Welfare shake-up for lone parents

Do you think that the government are perhaps getting the message from the taxpayer?
How long before the PC brigade attack this?


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6312127.stm

 

I was sat here in me mask and little cowboy hat (its okay for work) and I was jsut going send in a huge tirade... But its lone parent, not lone ranger, so carry on! :mrgreen:

hi ho silver... stand easy!

 

I would agree it sounds quite sensible, and in many ways that is worrying, the concept of common sense and our present government has not been something we have seen in recent years. I suspect though that by the time NuLabor have drafted the rules and they have been interpreted by the civil service the scheme will be unworkable and will be yet another costly failure.

 

Maxi unfortunately as you say this will probably be screwed up by new labour.
In full agreement with you on the sense it makes.
Must stop this agreeing, people will start to talk! :wink:

 

Funny thing is that most of these ideas start life as draft proposal prepared by Civil Servants. Once a Minister has adopted it, the same or other Civil Servants then prepare it for Parliament under the required political direction. This then takes in to account relationships with existing legislation, political policy and precedent.

As you say, a good idea is often reduced to idiocy or impotence by the time Her Majesty sees it.

 

Gordon will probably introduce another voucher scheme so as to appease the PC brigade. How about re-introducing work houses!?

 

The various poor laws that governed the work houses were an attempt to alleviate poverty and in return obtain some value from those who needed the assistance. Of course against a background of legal child labour, and bonded workers it is not surprising that poor house conditions were bad. Add to that the fact that escape from the poorhouse was almost impossible, is was a very harsh sentence for the crime of poverty. Having said that I see no fundamental reason why those able bodied persons on the bru should not work for a couple of days a week for the benefit of the community that is paying them.

The general suggestion that we should make it easier for people who want to work and also those who should work to get from benefits back into work is a good one. I listened the other day to a radio interview about those on disability who are faced with the stark all or nothing choice when a graded approach to the return to work could actually get more of them back into at least part time work and many back to full time.

 

I left the RN to have my daughter and became a lone parent when she was 7 months old. I have worked ever since, and although I would love to spend my days at home watching daytime television whilst she is at school my conscience wouldn't let me and it's just not financially viable. Childcare is available with funding so there is no excuse, sorry if this offends anyone but get off your ar*es and get a job!

 

Of course you are right but many of them do not have the benefit of your life in the Andrew and the transition from benefit to work is not seamless and through the way the system works leave people short of funds for some time, something most of us can cope with given time to plan a bit, but if you have been on benefit there is little or no sensible credit or reserve to cover the essentials till the new system kicks in.

 

It depends on how determined you are. My sister is a single parent with two children, one of which is disabled. She was on all benefits with no financial support from her ex husband but was determined to make her life better. She had no real qualifications so started as a volunteer dinner nanny; she now works as a Special Needs Teaching Assistant receiving no government assistance. I think the problem is more to do with environment rather than finance - why work when everyone around you is on benefits and know how to work the system? I see it first hand as I now live on a Council estate in the North East.

 

The environment is clearly a problem for some as is the knowledge that any change in your support from the government will be a disaster, so the change from income support to tax credit will almost certainly be a disaster, that coupled with the very simple problem of surviving from the last gyro checque to the first pay cheque, paid in arrers of course. for many living hand to mouth a daunting prospect, the onnly person who will lend to them is the local loan shark, unless they are lucky enough to have a local credit union.

 

Well said that Lady , Makes my blood boil some of them :evil:

 

We need to be sure at whom this suggestion is aimed. I wouldn't like to be totally prescriptive as to whether single parents should work, because children need support at home while they are very young, so I am all for individuals taking advantage of the benefits system until junior is at school. If it's to discourage young Flossie from procreating just to get a house, some cash and community support, then I'm all for it. I hasten to add that this is not aimed at those who have become lone parents for other reasons.

 

Have to agree with you , :shock:

 

Once again maxi we are almost in full agreement. I believe that those on benefits (whats the Bru? Is it a local term?) should if capable give something back to the community. i have a friend who has been on benefits for most of his life due to the state of his health. However he runs disco's for the local disabled groups and helps with people with learning difficulties as often as he can.
I do think that we should go back to the workhouse routine, not so harsh as the old days perhaps. What we need is care in the community not cossetting in the community.

 

My mother lives in the North East, I was raised in Durham. When I go back to visit two things stand out.
1. The large numbers who are not working and on Benefits.
2. The ease at which you can get someone to decorate your house, re tile the bathroom, fit a new bathroom etc. All cash in hand of course.

 

totally agree- i have 2 kids, and alos would love to sit at home every day rather than go to work - but financially i cant- so i stayed in the navy. my husband works - so now we get penalised and get no tax credits etc cos we earn over so much!! cant win either way!!!

 

Interesting that this government is targetting single parents again at this particular time when it is slipping in the polls. If you think back they were the target of their very first campaign after the '97 elections which at the time I found quite shocking as the term 'lone parent' or 'single parent' covers a wide variety of situations and should I believe be seen in the context of a society which has many problems some of which were brought about by the 'latch-key kid' syndrome.

I'm all in favour of giving every encouragement to parents to go out to work but I think we may be kidding ourselves if we pretend that there are lots of jobs out there for them all. I can speak from personal experience as I have long gaps between contracts and that's given 2 BAs an MA and speaking fluent Fench and Spanish and having advanced IT skills (don't panic this isn't a CV :lol: ). With regards to the 'cash in hand' economy I've experienced this in the form of bullying from even bona fide companies so its not necessarily a sign of a benefit cheat.

Disabled people have experienced similar 'encouragement' recently and if 'encouragement' is what it remains then I'm all in favour I can't help feeling though that given a shortage of jobs its a case of the government trying to tap into popular prejudice about single parents to improve its ratings in the polls. Lets face it they can't be against people having babies they're also always moaning on about future populations being too small to support the aging population.

I don't trust this (or any) government and I'd hate them to start a witch hunt with a potentially vulnerable part of the community - but isn't that what failing governments do?

 

Well GR I am all for an increasing population so that old gits (who have worked all their lives) can be given a pension (which they have paid for).
However this increase in the population is currently costing more to support than the aging population. Young teenagers who have never worked with kids being totally supported by the benefit system.
56.5% of single mothers work. These are to be commended. But what of the other 43.5%.
As I keep repeating on RR the benefit system is past its sell by date. What should be a system to help during times of need, has been turned into a lifestyle choice.

 

Having been a single parent myself for a couple of years with two very hungry teenage mouths to feed I was quite surprised to find out just how difficult it is to get any benefits, I got none; too affluent apparently in their opinion! I think you are right golden_rivet, this is an easy target and one which many of us perceive as "unfair" I would be more satisfied if MP's decided to investigate the abuse of taxpayers money by their peers.