The Universal Credit
I can’t help feeling that this is the way to go on benefits, but it won’t be an easy change.
But I think if anybody can drive it through then Ian Duncan-Smith can, as he seems to have researched the subject thoroughly.
I know my late wife, C, would be applauding the changes. In so many of her divorce cases, the client was often in despair about dealing with the various agencies. She said they all complained, that if they worked too many hours or earned just a little too much, they saw none of it, as the benfits just reduced in line. In the changes, it has been said this morning, that for every pound extra claimants earn, then they will be able to keep thirty five pence. It may not seem much, but it’s more than nothing.
There will be fights over this benefit and those outside the process will try to create havoc, just as some students did yesterday on the protests in Westminster.
The Anonymous Widower 
I think that idea of people keeping some of their earnings is good, rather than losing all the benefits. When I was a school governor, we had dinner ladies on slightly different numbers of an hour a week, some lost benefit is they worked more than a certain number of hours, and other lost best benefit if they didnt work more than a certain number of hours. So some worked 30 minutes a week more than others.
There will be indeed fights from the people who dont want to work. I truly dont understand those people. Whilst my rational brain knows that I could not realistically hold down a job, my irrational brain still reads the jobs pages each week in local paper.
The student protests were disgraceful IMHO – at least the behaviour of the students who caused trouble was disgraceful.
Comment by liz | November 11, 2010 |