work for your benefits

"Now that's no excuse, but imagine your just about to leave school and you are faced with the following choice: A) Do nothing and sign on straight away and have some fun, or B) Work hard on a training or college course, write letters off and fork out half your allowance in stationary and stamps, just so that you can sign on at the end of your course. I know that's not really how it was but that was the message put out at the time. "

You missed the third choice, go and get a job. For the last 9 years since I left school Iv worked.

Theres farr too mutch pushing of tenagaers into doing meaningless qulifications and degrees, I could give countless examples of my contemporys at school. On of my freinds did a degree in farm mangment or sum sutch, Guess what 5 years on from it and now at 25 he is working as a herdsman/ tractor driver for £10 an hour, doing a job I used to do part time at 17 for £8 ph. A degree and loads of debt gets him £2 an hour more, long hours and (literally) a job.

The only qulifications, aside from gcse that I hold are chainsaw and spraying tickets and a RSPH l2 pestcontrol qulification paid for out my own pocket, oh and 9 years of life experience and savings from doing proper work .

Have I needed any fancy qulifications, Have i End of the day Im the only one whos financially well of, and with a very sucsesful business to boot.

 

For a while, everyone I met seemed to be on either a language course or a media degree. One of the media students works in a pub and a language student I know works in woolworths. (for now) I work in retail, one of my collegues has just finished a degree in criminolgy or something along those lines. He's now announced he wants to start next gen to become a store manager. I'm totally at a loss as to why you would do that.

Parents do push kids into courses and degrees. Half of them end up on a course that they have little or no interest in using in later life. I can see the reason behind it dont get me wrong, im sure its with all the good intentions in the world. There is no hard and fast rule really is there. Push your kids into education, push your kids into work..let them decide? I have no idea. I just hope this mess is sorted out by the time my little girl leaves school and I hope to god that she buckles down and gets good marks. If nothing else it opens doors and gives more opportunity

 

This has always been the eternal problem and this is the reason lots of single parents are excluded from jobs that tend to pay well enough to support a family.

If you go out to work you`ll get blasted from the full time Mums for not being there, having to hand your children over to those that just don`t care about a child as much as they would have you think, or if you stay at home and care full time for children apparently you have the brain the size of a gnat and can only just about drag themselves out of bed in time to watch Trisha!


It saddens me when women turn on one another about this issue. I used to work and leave my children in the hands of a carer, eventually I couldn`t keep it going. All it needs is a sick child or a teachers strike too many and you`re out on your ear.


Unfortunately in the rush to demand the right to having it all, we have been duped into doing it all, and to add insult to injury we carp at one another because of it.

No one here is scum, brainless or moronic-any more than they are money mad, heartless mares who have children as accessories - easily discarded when you`re sick of them.

 

But at least you tried. I dont think we'll ever come up with an answer to this one. If we did, maybe gardeners corner could run the country instead

 

Wow....I have just read all the posts on this thread and it seems to be getting rather emotive. Ok, I'll add my tuppence worth. First off....there seems to be abundant concern for the single parents..interpreted as single mothers...erm, there are a lot of single men parents with children out there as well you know!!

Changing the names of benefits...no change, it's just a change of name right. Looking at the disability issue is quite complicated. There are lots of different kinds of disabilities and quite a lot of people with those - none physical conditions - could be disadvantaged.

Young fit and able children leaving school should be given the option of further education...with financial help of course...or made to work for their benefits....but where do they work? This part of the equation needs serious thought by the government. There is some talk about National Service..maybe looking into that would be an option.

Child benefit should be means tested....this saving would help finance training or work programs. No fit and able person should be given money for nothing. This would mean the government would have to provide accommodation etc. So again its down to them to put the whole situation into perspective.

Regarding what do single parents do, during the school holidays etc. Again the government needs to provide the services for the children to be looked after during working hours.

The money is there..as I said before, making child allowance/benefit means tested or completely abolished would provide a large amount. I have never understood why people should get money for having children and I never will. From my experience, whether poor or well off, the money is not spent on the kids.

Just to set the record straight. I come from a family that Dad was the bread winner, Mum was the home maker and provider of all the things that a housewife does. When I left school I got a job...then I became self employed. I am disabled, but have worked all my life...now I can no longer work and am retired. Having said that, if the government could provide me with a job working from home using my computer skills, I would go for it. But alas, they haven't even got the nouce to organize a little thing like that.

 

Does EVERYONE get child benefit??

 

Yup. Up to a certain age of the child. And its the same amount whether you are rich or poor.

 

I didnt realise...to a family struggling to get by or on low income, child benefit makes a little difference...not a great deal, but it helps...I dont see how families with two working parents on a good wage need child benefit?? Tho having said that, if it were means tested you can bet your watsits that they'd get that wrong somehow too and end up takin from the people that need it

 

I couldn't agree more. More people should have had the pride to ignore the pessimism and do something for themselves. But to be fair, if you left school 9 years ago, you left when we were in an economic upturn, as opposed to the middle of a very nasty recession when there were redundancies and repossessions going on pretty much everywhere.

 

That as maybe but there are some jobs u need the qualifications for like my sister whos a biomedical scientist what gets right on my wick is the people who go to uni do something for years an it is no use at all when it comes to finding a job

Like you pro ive got me GCSEs an a national cert in horticulture an when i couldnt find a job i went on jobseakers allowance for 3 weeks got fed up of that an started me own business at 19 without even haveing a driveing licence

the problem today is people think there entitled to claim bennifits an not even try to find work

 

Spud, I aint argueing about the likes of scientists, doctors, solicetors etc.

My point is ref folk of averadge intelligence who will most likly end up in trade or middle manadgment positions, For these jobs mediocore A levels and degrees are almost worthless and equate to four or more years wasted.

"the problem today is people think there entitled to claim bennifits an not even try to find work"

Agreed.

 

Which more or less makes this a full circle don't it....you shouldn't be entitled to benefits ad hoc, you should work for them...providing you can work yea.

 

I usually find myself agreeing with you Pro-eventually, but higher education isn`t worthless. I accept that a module on Coronation Street is pretty pointless but a maths A-level is pretty spectacular.

What it intrinsically changes, is the individuals expectations of themselves. Most working class kids expect to end up in a mechanics apprenticeship, or hairdressing or something else pretty dead end, but when that working class kid is surrounded by those who have higher expectations, they raise their own game. I have personal experience of this. I started off in a typical northern family, zero spare cash, hand me downs, 20p a week spends, on a council estate surrounded by kids that were just the same. Except that a very few of us kids had parents that made them work hard at school and expected us to go to college and further still.

I want my children to go to university, and will help them get there and stay there-not for the art history degree ( or whatever they do) alone, but for the view, so to speak.

Sorry, I can`t explain myself any better than that. I would rather my childrens peers were all aiming for something. It will rub off on them I hope.

 

I Believe if you have children you should bring them up yourself, I used to have part time jobs to fit in when my husband finished, nothing was beneath me, cleaning,working in a bingo hall. I wanted to be the influence on my childrens upbringing, but it never stopped me from working. 02

 

I dont agree lolipop if u want to make something of ur life you will regardless of anyone elses influence