Benefit cuts

However, the point still stands that the cap is incredibly nasty and will be socially destructive.

Whats laughable about it too, not that its funny, is that just like the bedroom tax, due to the laws of unintended (or un-thought through) consequences, it won’t actually end up saving any money either.

Its being driven purely by ideology, not finances.

“Its being driven purely by ideology, not finances.”

This is the indefensible part of it. It’s being implemented by people who have absolutely no idea of what life is like for millions of people, who simply want to create more wealth for themselves and their friends, and increase their hold on power. Against the advice of countless people with in depth knowledge of the situation, legal experts etc. And undoubtedly, as we’ve seen before, there will be legal challenges to bureaucratic decisions, which will again add to public expense.

But those in power now will have long feathered their own nests by the time it comes for them to be held to account.

It also appears to apply to those who are working but not earning enough to live on.

My understanding is that the cap doesn’t apply to anyone who works enough hours to claim WTC. however I think this changes to the equivalent of 16 hrs week at minimum wage under universal credit.

its being driven purely by ideology,

If that ideology is to get people who can work to work and contribute towards their own upkeep, is that really a bad thing?

I emphasise the importance of the word can

I’d say what is ‘unreasonable’, is that the taxpayers are subsidising cheap labour for many companies making sizeable profits.

And a massive chunk of benefits payments goes on rent to private landlords, an amount which is increasing exponentially.

These are the things that are most ridiculous to me. It looks to me like the real recipients of many of these benefits are landlords and employers.

You can’t look at this in isolation either. You have to look at other policies. So at the same time they are reducing benefits, they are forcing housing associations and councils to sell off their social housing.

Anyone capable of counting to ten can do the maths on this. Selling off already scarce social housing into the private sector, will only increase the housing benefit bill. But as this particular enormous chunk of taxpayers money goes straight into the pockets of BTL landlords, this is fine.

The benefit system is being changed not to save money, but to fundamentally alter where this money ends up. They’re cutting out the middle man (the claimant) and putting it directly into the pockets of private landlords.

The benefit cap will mean that once the claimant has paid their housing costs, they can not afford heating of food or anything else. They exist at a just-about-subsistence level. But that doesn’t matter because the landlord has his regular big wedge of taxpayers money, so the world keeps turning just fine. Maybe he could expand his property portfolio further with all this former social housing thats about to come onto the market?

“If that ideology is to get people who can work to work and contribute towards their own upkeep, is that really a bad thing?”

The ideology has nothing to do with getting people into work. Nothing. If that was indeed the tory plan, they’d be investing in training and supporting British industry and services, not running them into the ground and selling off the assets to the highest bidder. No, it’s nothing to do with getting people into work. It’s all to do with creating a weak, docile, subservient labour force who will do what they are told, because they are too fearful of the consequences of dissent.

putting it directly into the pockets of private landlords.

Who then hand it to the banks, who hand it to the pension funds, who then hand it to the pensioners, who then spend it in the economy, which then pays the taxes, which they…

Can I just float this out there
JRF figures from around 2014 put unemployment under employment and finicially inactive at a true figure of around 6.5 million, while job vacancies where in the region of 500000.
Now of those 500000 jobs, people in work with shit jobs or on zero hour contracts and such are also in competition with the six and half million unemployed.
Does anybody here remember my analogy of the ten dogs and one bone?

clodhopper – Member
“Ninfan would be excluded from the BenCap.
Facts people, facts.”

Apologies. My mistake there. It shows just how out of touch somebody in my extremely privileged situation is; I have very little current knowledge of the benefits system, which appears very complicated. However, the point still stands that the cap is incredibly nasty and will be socially destructive.

Fair play to your self awareness but a lack of knowledge does rather undermine a commentator.

bearnecessities – Member
“The system” is a constant state of reform.

This is a genuine obstacle of increasing impact in recent years. Govts don’t know what a good long term solution is so implement one change after another for whatever reason of varying credibility. It’s a constant battle of competing tensions and reading this thread I’d say there’s clear consensus to the core principle of benefits for those in need and a reduction in unnecessary benefits. The difficult bit is how to achieve that and what level of negative collateral impact is acceptable in doing so. One of the root issues and solutions is aspiration but addressing a reduction that’s been cultivated over years takes time and the focus is too often on a short term politically beneficial win.

