1 in 4 living off benefits - Page 6

churchfcrules · 03-09-2007, 22:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Royboy39

Can't believe where you are coming from.......the man is trying to stay alive though keeping himself fit.......what is wrong with that?

fine, but on the basis that he can run, and work on an allotment, is he not capable of carrying out some kind of work?

or to put it anothe way, if we didnt have the system that we have now and he didnt receive benefits do you think he would be working?

WillowTheWhisp · 03-09-2007, 22:30

Someone may be capable of doing something for a short period of time but that doesn't mean they could do it on a full time basis as a job.

BERNADETTE · 03-09-2007, 22:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by churchfcrules

fine, but on the basis that he can run, and work on an allotment, is he not capable of carrying out some kind of work?

or to put it anothe way, if we didnt have the system that we have now and he didnt receive benefits do you think he would be working?

Why so judgemental? I dread to think how you expect people to live. Maybe we should bring back the workhouse and shove people in there because they aren't fit for work. People don't choose to be ill, I hope and pray it never happens to you!!!

churchfcrules · 03-09-2007, 22:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by WillowTheWhisp

Someone may be capable of doing something for a short period of time but that doesn't mean they could do it on a full time basis as a job.

so whats wrong with part time?

what is wrong with people earning money for themselves, and having the pride to want to earn their own money, instead we here the age old i have paid my dues routine, there is no stigma with claiming benfits, thats the problem.
im 36 and when i was a lad growing up, you knew who was on benefits, they usually didnt have a car, a phone, and didnt wear all the latest designer gear, thats not the case today.

MargaretR · 03-09-2007, 22:42

The problem with having a chronic illness is that you have good days,bad days and mediocre days but cant forecast them. No employer will tolerate the irregular unreliable attendance

Royboy39 · 03-09-2007, 22:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by BERNADETTE

Why so judgemental? I dread to think how you expect people to live. Maybe we should bring back the workhouse and shove people in there because they aren't fit for work. People don't choose to be ill, I hope and pray it never happens to you!!!

Bernie you are absolutely on song, I have had two heart attacks and am still here........Time will tell on the ones who are uneducated.

churchfcrules · 03-09-2007, 22:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by BERNADETTE

Why so judgemental? :

why so judgemental,errrrrrrr because i pay tax, i work, and we live in a so called democracy with freedom of speech,and i am allowed my opinion and to some degree yes, if everyone on benefits was made to earn the money they receive, you would see a great reduction in benefit fraud, they couldnt be off working if they had to attend somewhere during working hours, and i think you would find a lot of those claiming unemployment would rather get a real job than just get dole money for working, of course there is a need for genuine cases, i just think the rules are lapse and we have a government that uses disabillity benefit as a way of fudging unemployment figures.

BERNADETTE · 03-09-2007, 22:58

Please do not talk to me as if I were stupid, yes I know there are people claiming benefits who shouldn't be but your argument is over the top. Do you honestly think that someone who has worked all their life and is now ill, claims benefits so that some young person who obviously knows better than their doctor can have a go at them?? Think again, they probably have more pride in their little finger than you will ever have. As I said before I hope it never happens to you!!!

churchfcrules · 03-09-2007, 23:13

you obviously are angry and not fully understanding what i wrote
1, i didnt talk down to you in anyway as if you were stupid
2, did i not state that there are genuine cases, so at no point did i presume to know more than anyones doctor(especially because i was talking in the general term, and wouldnt dream of singling anyone out)
3, you used the same argument as i had picked up on ie "worked all their life", because you are not a stupid person, i know that you will understand the economics of the NI contributions, and the money that we pay in today isnt saved away for when we are ill, it is used today, in 30 years time when i claim my state pension(if it still exist), the money i will be drawing wont be the money i have paid in, it will be the money that the then current workforce will be paying in, so its an invalid argument, to say "worked all of their lives" the money has already gone.
4, surely you dont condone a flawed system that is being played by malingerers?
5, over the top? your opinion, what i suggest is a solution to the problem, so instead of taking my comments personally (which they were not intended) why not give a solution of your own, which is not as "over the top"

BERNADETTE · 03-09-2007, 23:23

I can't provide a solution, nor can you I very much doubt. But at the end of the day people have to live, so if they can't work they have to claim benefits. It gets up my nose as well as yours when I see people who are not entitled to benefits claiming them(especially claiming to be ill). What we have to bear in mind is that there are probably people on this site who are on DLA and would give their right arm not to be.Just because there is no outward sign visible doesn't mean the illness isn't there!!

shillelagh · 03-09-2007, 23:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by churchfcrules

dont take this personal, but out of interest, have you been offered the chance of re-training, i mean you can type, which means you could be capable of a data inputter job for example, as i say i am not being personal, its just a generalised question really, as i see it they can class you as disabled if you are unfit to carry out your normal job, but as for a lot of these people on benefits, are they really incapable of carrying out ANY work, and also i ahve seen people in wheelchairs working, so if they can work, is it not a question of re assesing those unfit to work?

