Is this fair??

Question

Me and my friend are at college full time doing a HND to better ourselves etc.
She has food to buy, rent to pay and its hard 2 get a job when ur at college full time and i have a daughter to support, food to buy,christmas etc the usual.
Is it fair that when our fridges are bare, my brother who is on job seekers allowance (he gets more money than us) sitting about not even attempting to get a job announces that he has plenty of food in his freezer probably too much and he gets 'paid' again on friday????

i could afford 2 bring a child into the world but funding a HND is hard work and its so i can provide a better life for my child. Its better than sitting on my bum receiving benefits!!

I actually have a higher in English, but im tired, i have been at college all day.
I cant get benefits when in higher education except tax credits which amounts to £40 a week and as for grants etc everywhere has run out of money..apparantly.
Young girl?? you have no idea who i am, how old i am and what my circumstances are. I am 25 years old and decided i wanted a career rather than shifting from one dead end job to another, so my daughter could have the best life possibble. Whats so wrong with that?

Oh and as for the people that look after my child.. yes i think it is fair as due to the fact that the nursery my child attends pay the staff to watch the children!!!

Answer 1

Hi Nic82,
Life is never fair but you will win out in the end if you carry on with a will to provide for your daughter, Its tough but people will respect your determination and these difficult times will pass.
When you finish you college course you will hopefully get the opportunity to earn a reasonable living while your brother will still be sitting about with no prospect of ever improving himself while being a layabout.
Don't worry to much about Christmas and just give the child a small gifts and some little treats will be ok she wont love you any less, when she grows up she will understand how hard it was for you.
Best Wishes for 2008 I hope you get the luck you deserve.

Answer 2

The UK benefit system does not seem to get it right. I know of two adult men - not very skilled - who prefer not to work because they would only be a few pounds a week better off for working 40 hours per week. They don't think it's worth it, and why would they when they get their rent paid, council tax paid, job-seeker's allowance every week AND concessionary rates for various things because they are unemployed. Neither has any intention of working.
I know how hard it is to study towards an HND so I admire your determination. You are clearly struggling financially which must adversely affect your study. It is in NO ones interest for you not to pass because of money worries. Have you talked to the Students Union or the college welfare officer to see if there are any grants or bursaries available to you? Might you be entitled to help from the Dept of Work & Pensions? The present situation, where you struggle to get on while loafers doss around on benefits, sounds grossly unfair. I hope you do well on your course so you can earn the rewards you deserve.

Answer 3

No it frigging isnt fair!! Especially when you are trying to better yourself and your brother is just sitting on his bum not bothering to do anything with his life.

It is hard to go without eating when you feel like it, and to have to turn the heating off when it is only a couple of degrees above freezing.

It is even harder when the college you go to refuses you hardship because they are saving the money for new doors a year after the original ones were put on

Me - who the hell are you to tell anyone whether they can and can't have kids, how do you know that someone could afford a child when they planned them and due to circumstances beyond their control they are now trying to make sure they can afford everything their child needs in the future. And just for your information the child in question NEVER goes without anything.

Me - you might be 28, but you seriously have the misguided notions of the way the world is like a 12 year old. This question is not about whether it is right or wrong to have children.

I dont have children I am still struggling financially whilst all around me there are work shy b astards who lap up whatever the government gives them. I didnt even have a fridge until last week and the only reason I have one is because my best friends mum got a new one and gave me her old one. So dont frigging preach to us when we are trying to better ourselves.

To everybody else who has slated the questioner for having a child. What would you say if she was just sitting on her ar se all day claiming benefits??? Exactly, people can't win with you sour faced wannabe snobs

Answer 4

I agree with you that it is unfair. My daughters, who work, all have friends that have never held down a job, have several children and all claim benefits. It seems also that the longer you are on benefits, the more assistance you receive. My daughter was telling me that one of her friends has just received £2,000 from the social fund and has gone out to buy the latest in computer games to keep her unemployed boyfriend happy!
There's not much incentive to those (like you and my daughters) who have studied hard and work now for practically the minimum wage. Both of my girls are in the caring profession, both completed training, one at the local hospital the other in a childrens nursery, both caring for our nearest & dearest and both on less money than someone working in the local dog kennels!
It's no wonder then, that so many, especially the young teenagers, give up and rake in the benefits instead.

Answer 5

Life is not fair, but if you keep going at college you will be qualified to do something much better than loafing about at home all day. You will be able to provide a better life for yourself and your child and you will be an excellent role model for her. You brother will still be on the dole.

Answer 6

It sounds about right for what's going on in our pathetic Country. I work in a small supermarket, for a minimum wage. Every day I watch the same people coming in the shop to buy their booze, fags, and scratch cards, and lottery, and WE are paying for them to sit on their idle arses, watching D.V.D's, and getting pi$$ed all day.Our best customers for scratch cards are on the dole, and one guy spends £10 a DAY on them, another guy comes in 9 times throughout the day for a bottle of cheap cider, he braggs that he get's £500 plus, a fortnight, as he is alcoholic, and therefore unable to work.The government (and us) are paying to feed his habit. This Country stinks allright!!!

Answer 7

if you are so short of funds can you not apply for those grants that they have started to give out?

do you not get any benefits as a way of supporting yourself and child?

Answer 8

well good on you for getting your life together.. it will pay off in the long run.then when your brother has nowt tell him to fook off and get a job..good luck keep going xxx


hey me, dont knock someone for trying, not all young mothers have an easy life.i admire her and her child will too

Answer 9

Sickening...people get away with living on benefits too easily in this country...let's hope Gordon Brown's plan for tacking the problem actually works!

Answer 10

yes its fair, he used his brains.
did you know that if you worked 16 hours a week during your studies, as well as your wages you will get a further £4400 per year in tax credit.

child tax credit £804.42 pa
Childcare element of Working Tax Credit £2460.00 pa
Sub total £3264.42

Working Tax Credit (less the childcare element of Working Tax Credit) £1153.74 . pa
Total £4418.16 pa

taken from a quote here based on a child aged 4, single parent mother working 16 hours a week whilst studying earning £4000 & paying £200 per week child care costs. ironicly the more you earn the higher tax credit you get.
http://www.taxcredits.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/Qualify/QualifyLeaveWarning.aspx?NoDestination=~/Default.aspx