As an aside, our tax system isn’t perfect but by comparison to others it’s administered and policed better than most. The legislation that is exploited for avoidance is being slowly tightened but the potential ‘savings’ means there will always be plenty willing to reward those who can exploit the legislation to gain unintended advantage.

putting it directly into the pockets of private landlords.

Who then hand it to the banks, who hand it to the pension funds, who then hand it to the pensioners, who then spend it in the economy, which then pays the taxes, which they…

Ah… I get it now. So being a private landlord receiving huge state handouts direct from the taxpayer is actually an altruistic gesture?

JRF figures from around 2014 put unemployment under employment and finicially inactive at a true figure of around 6.5 million

the six and half million unemployed.

Wait a minute. Careful with those figures there.

Financially inactive includes people who don’t want or need to work, doesn’t it? Like for example stay at home spouses? Also rich people?

And why is this notion that folk are sitting at home on benefits “contributing nothing to society” seem prevalent?
I’d suggest like the benefit fraud figure of 0.7%,that the figure “contributing nothing to society” is also miniscule.

Yep, you’re absolutely right, Mol, and i also understand it includes the million or so currently under benefit sanctions receiving no income

Surely to have a figure for fraud, they first have to, you know, catch and count those commiting fraud first?

And this study has been done, and the figure was an astonishing 0.7 percent, Plyphon

million or so currently under benefit sanctions receiving no income

This is just getting silly now!

Here’s my story about my contact with the benefits system. And how I learnt how it works. Or doesn’t work.

I had my own business for years. Built it up over about 6 years of bloody hard work, with my partner. I’d worked since leaving school at 16, paying tax all my life. Never had any contact with the benefits system.

Then the financial 2007/2008 shitstorm/meltdown happened and the economy basically stopped.

In an unbelievably short space of time, customers folded like dominoes, owing serious money, contracts pulled, jobs cancelled. Life got very hard, and very scary, very very quickly. I took on a lot of personal debt to try and keep the business going, but when our biggest client folded, owing us serious money, we admitted defeat.

I looked for jobs, but there were none. Not even freelance. And who wants to employ someone who’s been their own boss for years. No-one. Thats who.

So at the age of 40, I walk into a benefits office for the first time in my life. I’m asked a series of questions about my situation. Very quickly I receive an answer regarding my entitlement….

Nothing. Not a penny.

Somewhat incredulously I ask why.

“Because you’re still listed as a company director at companies house. As far as we’re concerned you are ’employed’, thus not entitled to any benefits”

“But my business has folded. i’ve got no income, 2 kids, a mortgage, bills to pay”

“Not our problem”

And that was that.

The main concern was making sure I didn’t appear on any statistics. There was no concern as to my welfare, or that of my kids. This just wasn’t on the radar. Not the issue.

At that time I knew 4 other people in exactly the same position, who’d been told the same thing.

I won’t bore you with the details of losing everything, the breakdown, the dark days of depression, sinking deeper into debt just to pay bills, the never-ending stress, the anxiety, the dependency, the nights spent contemplating suicide… because who wants to hear that, right?

No I won’t bore you with any of that.

I rebuilt my life with the help of some brilliant people (you know who you are), and a woman who stuck with me, even when I wouldn’t have stuck with me. i was an absolute ****ing mess. Because thats what it does to you. It destroys you! It takes away everything. Dissolves you from the inside. Shreds your self-esteem. Fills you with a constant sense of dread.

Its taken a lot of time to come out of the other side, and become the annoyingly cocky, cynical but happy bastard I was before. And its changed my outlook on everything. For the better. I’m a better person. A lot better. i used to be like some of you. Well… actually probably nowhere near that bad.

So before you condemn so readily. These people who you label as scroungers, who you are devoid of empathy for, these burdens on the state, are actually real people! And they are probably going through the most cataclysmic event of their lives. Where all the previous certainties are gone in an instant

And if you think that it can’t happen to you….

Think again!

And the only thing that will save you is the kindness and compassion of others.

There is such a thing as society.

So we need to acknowledge that, and change this vile, toxic, corrosive narrative that allows the most desperate and needy to be demonised so that kindness and compassion towards them is considered a weakness

Thats actually quite upset me, typing this. Things got very, very dark. I nearly wasn’t here. I blank it out. Try to put it all behind me, and pretend it didn’t happen. But it did. And it scars you!

have some ****ing humanity! And some humility! Acknowledge how lucky you are! And acknowledge that others aren’t!

