Are too many people claiming too many benefits these days?

I've been temping in a debt management company for the last few weeks and processing people's financial statements. More than 70% of the people are on benefits, alot of them with 4+ children and on working tax credits / child benefits / incapacity benefits etc etc of up to Â£1800 per month which is more than what I earn!! Admittedly it is a debt management place so it's not representative of the population as a whole, but I was shocked at the volume of people and how much they were getting - any thoughts??

I understand what your saying (And I agree that there are some people who take the Pi ss) however myself and my hubby are in debt and I have to deal everyday with debt companies.
we are in debt because my hubby became ill and I had to give up work, thus spiralling us out of control and into 36k of debt! we can only pay Â£48 a month back!
we are 25 and 26 years old.
Everyday for the last 12 months I have had to fight tooth and nail for our benefits and for those to be paid on time and for us to be treated with respect not some sub human take the pi ss people :0( or foreigners with 7 kids!
And For debt companies to treat me with some decent human respect such as customer service! (sorry not a dig at you) but they see me as some uneducated skank who is nothing but a liar and a cheat..yet after even reports from the CCCS and a court judge they still refuse to talk to me with a polite tone and believe what i say (If I EVER spoke to clients like that in my job i'd be FIRED!)
What we get also per month is nothing.
we are used to a joint income of Â£2,500 a month - now we live on Â£900 and rent is Â£736 a month and the rest of that money goes on utilites and other bills. We are on a tight budget and have nothing left over! I personally have Â£10 a month to spend on me! so if I need to my hair cut, I have to save and wait 3 months. If I need a new pair of trousers for when i do temp or go back to work that's 4 months saving up!. Forget hair care and make up and spending money on a brand name of tampons! Cheap no frills it is for us! Forget seeing my 19 year old sister in wales (Â£40 for a weekend) it's not in our budget and we don't have the money! Forget valentines day, forget xmas, forget easter, forget birthday and forget feeling human and in control of your life.
Forget feeling proud and start feeling like shi te because everyone slags you off and thinks your a liar and a cheat. nice huh!

What make me the angriest is that they give people from another country or the dodgy geezer next door plenty of money, but for someone like my hubby who is Genuine, crap money and hoops to jump through!
Myself and my hubby have worked since 16 and have paid taxes and have therefore supported other people who do Lie!
My family and his family were also self employed in a small business therefore taxed to the hilt and NEVER once claimed. My mum was a single mum who NEVER claimed once, as family helped out and we lived and worked within the family business.
Yet here we both are in financial ruin, begging to get help from a system we already paid into!
It's disgusting that they won't deal with Proper benefit fraud and people from other countries taking Â£ and complaining they don't get enough
(Hmm yeah 4 bed house not good enough for them!!!! when myself and hubby live in a god awful crime ridden area with a rented 1 bed flat in east London because we can't afford to buy or rent anywhere decent!) yet instead focus on disability benefits and are "shaking up the system" next year!
This country needs to wake up and stop being taken for a mug!
let the system help those who are genuine and kick the other gits out! The system is too complicated and rewards lazy ungrateful sods!
We are both people who are not one those lazy fraudsters but I am sure it's in the minority these days and it's a sad state of affairs!
I can't wait to get back to work and get my life back!!!! work is an easy peasy lemon squeezy compared to the hell we are in now!
Fingers crossed it will be over very soon! :)

Out of the few benefits that you mention I can only say that incapacity benefit has been in the papers lately under scrutiny for having too many people claiming it fraudulently.

Working Tax Credit is only paid to people who are working but on a low wage and this helps to make people better off financially by working than being on the dole.

Child Benefit is paid to anyone who has a dependent child up to a certain age. I have issues with that as it is paid to the rich as well as the poor with no means testing as far as I can see.

If a couple were on the minimum wage and had children and claimed Working Tax Credit and Child Benefit to ensure that they were better off working than on the dole then all well and good. Working Tax Credit to my mind is the Governments way of saying that they know that no one can live on the minimum wage.

If you are casting a net then you must separate the false claims from the genuine and needy to avoid social catastrophes.

That seems to me to be the problem in the UK . Far too many people seem to be claiming benefits because it is the easy option, these same people will spend their benefit money in the pubs whilst moaning about the influx of immigrants, while the immigrant workers are working hard and earning a living. Who is right? by the way I am an expat who recently returned to the UK after 20 years and was horrified at the state of the country. Needless to say I left again

i think people's lives shud be investigated b4 they get benefits- or not, it depends

Where I live when I come home in the morning after doing night shift, I see locals every Wednesday going to into town to sign on for their benefits.I person I see regular goes to the Job Centre, on crutches and then in the evening playing football on the estate, take their job seekers allowance away if they not applied for a job. The staff should give them a card. to take to a job vacancy. and if they had an interview the third party signs to say have had an interview. no signature no benefits

Yeah i think there is. You see, the thing is, these days people are just way too lazy, and they see it as "Free money", which well, it is to a certain extent, except its people like my parents who are working and paying taxes to keep these lazy people going! Fair do's if your a single mum and you have to be with your child at all times but cmon, people these days.....

thats why the country is falling apart and we are being taxed to death.

Yes, I agree. There are way to many people claiming benefits/incapacity benefits to be really in need of help.
They are in it to milk the system for everything they can get.
People should be made to do voluntary work for their benefit, and if they refuse - no benefits !

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