Forum Topic

Dependency culture

I have now come across three people I know who have been told by people in authority that they should stop work and be better off.The first is a single mother of three working part time and behind with council tax due to the mistakes of her local housing benefit department. She stopped work. For her work was a fulfilling therapy which got her out of the house. When she went back to part time work she immediately received a bill for all her tax debt from the council. What a disincentive to gainful employment.The second is a man working on low pay for a charity. With a growing family and money very short he sought help and was told he should stop work and be better off on benefits.The third is another part time worker. Once again, returning to work meant a mess up with housing benefits and a demand for council tax. A court summons resulted. She went to contest it and at the court asked for a duty solicitor. An unidentified woman came and started asking her questions. It turned out she was not a duty solicitor but an officer of the local authority. She was agressive and ill informed about the worker's case. Once again she said the debtor should stop work.I have tried to raise press interest about public sector employees who encourage the dependency culture. It keeps these public sector bums on their seats and wastes my taxes The media do not seem to care. Who does apart from this disgruntled tax payer and employer?

Graham Weeks ● 6679d7 Comments

The culture of dependency seems to be on the increase. Who is to blame, the State or the individual?"Who does apart from this disgruntled tax payer and employer?"......at this point, I'd like to thank you Graham and all the other hard working posters for being good employees and employers. It's your generous payments to the State via your monthly NI contributions that help to fund the State pension on which we retired folk depend - most grateful to y'all, we're depending on you, thanks a bundle.  :-)

Gerry Tan ● 6672d

Perhaps the dependency culture rests more on the employment laws of this country and the taxation system rather than the individual.If the "moral defective" aspects of the 1920s Mental Health Acts were reintroduced...

Alan Brainsby ● 6672d

Would those take us back to differentiate between the deserving and undeserving poor?

Graham Weeks ● 6671d

I feel Stanley Holloway coming on...the concept of the undeserving poor is so delicious

Sara Nathan ● 6671d

"the concept of the undeserving poor is so delicious"The synonyms as less palatable.Scroungers. Feckless. Indigent. Parasites.

Graham Weeks ● 6671d

Scroungers,feckless,indigent,parasites...strong words indeed.But they do apply to some people on benefits,do they not?There are those on benefits ,the majority I would wager, that are genuine cases and the 'undeserving' muddy the waters for the rest of us.Benefits should not be available as a career option but there to help temporarily in hard times whilst the claimant gets themselves together and finds work.

Keith Iddon ● 6671d

How about treating benefits as loans from the state which can be repaid or waived?

Alan Brainsby ● 6671d