Ok here goes sorry for boring you all but he asked. I was registered disabled at the age of 16 because i have epilepsy but eventually i managed to get a job - predjudiced against the epilepsy even though i hadnt had a fit for 3 years. Anyway i went working in a bus depot in the stores. I was lifting heavy stuff brake linings, starter motors, brake shoes, brake drums, cleaning stuff etc and over the years i pulled the tendons in my wrists - I have tenosynavitus in both wrists got signed off on the sick by the physiotherapist in september 94 and got finished from work in March 95 due to physio not working. Next my mother was ill and i was her carer and my epilepsy got worse. In fact at the minute im having a fit a month which isnt much good. I wore braces on both my wrists for the next 10 years every day periodically i went back for more physio and cortisone injections. What i did do in that time besides being my mothers carer was do voluntary work - to get me out of the house and also to keep my hand in i did one morning a week in school, and 1 morning in 3 at our local credit union. Every so often the dwp would send for me to go for medicals or interviews. I would go for the medical then a couple of weeks later i would go for an interview. Anyway started trying to do without my braces - it was hard and it hurt but i persisted only wearing the braces when i needed to - in otherwords when i needed extra support or when they were hurting badly. The epilepsy had carried on but i managed to learn to drive and pass my test, then a couple of years later i had a fit while driving the car crashed it into a wall. Then they said i wasnt ill enough to have DLA anymore because i wasnt wearing my braces everyday - only when i needed them. Anyway my doc said it might be beneficial to me to get a part time job so i applied for one and got it standing on a reception for 5 hrs on a saturday afternoon and my family could look after my mum. Then they changed my job to admin instead of working on reception which is what i trained for. My problem with the epilepsy is that i get no warning for a fit though my brother says he can tell when im working up to one.

Now thats the background. What happens is the epilepsy has got worse, due to injuries through having the fits im waiting for physiotherapy to start on my shoulder and upper arm, but my wrists dont have as much pain as they did 13 years ago - mind you i might just have got used to it and now they ache. No matter what anyone says you are still predjudiced against when you go for job interviews. When you mention you have epilepsy the eyes seem to glass over and it seems to be thanks for coming will be in touch and 3 days later you get a letter saying thanks for applying but you havent got the job. My mother died last year and about 5 months later i started appllying for full time jobs because i wanted to work and didnt have much joy. Retraining - i trained for the job that i knew i would be able to do - admin. I dont type for a long time either i stop after a while to give my wrists a break and my eyes.

churchfcrules · 03-09-2007, 23:35

cheers for that, the reason i was asking as you are one in the loop so to speak, and i was interested if the dwp actvley encouraged you to retrain or that was something you did on own, i find it highly commendable that you did retrain, and made the effort, i just feel from some of the people i have met through my life, that toomany people see it as a meal ticket once they are classed as disabled, and dont bother to retrain, just happy to stay on benefits, and before i get shot down for my comments, ther ARE people out there like that, but it doesnt mean i am labeling every disabled person the same, each case should be judged on its own merits

garinda · 03-09-2007, 23:39

You don't need to justify anything to anyone Jen, certainly not to us on here.

churchfcrules · 03-09-2007, 23:43

i did say i wasnt being personal, i certainly wasnt asking anyone to justify themselves, i like to think she was just been good enough to answer my question

shillelagh · 03-09-2007, 23:45

I didnt retrain - when i was 14 i was told i would not be able to work in a factory, health & safety reasons if i had a fit i could hurt myself. No shopkeeper would give me a job because if i had a fit while working on the check out or lifting stuff onto the shelves health and safety risk, working with kids - if i had a fit while looking after the kids who'd look after them and me. I was told i would be better training for office work - that was when i was 14 - i stayed on after school and did a secretarial course. I went for a job as an office junior and they actually said to my face that he would employ me except for my epilepsy. That was in a solicitors office down accrington. Hows that for discrimination. They wouldnt get away with that now but back then he did.