Well said Binners and sorry to hear your went through that. That’s the bottom line, these are people we are talking about, people who are most likely at the lowest point they will ever find themselves at.

I’d be interested to hear what you feel when you see things like this then Binners:

Oh do **** off with your pathetic ‘Benefits Street’ poverty porn!!

You can dig around and find anything to justify whatever makes you feel better. If thats what makes you feel better.

Its easy in this day and age of social media, and 24 hour telly, for the hard of thinking to use simplistic things, to stop themselves having to think about complex issues, to justify their own lack of humanity.

If you think that’s representative of the kind of people who are about to get hit with these latest cuts, then that tells us more about you than anything else. You realise these people are just trotted out, and given airtime, so that the state can then justify its cruel, degrading and dehumanising behaviour towards the genuinely needy, who are all but invisible to the rest of society, so who’s voices go unheard

binners +1
ninfan – what do you feel when you see things like that?

So that person is indicative of every person claiming benefits?

Two valid lines above:

Mol: What we need is effective intelligent reform. Which seems to be beyond the abilities of politicians.

Binners: Its being driven purely by ideology, not finances.

I agree with Binners that this (benefit cap) is driven by ideology, not finances. But because it is also surrounded by misinformation, genuine emotion, complexities etc, we end up with mol’s conclusion and the emotive debates ^

Ideology: There is a broad agreement among charities, politicians, economists etc that work represents the best route out of poverty and the social and economic harm that goes with it. Common ideology here. Among the many issues that surround the answers is the debate around whether benefits represent a disincentive/obstacle to work – much debate – and whether they are fair – again considerable debate. So by no means an easy answer. But what we so know is that the LT increase in benefits has not been a solution to the underlying problems

Finance – glad this is cleared up. Of course, capping benefits results in saving but they are irrelevant (<£0.1bn) in the context of the Tories plans to reduce the level of welfare spending from it current trends by over £12bn (n.b its not a £12bn cut in absolute terms BTW). So we can park the finance issue in NW’s side tray.

Benefit caps in isolation are not the solution. Depending on your own ideology, they may or may not represent a disincentive to work and therefore be a bad thing. But equally the government’s “stated” aims are perfectly sensible in terms of reforming them. But then we get to the crux of the issue. The numbers involved are small in the grander scheme of things – the IFS estimates 100,000 households. But, and it is a big but, the impact on this households is large especially for those with several children and high rents. Not difficult to find specific case studies as The Guardian has illustrated where real hardship is involved.

So what do you do? Any policy has winners and losers. In this case, the losers are small in number but they are hit badly. Equally, without reform and other measures, they will be condemned to never escaping poverty which is in no one’s interests. So its a tough balance. Benefits are a band aid that treat the solution not the cause. They “may” even make it worse. But reform is always constrained as mol notes for the simple reason that there will always be losers. Hence the situation gets worse over time not better.

Where is Jeremy Bentham when you need him?

As an aside, it is total bllx to go on about an evil society that does nothing. Pre-taxes and benefits the income of the top 20% is 14x larger than the bottom 5%. Post taxes and benefits, this gap is reduced to 4x. So we have a progressive system that works albeit far from perfectly. So while the Dail Wail benefits headlines are bllx, so too is the idea that nothing is done about it.

Got a source for that last stat? Genuine question, as it surprised me.

If you think that’s representative of the kind of people who are about to get hit with these latest cuts, then that tells us more about you than anything else. You realise these people are just trotted out, and given airtime, so that the state can then justify its cruel, degrading and dehumanising behaviour towards the genuinely needy, who are all but invisible to the rest of society, so who’s voices go unheard

You ****ing idiot!

