Friday, Jul 16, 2010
Get rid of this scum from our country
Dailymail: '£500-a-week? I can earn more on benefits!', unemployed driver tells stunned haulage boss
A haulage boss was left stunned after an unemployed driver rejected the offer of a job paying more than £500 a week so he could remain on benefits.
Graham Poole, the managing director of a 23-wagon fleet in Rochdale, offered the job to the man who had been out of work for 18 months only to be told told it was not enough to have him come off government handouts.
The man turned the job down claiming he could get more money on benefits by 'sitting around at home'.
Posted by mark @ 07:51 PM (1383 views) Add Comment
13 Comments
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1. peter said...
This shouldn't suprise us too much.
Some years ago researchers (was Lord Harris of High Cross involved this?) found similar results, and I think more recently I heard that you would have to have a job paying at least £25,000 to be better off in work. Having a few kids can mean you would have to get quite a high salary to be better off with a job.
Take a look at this story from a few months back: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7585500/Family-on-42000-a-year-benefits-because-they-are-better-off-unemployed.html
The only answer is to cut welfare and the minimum wage.
2. drewster said...
Oh, it's the Daily Mail. Let's look beyond the headline and uncover the figures.
"£427.50 weekly plus up to £81 in tax free expenses."
Firstly there's the weasel-word "up to".
Secondly, expenses are not pay. If you drive 400 miles for work and have to buy £50 of diesel out of your own pocket, then you get the money back in expenses. So this job is really paying £427.50 a week. After tax that's £336.70 per week.
So how does somebody get £500 a week in benefits?
Child benefit: £20.30/week for the first child, £13.40/week for others.
Council tax benefit: maybe £25/week
Local Housing Allowance: maximum of £201.35 per week for a five-bedroom house. More typically, the rent on a 3-bed house in Rochdale is £600pcm or £140/week.
Job-seekers allowance: £65/week (I don't know how to calculate it for couples, so let's just assume the basic amount.)
I've probably missed out other benefits; also he can work part-time and still claim many benefits and tax credits.
Assuming he has three children, on benefits he receives £137 without housing or £277 with housing. That's £60 less than the job would have earned. Tell me, how many of you would work a full week for just £60 extra pay?
3. novice pete said...
Get rid of this scum from our country?
Mark, it sounds like you are assuming the chap is an immigrant.
I didn't see any mention of nationality in the story, i'm puzzled by your headline.
4. the number cruncher said...
Time for my Two Minutes' Hate
Emmanuel Goldstein is his name and he is stealing your money - HATE HATE HATE
Emmanuel Goldstein is his name and he is stealing your house - HATE HATE HATE
Double hate plus good from the daily hate
Mark you need to stop believing the propaganda and widen your perspective
5. clockslinger said...
I used to work all the hours God sent in a commercial law firm in Tokyo doing cross border asset finance. I tell you, I was back on that plane to Heathrow faster than you can say sayonara when I realised I could get paid twice as much by living in a council flat in Hastings and signing on. I've never looked back. No, sadly it is true that news like this comes as no surprise at all (and probably confirms all the things you secretly knew all along) if you are a complete d1#khead.
6. Bigbadbob said...
All heil the Daily Mail!
7. techieman said...
Npete
"Mark, it sounds like you are assuming the chap is an immigrant." I dont think that is what he is saying. Its not an immigrant issue in my view.
The question really is how have we got here and what can be done about it. i dont understand how cutting the minimum wage would help. Surely you have to increase wages over and above the welfare payments. Whether that means a reduction in welfare or an increase in wage or both we need to incentivise people to be productive or change our culture so that there is a real need to better themselves.
I look at many Asians in this country, they work very hard because its part of their work ethic and culture. But maybe thats just those i have come across. [i have reached over for the hard hat!].
8. Willowwarbler said...
*I would suggest that anyone on benefit should take the job offered - no matter what the wage or salary. If there is a job available then benefits to the value of the job should be stopped. For a 'running in' time wages should be augmented by wage support benefit which will gradually disappear altogether. I strongly object to paying for anyone taking benefits when any work is available to them
9. nubbers said...
In 1982, I worked on the busses for a year as a driver. By many that was seen as a job to aspire to, but one (English) guy quit while I was there because he could take home more on benefits.
Just before that I worked on taxies and found that by properly declaring my income, I gained nothing at all. When I went to my (English) boss to ask for enough work to make a difference, he told me that it was more or less expected that we should be claiming benefit while working.
It seems like nothing has changed since then. If we are going to have a benefits system that penalises work, what can we expect?
10. novice pete said...
Techieman
It was Mark's headline that had me puzzled, is he assuming the chap in question is an immigrant or is he saying we just dump all the unwilling to work on another country's doorstep. Don't know how that would be achieved!
Anyway I thought you could have your benefits cut if you refused to take a job, I may be wrong.
What happened to the supposed clampdown on benefit fraud.
11. techieman said...
np - only Mark would know but i read it as "we just dump all the unwilling to work on another country's doorstep." whether you agree or not or whether there is a solution i think that was the sentiment.
Have a great weekend.
12. This comment has been removed as it was found to be in breach of our Blog Policies.
13. Peter Is A Tit said...
The only answer is to cut ....the minimum wage.
Peter what has minumum wage got to do with benefits ?
The minimum wage needs to rise to encourage people into work, but then your probably still in favour of slavery