[thissiteisfuckedup]

america is fucked, if any american had half a brain they would move to australia where we make shitloads better money, i wouldnt even get out of bed for what most americans make in a week i make in a day, i get taxed like fuck but whatev's.

When i was in america , i was talking to the owner of the hotel i was staying in and he was telling me about how one of his desk clerks was from australia and she was making $5 something an hour now she's manager on $19 an hour and he was bragging on about it how she should be so grateful to him etc, i couldnt fucking believe it, its no wonder so many americans live in squalor and whilst the rich get rich and the poor become poorer, america was a shock to me...

[rob666]

Originally Posted by Impotent Rage ↗

I had seen that table before, there's clearly a lot more wrong with remuneration than min wages and benefits. I have struggled on minimum wage for years, barely able to feed myself properly and falling into a cycle of debt just to keep my car on the road and my home appliances in order.

I empathise completely with genuine benefit claimants but unfortunately, as I see it, I hardly know any (I can think of 2)! I can easily think of at least 20 people I know who are either fraudulent or completely undeserving. I should clarify that by "undeserving" I'm referring to people such as alcoholics, drug abusers, persistent criminal behaviour, unfit parents or questionably "disabled".

I have NEVER been on benefits in my life but I have a brother who has never worked due to serious disability. I understand all too well that there are people who we should rightly be supporting.

I can't for the life of me understand why our country supports the people that it does though. I have pushed supermarket trolleys and scrubbed toilets during my working life, yet I know people who claim they can't work due to anxiety or behavioural problems but they can drink, drive, walk, run, smoke, procreate and talk the hind leg off a donkey. Are we to believe that they couldn't mop a floor?

In Canada where I live a single person on a federal disability recieves about $900 a month, total. There's no housing, no tax breaks, no nothing except whatever the food bank or other charity decides to give.
If 2 people recieving a disability pension decide to live together, their pension is reduced to about $1100 for both of them.

I know of people that exploit the system, but honestly living on less than 1k a month is extreme poverty 1 step away from living on the streets.

[rob666]

Originally Posted by Impotent Rage ↗

The situation in the UK is somewhere in between US and Australia.

If you're out of work in the UK, you get £71.70 (~112 USD) for Job Seeker's Allowance and people always complain about how little it is but they also qualify to have their rent and council tax paid amongst other benefits.

If you consider that after tax, min wage workers in the UK get £217.06 a week and a low end rent would be £600 pcm with average council tax of £1200 a year, that leaves millions of minimum wage workers in the UK with around £55.50 (~86.50 USD) a week - remember, they would have got £71.70 for NOT working.

The figures I've stated above are a sort of worst case scenario for the average Joe who finds himself out of work. It's not even a typical claim from what I've seen....

I personally know and encounter loads of people locally who do so much better than the above. Most of them are on disability which attracts even higher allowances and no pressure to find a job. Their disabilities tend to be mild mental health issues, such as generalised anxiety. Benefits are even higher for those with kids.

Some of them, I have no idea what they claim for, it could be chronic dandruff for all I know but they enjoy a much better standard of living than I do and I earn slightly more than the average UK wage and I own my modest property so I have no rent or mortgage.

I stated a low rent of £600 in the above example but housing benefit has been known to provide over over £7000 a month!!!

I know a few who keep pleading poverty and seeking employment but they're constantly deluding themselves because they get a job and quickly realise that they're so much worse off.

Recently the UK introduced a 26k per annum benefits cap. That means if you're on benefits, you can still receive the equivalent to £34,511.70 (53,762.40 USD) pre-tax wage for NOT WORKING!!! There has been massive opposition to the cap, citing that it would create poverty, despite minimum wage @ 40 hours per week earning only £11,287.18!

I'm absolutely sickened by all these "disabled" people who can't stop breeding and living beyond their means.

From what I've seen, most of the disability claims in my locality are fraudulent such as one half of a couple claiming as a single person when the other works or creative designation of relatives as paid carers. They get great deals on cars too, with their benefits paying a reduced rate lease, free car tax and parking permits.

I also know a few chronic alcoholics, they historically got extra money for that particular "illness" although I'm not sure if they still do.

I was listening to the radio two days ago when IDS; the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions was talking about how they're moving to a system to pay all benefits in a single monthly payment. People were phoning in saying he's going to KILL alcoholics because they'll spend all their money in one go! They were calling in to say that "impoverished" people won't be capable of managing their funds on a monthly basis! Un-fucking-believable!!!

I know, a lot of people will be like TL;DR. I just felt the need to vent a little!

In Canada if you are laid off for lack of work, our EI system pays 55% of your gross weekly income to a maximum of $500 a week minus taxes (works out to $430/week). The average weekly EI payout in Canada is $330/week.

The maximum number of weeks you get money depends on the unemployment rate in your home region.

Right now the Conservative Government is trying to cut back on claims through forcing people to take jobs at a much lower salary than their previous job, IE if you were a white collar guy after 8 weeks you better be prepared to pick up a shovel or harvest vegetables.
The worst part of it is for years the Government collected billions in overpayments from workers, and instead of keeping it in the EI fund they put the surplus into general revenues........ When the recession hit, the EI fund was empty and now they are trying to claw it back again.