You may want to tell Beveridge that he was a ****ing idiot as well:

(ii) Men and women who have been unemployed for a certain period should be required as a condition of continued benefit to attend a work or training centre, such attendance being designed both as a means of preventing habituation to idleness and as a means of improving capacity for earning. Incidentally, though this is an altogether minor reason for the proposal, such a condition is the most effective way of unmasking the relatively few persons who may be suspected of malingering, who have perhaps some concealed means of earning which they are combining with an appearance of unemploy­ment. The period after which attendance should be required need not be the same at all times or for all persons. It might be extended in times of high unemployment and reduced in times of good employ­ment; six months for adults would perhaps be a reasonable average period of benefit without conditions. But for young persons who have not yet the habit of continuous work the period should be shorter; for boys and girls there should ideally be no unconditional benefit at all; their enforced abstention from work should be made an occasion of further training.

Beveridge AND Lorraine Kelly?

You’re on fire today

Apologies in advance to clod for bring facts into the debate but here you go RP

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/personalandhouseholdfinances/incomeandwealth

@binners one of the strengths of STW is sharing really quite personal things. It’s a tough experience but I would wager one lesson is you would avoid such a situation again in terms of debt and letting clients build up unpaid invoices in difficult times. Banks have rocks thrown at them for “calling time” on businesses/debt but they are well versed in the risks of not doing so. There is also the harsh lesson of having some savings and when applying for benefits to understand the system. The French and German systems are contributory you get out based on what you’ve put in – being self employed is the same – you/employer make NI contributions and you get out a related amount for 2 (?) years then revert to minimum state payments.

No I have not had first hand experience other than Benefits office refusing to allow my daughter to claim post her degree as “officially she is enrolled in Uni until Sep” even though final exams where in May. As I posted I would start with the most needy (disabled children in your example) and making sure they get what they need. You do this until the budget runs out. That will be tough for some but by definition they won’t be the most needy. I appreciate his may appear flippant but I believe an open ended expense is a mistake.

Standing ovation binners. Good post. I’ve down that road but not as far; saved from the Job Centre at the last second a few times. But I spent a lot of money that I should’ve paid out elsewhere, which I’m dealing with now!

“Apologies in advance to clod for bring facts into the debate but here you go RP”

All you’ve done is link to some numbers which may or may not explain anything, and may or may not have been compiled using methodology which may or may not be flawed, presented by a government department which may or may not be telling the actual truth.

Facts.

Let’s look at what facts actually are, THM.

Facts are in the ever increasing numbers of homeless people and families. Facts are in the ever increasing number of people using food banks (ask your wife, she will explain this to you). Facts are the numbers of suicides of people being declared ‘fit to work’ by an assessment system which isn’t fit for purpose. Facts are the rise in chronic mental illness in young people. Facts are the increased burden of debt of anyone wanting to go to university (to get the same level of education you and I got for free). Facts are the increase in violent crime. Facts are the increase in hate crimes.

Facts are what affect real people.

So you can bandy around your numbers all you like. It doesn’t matter; the facts speak for themselves.

Stick that in your abacus and see what you come up with.

Facts are in the ever increasing numbers of homeless people and families

Speaking of Facts, what effect do you reckon 300k+ Annual net immigration (184k from the EU) has on jobs and homelessness?

Standing ovation binners. Good post.

I’ve carefully read binner’s post and it looks like he managed to turn his life around without any help from benefits.

So point proved.

One of them, at least.

“Speaking of Facts, what effect do you reckon 300k+ Annual net immigration (184k from the EU) has on jobs and homelessness?”

Yay, we’re on to immigrants now! 😆

Surprised it took you so long, Ninfan.

https://www.theguardian.com/housing-network/2016/jan/25/is-immigration-causing-the-uk-housing-crisis

Overall, the impact of immigration on housing is mixed, and geographically specific. As the LSE report May cited points out, two thirds of housing demand is created not by net migration figures being higher than in previous years, but by a lack of social housing stock, an increase in life expectancy, and more households delaying marriage or forgoing cohabitation resulting in an increased number of smaller households.

There has been one area where immigration has been crucial in attempting to solve the housing crisis: building. The Chartered Institute of Building points out that any caps on immigration will harm housebuilding rates, as not enough British-born nationals are either trained or interested in construction careers, and migrants have been filling the gap.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/287287/occ109.pdf

The predictions of economic theory regarding the overall labour market impacts of
net migration depend on a number of assumptions. In the long term, it is argued
that there is no negative impact on wages or employment of native workers as, over
time, economies find ways to adjust to a stable equilibrium. Dynamic impacts on
productivity and innovation may imply that in the long term migration could have
positive impacts on the labour market. However, these dynamic effects are
unproven and they are difficult to measure and assess robustly.
In the short term, the predicted impacts of net migration on natives vary depending
on a range of factors, including how the skill mix of migrants compares with that of
the native population, the flexibility of the labour and product markets, general
economic conditions, and the extent to which migrants increase aggregate demand
in the economy. It is likely that while some groups in the economy benefit from
immigration, others will lose out.

