“£26,000 is plenty enough.

I say on average and no more (depending on circumstances of course) £15-£20K should be sufficient.

I have no issues with people claiming benefit (those who have actually done some work in there life time) as that's one reason we pay our Tax / NI.

But those who have paid no duties (unless unable to, disabled, etc..) should get the lower scale £15,000 benefit.”

“I fail to see why benefit claimants, many of whom were not born in this country, should get double or triple the paltry amount we give to our pensioners, who were born in the UK and have contributed it the system for their life.

My mum get a basic state pension, and she'd love £20,000+ a year to live on.

Benefit claimants should get in total no more that 1.5 times the minimum wage.”

“A good idea ro limit benefits to that of the pension for the retired. If it sufficent for them to live on it is sufficent or younger persons to live on. After all , if you have children you get a child benefit too.
The benefit culture has ,no doubt, led to many people coming to the UK , it is 'Treasure Island' to millions . What other country on earth is so generous to any one just popping up out of the woodwork and saying 'give me benefits now'.”

“Any one working and earning £26,000 pa is paying tax and national insurance on over £18,000 of those earnings - do benefit claimants pay tax and national insurance on that amount, if not they are getting the equivalent of a lot more than £26,000”

“I agree that the 26k is more than enough to live on even with a few children. The government here are mad.”

“Unfortunately it doesn't always pay to hard working in this country any more?”

“by ruweller
Thursday, February 23 2012, 10:10PM

"Unfortunately it doesn't always pay to hard working in this country any more?"

Do you mean to be hard working? How odd that post sounds? x”

“In the big equation of it all, its only a small percentage getting anywhere near that cap anyway, around here it would be family with 4+ children as the rents are not as high as the South. A single person in Leicester gets £145.50pw (£6984 per year) including money towards rent and council tax, if they are living somewhere where they dont need to pay rent it would be £67.50pw (if over 24, if under 24 then its £51.85pw)”

“If you have never paid in you should get the equivalent of 37 hours minimum wage. A % could be added for those who have paid in relative to input.
Child Benefit should be paid for the first child only. Buy condoms don`t expect me to keep them.

Simplify the system and load it towards those who have paid in all their working lives & stop breeding kids being seen as a career option.”

“"If you have never paid in you should get the equivalent of 37 hours minimum wage" - that would be a massive increase to nearly everybody who gets benefits, is this really what you mean? As stated above, a single person in Leicester gets £7K - and you are advocating raising this to around £11.5K? This would also mean a couple both on benefits with no children would get £23K, an even bigger increase for them.”

“I agree Martin_le3, the current system is fair, its the minimum needed to live on and i dont expect anyone on benefits would be expecting to get any more than that while they are looking for work. When the government says 'long term' on benefits, they mean 2 years or more. Most that end up unemployed have paid into the system, and are there for less then 2 years.

As for those with children, it depends if you see children as human beings in their own right (without a voice, say, or means of making their own income) or merely as extensions of their parents. they are, after all, our future tax-payers. Saying only those that can afford children should be allowed to have them is getting onto a different subject really.”

“Is min. wage £5.85 still for the over 21s?

5.85 times 37 (hours) = £216.45 per week (gross)

216,45 time 4 = £865.80 per month

865.8 time 12 = £10,389 per year.

Time that by 2 = £ £20, 778 - still under the 26k for benefits with two full-time workers on min. wage.

Why work?”

“This was gross before tax and more I forgot to say. Net value would be a lot less!”

“@Jani88: The actual figure for two people working 37 hours a week on minimum wage is £22,510.

The error in your math was assuming there are 4 weeks in a month (28 days) when most months have 4.34 weeks in them. Take the £216.45 per week and multiply that by 52 weeks a year and you will get the accurate amount.”

“That is a really good post jani88 thank you :)

Wow when you work that out it sure does make you think about how easy benefits are next to working. The Gov. Need to sure it out and fast!! x”

“Allstar i think you should take the point there! I get that for my night work walking the streets as you said before? x”

“minimum wage is £6.08. Jani88, that would be for a couple without children. the equivalent couple on benefits would be getting far less then that”

“Thank you for the correction mamt35 – I was unsure and just rounded it up to a standard week of work and month to get the rough figure I have reached. But the point is two full-time workers are on a lot less than a non-worker AllstarLE1, I think the maths here proves that? Or am I wrong? And welcomed Rach_Leics.”

“No jani88 :) im pleased to say the worker gets far more, a non-worker gets £6984 per year”

“mamt35 - Yes you are right. I was meaning if you had children and were on the 26k plus benefits, if you worked you would be worse off if you had a family. As you say if you were a non-working couple then you are correct. Sorry I did not state that before. It is only people with kids that truly make the extra money.”

“the working family will get in-work benefits + childcare costs (70%) for the children Jani88, its a very complex system, and difficult to understand, but no-one is better off out of work :) Obviously if you have no children then you wouldnt be getting as much as someone with children.”

“I had to stop working in March 2010 at the age of 47.

I served in the forces for 14 years and then spent another 14 years working for various defense companies. In 1986 I suffered a major spinal injury in a helicopter accident whilst serving my country.

At the time I finally had to stop working my wife and I split up. as a result I am now living in a Housing Association Property and am getting Employment Support Allowance as well as Rent and Council Tax Benefits.

My major source of income though is an MoD War Pension which includes Mobility giving me a car on Motability and Unemployable Allowance as I can no longer work full or part time.

Given my own benefits I am close to the limit cap but what gets me is that I am deducted money from the ESA Benefit because I am in receipt of a war pension owing to injuries received whilst in the forces.

The current and former governments repeatedly state that there is a covenant for people serving in the forces and those injured whilst serving, do n't you believe it I am having benefits deducted and I am not getting the priority NHS care that I should get either !”

“Martin_LE4 You are exactly why I will defend those that rely on benefits (disregarding the minority that the press seem to concentrate on) none of us know others circumstances, or why and how they have become in thier situation. I myself have been reliant on benefits before and it certainly wasnt a nice experience. I have had judgement made on me too recently as my partner works but I dont, I have a disabled son that i wouldnt normally discuss. For him I get £55.55 carers, when on benefits this was taken off the amount we would of been getting. My son gets £92 per week in DLA.”

“Looking at what I have said and the benefit cap of 26k mamt35. Let's agree to disagree with the being better of working and cal it a draw: ) But thanks for the insight and information.”

“Should be "Allstar" before miss Leicester corrects me.”

“Agreed Jani88. As i said before, the whole subject of who gets what depends on how you view children. Most seem to want to ignore children exist altogether if you are unfortunate enough to end up unemployed.”

“I didn't think care workers walked the streets?

Feel free to complain xxx”