State Pension Affordability

[Dorkeaux]

I think... You get the benefits rate for a short period only. Six months, say.

If you don't get a job, you are given a job, but it is paid at minimum wage. You will be contracted to work for a specified number of hours per week, with time off factored in for job interviews. Excess time off results in the loss of your job and benefits.

Full of holes to be ironed out but that's roughly where I'd start.

When I moved to England from Canadia, i was amazed at the reach of the welfare state.
Whole city blocks of purpose-build council houses, benefits seemingly without end.
Not to say it's a bad thing, but on first glance it seemed expensive and to encourage a large segment of the population to "lie flat".

Canada also has safety nets, but they have time limits.
Unemployment insurance pays 55% of your salary up to approximately £500 a week.
For 14-45 weeks depending on where you are. Then it stops.
You only get it if you lost your job through no fault of your own, like quitting.
And prove that you are looking for work. Seriously.

If you want to claim it again, you have to work to build up your eligibility again.

[sadkingbilly]

You only get it if you lost your job through no fault of your own, like quitting.
And prove that you are looking for work. Seriously.

eh????
quitting as in resigning?
no fault of your own?
how?

[Snooky]

Not to say it's a bad thing, but on first glance it seemed expensive and to encourage a large segment of the population to "lie flat".

I think perhaps you have a false picture of how many people on benefits are able to work but choose not to.

• A very large number of people are past retirement age and receive the state pension
• A lot of people are working but need to claim benefits just to bring their income up to a level where they can get by
• A much smaller number of people don't work because they are unable to for health reasons or similar
• An even tinier number of people are capable of working or getting by without the benefits, but scam the system

This is all supported by official statistics and third party studies. It's also worth remembering that everyone, regardless of their income or benefits status, who buys virtually anything pays tax, so benefit recipients are always giving some of it back.

I'd rather we simply accept that, as in most areas of life, there will always be a few who just take and give nothing back, but we don't use that fact to remove support from those who really need it.

[DoctorStrangelove]

Anyone else old enough to remember Earnings Related Unemployment Benefit: back in the day this doubled my dole from £15/week to £30/week for the first 6 months.

Naturally enough, Ye Greate She Elephante and Milk Snatcher abolished it within a year of her election.

Her other famous phrase or saying was "If there were 1.5 million on the dole I'd resign".

Didn't resign because it was never as low as 1.5 million during her reign.

[Dorkeaux]

I think perhaps you have a false picture of how many people on benefits are able to work but choose not to.

• A very large number of people are past retirement age and receive the state pension
• A lot of people are working but need to claim benefits just to bring their income up to a level where they can get by
• A much smaller number of people don't work because they are unable to for health reasons or similar
• An even tinier number of people are capable of working or getting by without the benefits, but scam the system

This is all supported by official statistics and third party studies. It's also worth remembering that everyone, regardless of their income or benefits status, who buys virtually anything pays tax, so benefit recipients are always giving some of it back.

I'd rather we simply accept that, as in most areas of life, there will always be a few who just take and give nothing back, but we don't use that fact to remove support from those who really need it.

You are probably right, and well put.
I was trying to comment specifically about unemployment benefits, rather than support for the less abled.
But take it from me, the whole UK welfare state does make an strong impression on new arrivals.

[WTFH]

But take it from me, the whole UK welfare state does make an strong impression on new arrivals.

Please explain what you mean. I know that there are charities (not government) that give out phones to some new arrivals.
What are we to take from your comment apart from it's nice and vague and could be taken to mean a lot of stuff, while also saying absolutely nothing?

You talk about "when you moved to England" and all the council houses. That would imply it was before the 1990s, as most council houses were sold off, and in the last 20 years, the number of new government-built social housing has been in marked decline.

[NotAllThere]

I understand Dorkeaux to mean that the people smugglers sell Britain as a place where your get a free house, mobile phone, car etc. And the right wing morons, The Mail and the Torygraph, validate it by complaining about immigrants receiveing free houses, mobile phones, cars etc...