I dunno Ninfan; you tell me. Is immigration causing significant problems regarding housing and employment in the UK?

Speaking of Facts, what effect do you reckon 300k+ Annual net immigration (184k from the EU) has on jobs and homelessness?

Thing is the immigration is needed cos Steve is too ‘busy’ heating up his iceland ready meals to squeeze a few hours work between.

I’ve carefully read binner’s post and it looks like he managed to turn his life around without any help from benefits.

So point proved.

One of them, at least.

Right, so if binners can do it, then the system is fine?

So, if you’re not as capable as binners, without such marketable job skills, and you don’t have the support of a partner, then what? Screw you? You and your kids can starve on the streets? Seriously?

This is one of the major problems with the Tory idea: “I managed, so can you”.

That is NOT TRUE AT ALL. Not everyone is good at life, not everyone is equally employable, not everyone is employable at all, even if they’re not disabled.

Equality doesn’t mean that everyone is the same, and everyone can do the same things. It means that everyone should have the help they need so that their opportunities are equal.

And whilst we’re asking each other questions; what effect do you reckon the right to buy scheme and subsequent failure to invest the money raised in providing more social housing has had on the housing crisis, Ninfan?

So, if you’re not as capable as binners, without such marketable job skills, and you don’t have the support of a partner, then what? Screw you? You and your kids can starve on the streets? Seriously?

I didn’t say that. You are coming over all Walking with Dinosaurs and filling in a lot of gaps with your predudice.

Here’s my tale. I do a lot of work with big food producers. Lots. They give my bootfuls of free stuff. Biscuits, pop, confectionery.

I used to give it to the local foodbank. Run by nice people.

One day I was in there and some Sharon was picking up a package. It wasn’t ready so she huffed and puffed and went outside for a fag (A fag! Not short of cash then) she talked on her iPhone (how much!) and eventually came in and she was offered some Chocolate Digestives.

She didn’t want them as they were plain choc; it was crap there were no Milk Choc.

She had such a sense of entitlement that she thought she should have the choice of free biscuits, as her right.

When did being on benefits mean that a selection of luxury good be the norm?

And why?

“Who then hand it to the banks, who hand it to the pension funds, who then hand it to the pensioners, who then spend it in the economy, which then pays the taxes, which they…”

Oh dear. Let’s look at this carefully, shall we?

So; a LA pays full HB of £1000 a month directly to a private landlord. Who pays tax on their earnings from this, which would be £12000 a year.

Please explain how that bit of tax is compares to the £12000 that comes directly out of the public purse?

Now; I’m not a mathematician, indeed, I found maths quite boring really, which is why I concentrated more on subjects that interested me, like art, but I still think that the tax revenue from the £12000 is probably a bit less than the £12000 itself..

Did you go to the same school of economics as THM? 😆

I didn’t say that. You are coming over all Walking with Dinosaurs and filling in a lot of gaps with your predudice.

Listen – I’m not prejudiced against any of you, I’ve been doing this online thing for long enough to not jump to conclusions.

I’m not accusing you with those statements – I’m asking you, and wanting a real answer. And they are loaded of course, because I’m trying to dismantle your point of view so I can either agree, or disagree and counter.

Your story about benefits highlights that yes, there are scroungers. However that doens’t need highlighting does it, really? Because we all know that there are scroungers.

Why are people highlighting it over and over again? It looks like you are accusing all people on benefits of being scroungers. Repeating these stories trivialises the plight of those who are really in need. People are going hungry, people’s kids are being malnourished. That’s what’s important, not Sharon’s iPhone.

I want the Tories on here to acknowledge that the system is tragically crap, and that benefit cuts are serioulsy damaging the lives of some very vulnerable people. WE KNOW that some people are taking the piss. It does not need repeating. No-one’s denying it.

One day I was in there and some Sharon was picking up a package.

So this is indicative of all people forced to use food banks? Simple answer will do, yes or no.