes as 1 of 2 family cars!
google the following for the full story!
Peter-gets-42-000-benefits-year-drives-Mercedes.
There have been a few cases over the last few years, I don't remember the Mercedes but the thing that stood out about this story was that the family in question had their photographs taken in front of a massive plasma telly and complaining that they were being forced to live in poverty.
Well, im back at work on 23rd January. Be so good to go out and pick up my salary again :)
The cases with very large benefit payments are mostly very peculiar cases. Generally, these are very large families that cannot be housed together (without overcrowding) without housing that is very expensive.
As we've had research for a century showing that overcrowding produces ill-health and poor educational progress for the children, the welfare system has sought to avoid responsibility for overcrowding. This may have changed.
Of course, if people spend the child tax credit on Mercedes and massive plasma tellies rather than food, books and sports etc for the children, it doesn't help those who do spend the money on what it's meant to go on. That's why the last Government made the Child Tax Credit payment to the 'principal carer' and labelled it 'Child Tax Credit'. It was meant to nudge people to spend it on the children. Nudges don't always work.
I think we're getting a troll infestation again. Are there no billy goats to chase?
"jobseeker" sounds like w2w monologue