Re: Get on a bus and find a job
 

But there have to be many other jobs that allow you to use public transport.I wouldn't be happy about it but if that was the only job going then i would.

Re: Get on a bus and find a job
 

After all, £20 is better than nothing..

---------- Post added at 21:50 ---------- Previous post was at 20:19 ----------

Unfortunately, Public Transport isn't always a viable option. For instance, I used to work in a local hospital. It is relatively near (only 3 or 4 miles), but I had to go by bus. There were only two buses I could get, and the nearest stop is a 20 minute walk away. That's not a problem. Timetabling and the fact the buses were frequently late meant that I had to leave home at 7:45 to guarantee getting to work at 9. That is also not a problem (although I did often arrive at work 30 minutes early).

What could have caused a problem is that the bus service does not start until 6:00. Thankfully, I didn't do shifts.

Re: Get on a bus and find a job
 

You just won't admit that there maybe a time when a job just isn't worth the effort of getting to it will you?

Because I'm positive all those who are so positive that all jobs are worth having EVEN if they don't pay all the bills have never been poor...to the point that when shoes go to holes and there is no money to repair said shoes you just stuff your shoes with cardboard..

Been there, done that and my widowed mother was brilliant at making very little money go a long way..and found that if she earned more than £10 per week her Widow's pension would be taken into account for tax purposes.This left her to the tender mercies of exploitative managers because she had no chance of a good well paid job because she had no relevant qualifications and had been a stay at home wife and mother..

Anyone who has truly been poor would never willingly wish it on another.:(

Re: Get on a bus and find a job
 

IDS would have half a point in a boom, we in a recession tho and about to scrap half a million public sector jobs.

Re: Get on a bus and find a job
 

Lets make my point a little clearer, I live in Hounslow, if l was offered a job in say Putney, l would have to consider several things, whats the job worth, what the travelling expenses, what time l would have to start.

Then you look at what benefit you get, and if you get the job, the financial strain you will have to face, you don't get working credit until you have been at a job SIX WEEKS, You have to look at all angles, l was told that l couldn't cliam any expenses as l was not on a benefit that allowed me to claim, l was on JSA, l was only given an expense claim when l showed a letter saying l had got the job, and the expense was for one week only.

It is very well the government telling us to get on our bikes to look for work, but would you get out of bed for £13.000 per year.

Re: Get on a bus and find a job
 

When I got my first "real" job after finishing university in 1999, I got out of bed (and on a bus, for 1 hour each way every day), for a grand total of £10,000 per year. This was after six months of getting out of bed for minimum wage temp. work in a warehouse. By the time I was finally living in Cambridge a couple of years later (but still getting a bus, just for not quite as long a journey), I was getting out of bed for £12,750 per year.

I guess some people have different attitudes to work...

Re: Get on a bus and find a job
 

£200 a week was a good wage 10 years ago for many. cigarettes were probably £2 for 20 then.

did you have any commitments, or were you living with parents at the time?

Re: Get on a bus and find a job
 

As mentioned earlier in the thread, I was still living with my parents when I first started working for £10k per year. I did contribute each month, though (albeit not full market rates of course), plus had student debts to pay along with bus travel expenses. Once I started living in Cambridge in 2001, on just under £13k per year, I was living in rented accommodation, so had to fork out rent + utilities + food etc. each month.

Re: Get on a bus and find a job
 

What happens when travel to work + rent + council tax + food + bills for essential services comes to more than your pay packet? This is the situation that many are faced with. Tampering with child benefit and tax credit eligibility may remove the only motivation/sweetener that convinces someone that a job is worth going for. But the government appear to be saying "your all going to do more for less".

Re: Get on a bus and find a job
 

I have a friend that was offered an 18k/year job, he was on JSA, and the job was an £8 a day commute away (bus + train).

The jobcentre offered to pay for his travel for the first week, that means he was still left to find £120 JUST for travel until his first pay cheque. Pretty hard to do when JSA is £65 a week.

If he didn't have friends that were willing to lend him the money to actually get to the job he'd have been forced to turn it down, a job that could have easily supported him.

So it's all well and good the government telling people to get on the bus, but when they make it impossible for people to use public transport and commute long distances when they actually get a job then maybe they need to rethink some of their policies.

Re: Get on a bus and find a job
 

The benefit system lacks common sense, every jonb I know off will make you work in advance for pay, some a week, some a month. JSA should still be paid during this period.

Re: Get on a bus and find a job
 

As it's paid in arrears he still got JSA up till 2 weeks before his first paycheque, which isn't that bad, but when you're only getting £65 a week you really can't afford to be spending £40 of that on travel.

Re: Get on a bus and find a job
 

I always thought you could claim travel expenses untill you got your first paycheque or possibly in the modern system get a emergency loan to cover such costs

Re: Get on a bus and find a job
 

There is a discretionary payment of up to £250 to cover the costs of starting work.

Re: Get on a bus and find a job
 

I thought there would some help ,i find it hard to believe that people would be left in a position where they are forced to turn down jobs because they can't afford to travel to the place of work