The great benefits cap debate
Benefit claimants in north Northamptonshire received £97.3m in Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit in the past financial year.
Almost £30m was also paid out in Income Support and £22.1m in Jobseeker’s Allowance in 2010-11.
The Evening Telegraph reveals the figures as the Government prepares to push through its welfare reforms which would see a cap on benefits introduced of £26,000 a year – the equivalent of a £35,000 salary before tax.
Today we reveal what people in Northamptonshire think of the proposed benefits cap, which would come into force next April.
Jane Griffiths, of Wellingborough, claimed benefits while her children were growing up.
She said: “I never found the finances easy – I had to clean the most disgusting factories to get some extra money for Christmas and I did not have a holiday for years.
“Leave the unemployed alone, most want to work.”
But Catherine Roberts, of Kettering, who continued to work even while having radiotherapy for cancer, said: “It really does make my blood boil. We need to put the system back to what it was designed for – a safety net for the hard-working, not a featherbed for the bone idle.”
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 01:57 PMAbout time! How can anyone think it's acceptable for a family that sit at home all day not having to worry about paying their bills to be given more than hard working families 'earn'? No-one should be afforded a better standard of living than those who go out and work to pay their bills nor should people who have never worked be 'paid' for every child they have. Working families have to make wise choices when it comes to having more children, why should it be any different for people who don't work? 'âI never found the finances easy â I had to clean the most disgusting factories to get some extra money for Christmas and I did not have a holiday for years. Leave the unemployed alone, most want to work.â Why does it matter what work she had to do? A job is a job people need to stop thinking they're above cleaning toilets or flipping burgers (I've done both in my teens) it used to be a shameful thing to be out of work now it seems no-one is bothered about paying their way and take a free ride wherever possible. Why are people allowed to remain unemployed for years claiming 'theres no jobs' yet I managed to get 2 jobs in 3 weeks? As for 'benefits' why are these given as cash to spend on what they please? We should give out foodclothing stamps like they do in the states that cant be used on luxury items such as cigarettes and alcohol.
DMT48
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 02:13 PMHow about a little sanity? The benefits cap should be lower than what is proposed, but the reforms that are forcing the genuinely workless and sick into work are wrong? It seems that if you support welfare reform, you have to support all of it or none of it.
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