The thing is, there is already a cap on benefits for most people.
If you are Income Support, they tell you how much they think you need to live on.
Then if you are a Carer they say "Thanks for being a Carer, here's £55.55 for your minimum 35 hour week (£1.59 per hour). Oh, and we''ll deduct that from your Income Support".
Then they bang on about NEETS, but if your disabled "child" is in college after reaching 20 years old, they remove all support for them (Child Tax Credits and Child Benefit), and they then have to run the ESA gauntlet to get something to live off. But ESA does not pay disabled premiums if they live with their Carer, and if they do get ESA, Housing Benefit is reduced for the parents!
But, and I'm seeing this a lot, if the student drops out of college and becomes NEET, then they can claim JSA which does entitle them to disabled premiums, and thus "perks" such as £120 help with heating costs each April! They get more money for being NEET!
---------- Post added at 12:50 ---------- Previous post was at 12:48 ----------
Quote:
"At this festive season of the year, Mr. Scrooge," said the gentleman, taking up a pen, "it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the Poor and Destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir."
"Are there no prisons?" asked Scrooge.
"Plenty of prisons," said the gentleman, laying down the pen again.
"And the Union workhouses?" demanded Scrooge. "Are they still in operation?"
"They are. Still," returned the gentleman, "I wish I could say they were not."
"The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigour, then?" said Scrooge.
"Both very busy, sir."
"Oh! I was afraid, from what you said at first, that something had occurred to stop them in their useful course," said Scrooge. "I’m very glad to hear it."
"Under the impression that they scarcely furnish Christian cheer of mind or body to the multitude," returned the gentleman, "a few of us are endeavouring to raise a fund to buy the Poor some meat and drink and means of warmth. We choose this time, because it is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices. What shall I put you down for?"
"Nothing!" Scrooge replied.
"You wish to be anonymous?"
"I wish to be left alone," said Scrooge. "Since you ask me what I wish, gentlemen, that is my answer. I don’t make merry myself at Christmas and I can’t afford to make idle people merry. I help to support the establishments I have mentioned — they cost enough; and those who are badly off must go there."
"Many can’t go there; and many would rather die."
"If they would rather die," said Scrooge, "they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.
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http://socialistresistance.org/3169/...n-duncan-smith
A long page, but well worth a read.
---------- Post added at 12:55 ---------- Previous post was at 12:50 ----------
Quote:
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IDS (Iain Duncan Smith) is obsessed by work incentives as a cure for worklessness. If only it were that simple. Incentives don't overcome disabilities, cure illnesses, or look after ageing parents. And they don't create jobs either. Almost half – and I suspect this is an underestimate – of the six million people claiming out-of-work benefits face serious barriers to getting work. Work incentives barely register as an issue. If all our energy – by which I mean money – goes into addressing work incentives it will do nothing to help these people.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...benefit-reform