Beverly W

So I got curious & have been digging around in old benefits letters from council tax benefits or old legacy benefits. I remember the wording on them used say something like "this is how much the law says you should have to live on" & "this is how we calculated your payments".

It seems I'm not the only person who remembers that statement appearing on official letters.

https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/forum/10-dla-esa-queries-results/101973-the-amount-the-law-says-you-need-to-live-on

I know for certain the cab & possibly job coaches used to perform what they called "better off calculations" aimed at working out the difference between paid work or benefit support. Rather than people ending up in jobs where the costs of being in employment were more expensive than not being in it.

Seems like the government don't care about whether an individual ends up in debt anymore as long as they don't claim full benefit support.

I recently watched the Jimmy Saville documentary. During which one of the interviews caught my attention.

"Margaret Thatcher particularly liked Jimmy Saville because he wasn't relying on what the state could do. His entrepreneurialism, his taking the initiative. Her vision of society - thriving economy, relying on successful people who were able to support people who were less able to support themselves"

We subscribe to this tax system in this country, however it's becoming more American by the minute. If I could support myself I would. Can't see how pushing people off benefits into jobs they can't do is helpful to the employer, the state, the people, the NHS. In fact the only people who benefit are the undertakers because in my opinion the government is looking to give disabled people that final push.