The 30K family

[John-Boy]

Link

[energyman76b]

and I work 40h/week with 24 days off a year for 800€/month.
...
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[Muso]

[energyman76b]

[ichbinsisyphos]

800€ is all you have per month right now? Or is that what the gubberment adds on top of your apprentice pay?
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Please refer to "Austria" as "Republik Österreich" or "Republik Oesterreich" to avoid misunderstandings. Thank you.

[energyman76b]

[ichbinsisyphos]

400+400 or all from the employer or what?
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Please refer to "Austria" as "Republik Österreich" or "Republik Oesterreich" to avoid misunderstandings. Thank you.

[energyman76b]

[ichbinsisyphos]

Reminds me of the final semesters in university. Let's just say I would have loved to spend "300 for food, clothes and everything else"
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Please refer to "Austria" as "Republik Österreich" or "Republik Oesterreich" to avoid misunderstandings. Thank you.

[Naib]

skyTV, 24cans of large, 300fags, large pouch of baccy, 6 kids (5 teenagers)
nuff said

I support the welfare state ( I grew up under it and VASTLY below the level they have, sure 3kids not 6 but... LERN2KEEPITIN!) BUT I can't stand self entitled shits that expect things to be just given to them
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[energyman76b]

[juniper]

[ichbinsisyphos]

You can't compare rent in London to some random place elsewhere, move out of the city and tell me if the rent goes down
_________________
Please refer to "Austria" as "Republik Österreich" or "Republik Oesterreich" to avoid misunderstandings. Thank you.

[juniper]

[Muso]

[big dave]

unemployed for 11 years now? what the fuck... fucking lazy fucks need to get cut off.

[pjp]

[mcgruff]

Back to the OP... there are a number of problems with this single example of a family who will be affected by the benefits cap.

First, it is just one family. That's hardly sufficient information to form an opinion.

The booze and fags budget is a mistake but it's the father's mistake. He should be spending that on his family - and they need it.

Look at the figures in more detail. They're only spending £30 per head on food, which isn't a lot. Are they eating healthily? Growing kids need more (expensive) protein than adults, and everyone needs to eat plenty fresh fruit and vegetables.

Also, are they spending enough on clothes? Books? Again, the amount currently being spent, £11 per week per head for all clothing and school expenses, doesn't sound like a lot. What if the kids need netbooks for schoolwork?

We're talking about £10-15 per head per week being blown on "luxuries". This could easily be swallowed up by real needs, if it was spent properly. The family is surviving on a pretty tight budget in a tiny house unfit for purpose. It's hard to make the argument that they are receiving excessive amounts of benefit.

A benefits cap is pure evil, absolutely despicable, because it makes no effort to assess the specific needs and circumstances of individual families. It punishes the poor simply for being poor.
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the underlay overlay

[ichbinsisyphos]

On the other hand I think the welfare nanny state that always gets in your way and tells you what to do has failed if it leads to people choosing or being forced to live a vegetative life like that. Social security is supposed to get you back on your feet.

That's one of the traps that the system has to avoid. It can happen of course, but it has to be considered a failure.
Stuff like that has nothing to do with social democratic values, but comes from the opposite side that realized that you have to pay poor people a minimum amount of money to shut them up. For some reason Neoliberals at one point decided that that's an acceptable compromise.
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Please refer to "Austria" as "Republik Österreich" or "Republik Oesterreich" to avoid misunderstandings. Thank you.

[John-Boy]

[juniper]

[erm67]

Well the UK has the lowest employment protection index in the EU, it is the country where it is easyer to fire people, this is compensated by higher level welfare for unemployed. This my guess. Until now it was also easyer to find a new job in the UK than in other EU countries, so the system worked until now, I guess that there is a point in recession times where it will fail.

Skip at page 12 for a comparing table:

http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/8/4/34846856.pdf
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Truck!!
A posse ad esse non valet consequentia
Πάντα ῥεῖ

[juniper]

[mcgruff]

[erm67]