Min wage vs Dole

muboop1

Hey,
I do not actually know what dole people are entitled to bar the obvious ones.
But is it true you might be in a better position living on the dole then working 35-40 hours a week on min wage?

I googled rent allowance and i got this figure...
€122 per week (Dublin and Wicklow) for s single person living on own.
and the dole is €196
So just on those benefits and claiming no other,
you earn €318

€8.65 per hour implying in a 35-40 hour week you would earn between €302.75 to €346 ... Now take likelihood of having to factor in petrol for driving or bus or luas or whatever.... Now subtract tax... etc...

I know people are calling for a cut to minimum wage. But... wouldn't people just "get fired" and go on the dole?? I know morals and all that. But if your wage isn't cutting it...

Like realistically, everyone thinks and honestly believes that people on the dole need to get a job. Doesn't matter how menial it is etc...

But what when you cannot "afford" to get a job?

Now i personally do not envy people living on the dole, and i feel bad for those who have mortgages and bills etc...

But do people not think it high time that the dole got a serious cut?
Like on par with the UK's(relative to economy of course)

What are the incentives to get a low paid job?

waitingforBB

Agree with you to some extent.
There has to be more of a differential between dole and minimum pay.
In many cases there is no incentive for people to leave the dole queue and take a low paying job.

I know of an employer in retail at the moment looking to hire some seasonal staff. Two people she interviewed turned the job down as their welfare and benefits were more attractive.

The stark reality is that with dole payments and rent allowance etc as high as they are at the moment there is a dissentive for people to work.

congo_90

I turned down a job not too long ago because the conditions were minimum wage working hours outside that of my bus service which would mean i'd spend 40+ euro a night on a taxi home when I only worked 5 hours x 8.65!

On the flip side I found a job with sociable hours in my locale on minimum wage. The difference works out about 20 euro a week but it means someone can get on the dole instead of me who may need it more

cavedave

There is a list of other benefits you get here

Assuming you have no kids the main ones seem to be.
The Fuel Allowance is €20 per week. For a bit over half the year so 10 euro a week.

Medical card
possible some other allowances


Also on your earnings of €346 what tax will you pay?There is an exemption up to 20k so you do not pay any tax at this level.

I am not claiming people on jobseekers allowance/benefit should not get allowances just trying to figure out what people do get given/taxed.

congo_90

I turned down a job not too long ago because the conditions were minimum wage working hours outside that of my bus service which would mean i'd spend 40+ euro a night on a taxi home when I only worked 5 hours x 8.65!

The budget seems to have a refuse a job lose all jobseekers allowance clause. What stops someone offering a job shoveling manure at minimum wage in Inishowen and then removing from jobseekers allowance the 99% of people who do not take this up?

starbelgrade

The main problem with the social welfare system is that it is a two-tiered system. On one hand, it encourages some people to see the dole as a career option, and while those who have had careers & paid for these "dolites", then loose their jobs, they soon find that their contributions mean little or nothing.

nesf

Remember to factor in the Family Income Supplement for people with kids: http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/social-welfare/social-welfare-payments/social-welfare-payments-to-families-and-children/family_income_supplement

You get 60% of the difference between the threshold for your family size (€506 in 2010 for 1 kid family) and your net weekly income (pay minus tax, PRSI, income levy, healthy levy and what have you) not counting Child Benefit and other State Benefits.

It makes even a minimum wage job far more attractive than the dole for a family. The FIS also doesn't count as income for the purposes of qualifying for reliefs like medical cards etc.

It's one of the best initiatives I've seen for encouraging people off the dole and into the workforce, as soon as you start having kids it becomes better and better to get a job, even a low paid one.

muboop1

I'd agree about the FIS thing. But for those without children...
It would make it almost so only people getting min wage jobs would be nearly students??

Seems a big flaw in the system.

Perhaps raise the FIS thing and lower child benefit and dole?

Not sure the real implications of such a move...

muboop1

cavedave wrote: »

Also on your earnings of €346 what tax will you pay?There is an exemption up to 20k so you do not pay any tax at this level.

I am not claiming people on jobseekers allowance/benefit should not get allowances just trying to figure out what people do get given/taxed.

afaik its just that levy tax? that applies to everyone right?

dRNk SAnTA

When one of my mates lost his office job he could have easily gone back to a part-time Marks and Spencer job he had through college, but there's no way he's going to bother because he makes just as much from the dole.

For the government, it's not a clever situation.

dvpower

Choosing the dole over a mimimum wage is a bad choice in the long term, even if the job doesn't pay much more than the dole.

If you have a job you have some chance of picking up extra money by overtime.
If you have a job you have some chance of getting a payrise.
If you have a job you have some chance of getting a promotion.
If you have a job you have a better chance of getting a different, better job.

If you choose the dole, you are leaving your fate in the hands of others; you are basically admitting that you are a failure, incapable of running your own affairs.