Being as what I do gets me out 'on the street' as it were I regularly come across 'benefit madness'. I thought, for your delectation, I'd start recording them as they happen.
Friend of Daughter No. 3. Single mother. Two children (remarkably by same father!). But father feckless and petty criminal - petty, as in not very good at being criminal. Woman decided to have children and states reason as 'I can get a flat and benefits which will enable me to leave home' (note, parents are good, hard working family conscious). Sets out to get pregnant and realises that having two children maximises benefits/inconvenience/income equation. Now has flat and spare income plus car. Father of children is around and hands over cash money weekly, which of course no-one tells anyone about, of circa £200! Now also getting nursery paid for so that she can go out and work.
So let's add this up.
Rent will be about = £500 per month
Community Charge about = £125 per 10 months
Nursery for 2 sprogs @ £35 / day / sprog = £350 per week = £1520 per month
Benefits roughly £150 / week = £650 per month
Ad hoc stuff ('I need a new fridge' / 'Here's £100'), say = £100 per month.
Cash from father = £870 per month
Total = £3765 per month
Plus wages, assume minimum wage and 37.5 hrs = £1000 per month approx net
Total = £4765 per month.
Factor that up to what she would have to earn in taxed income and you get to about £70k per annum.
Assuming that she's a rational human being why would she do anything else?
PS. MW will no doubt get all anal and do the exact tax numbers, but that's OK, that's what he does. But the principle remains - it's a rational response to the 'client state' opportunity.
PPS. My No. 3 daughter, to her credit, seriously lost her temper with the woman recently about all this when woman was complaining about lack of income and daughter 3 explained using good old Anglo Saxon about how she, Daughter 3 was being taxed to pay for woman and her 'lifestyle choices'.
PPPS Sorry about crap formatting. Help!
Yeah, Well…
36 minutes ago
6 comments:
L, compose posts in "edit html" and not "compose" that way you don't get silly formatting.
The benefit figures seem 'about right' but it's a tad unfair to include wages from husband. If she's declaring her earned income, that'd net down to about £200 per month (single mothers have marginal tax rate of about 80% up to annual earnings of £25,000 or so).
In Lincolnshire they get fully furnished houses, not flats.
Crackers isn't it? What with all the old folk, all these benefit junkies and all the public sector lackies like me, well something's going to give isn't it?
Sterling? Inflation? Both?
The most glaring madness is that the state are paying her £1,520 a month nursery fees so that she can earn £1,325 a month. We'd be better off if she was paid £1,325 a month to sit at home. In fact she'd probably be prepared not to work for an extra £500 a month, but that would upset the Daily Mail readers and we can't have that, can we?
"and daughter 3 explained using good old Anglo Saxon about how she, Daughter 3 was being taxed to pay for woman and her 'lifestyle choices'. "
Yay!
And what attitude do the other siblings have?
And (less optimistically) her peer group?
PJH - Oh, my other three daughters (who all know woman concerned) are totally hacked off with it all.
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