The myth of the "welfare scrounger"

suicide_circus

Tom_Cruise wrote: »

Minimum wage jobs aren't worth taking up for a lot of people on welfare, especially if you have to travel any distance.

Rent allowance, medical card and a guaranteed income every week for doing nothing can be a whole lot more enticing than having to work 39 hours a week and more than likely only having an extra 50-60 euros to show for it (depending on circumstance), so you could argue that people who choose to stay on welfare are in fact making the best decision.

Correct.
However, this decision should be taken out of the hands of those who have never worked or paid prsi.

Gatling

And these *professional lone mammies* ,believe there hard done by and should be actually getting more money ,

* not to be confused with professional working mothers who prove that the state is not responsible for there getting pregnant,

Esb paid for ,rent,paid for ,clothing paid for,socializing paid for ,holidays and weekend away paid for

Sooooo hard done by

Roisy7

The fact people are quoting Kevin Myers just shows how bloody ignorant they are. I genuinely hope they end up with a daughter who gets pregnant at 16 and enjoy spending time with their 'bastard' grandchild. FFS.

I am the daughter of a single parent. My mother was 33 when she had me. She was on welfare until she actually found a job, which wasn't that easy in a small town. She's worked on and off for as long as I can remember, cleaning jobs, pub work, etc etc despite the fact she has a degree in Italian and French. She's been working in a supermarket for the last five years, before that in a pub, before that in a CE scheme etc etc. I am not working, I finished my Masters last year. I HATE being on the dole. I hate standing in the social welfare office, it's been one of the most degrading experiences of my life. I am hoping to go abroad with TEFL. I did five years in college for what seems ****ing nothing at the moment.

I am her only child. That's not unusual, most single parents have just one kid. One parent payment now includes the widow's pension. Damn mooching war widows.

In 2009, the number of lone parents under 20 in receipt of payment was 1.7%. 3% of lone parents receiving payment are men. You never hear about them though.

18% of all families are lone parent; most of them are working, 15% are headed by the father. The rate of people receiving payment has increased, but then of course the country is in a wee bit of feduciary trouble.

I did an essay on this in college, I can't find the stats now but the vast majority of lone parents had one or two children. I may try and root it out later. They also had been in long-term relationships that failed.

Here are some stats for ye all: http://www.combatpoverty.ie/povertyinireland/oneparentfamilies.htm

http://www.treoir.ie/policy-statistics.php

Research shows that the teen pregnancy rate is dropping in Ireland. http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/teenage-pregnancy-levels-at-lowest-since-1966-cso-report-28902205.html

YES, there are people defrauding the system. I've seen them at my local social welfare office. But targeting all people with the same brush is ridiculous. The misogyny about single mothers is flabbergasting. Jesus Christ. Relationships break down, **** happens. Most single mothers were in committed relationships that failed. You try bringing a kid up on your own, see how easy it is. No one in their right mind would set out to get pregnant, put their body through nine months of **** just for a mouldy council house.

I think I would rather the paltry payment go to the odd lunatic who thinks that's a good idea rather than go back to how we dealt with single mothers in the past. Although I suppose the likes of Kevin Myers would have gleaming crisp bed linen, and that's all that matters.

Gongoozler

Its pitiful the amount of people in here who have no idea how the welfare system actually works.
Not everyone who gets jsa or one parent allowance is automatically entitled to things like fuel allowance medical card etc. You dont get signed up for all these when you qualify. They're all assessed individually.

And if you get a job you dont automatically lose any benefits,again your income is.assessed.
And by the way if you're unemployed for more than a year,and have a medical card you may get to keep it for up to three years if you get a job.

Not everyone getting help is a scrounger. There are thousands of people leaving the country because they want to have options.