The 1960's era War on Poverty created this problem. Many of us can remember the shame associated with "living on the dole", as the British term it. But as each new generation of children grow up in such an environment, it becomes the norm, accepted as the standard (and only) way of life. The war on poverty has failed, and has only created a new dependent class. (And a ready source of votes for the pols who engendered it.)
Personally I'm glad things have moved on enough so that people no longer feel shame if they are out of work through no fault of their own and have to claim back from a system they've been contributing to all the time they've been working.
Speak to my grandmother (no longer with us) she can remember a time when if a girl got pregnant out of wedlock in the UK she'd have a good chance of being placed (and forgotten about) in a mental institution, I am glad things move forwards.
I'm not saying there isn't a problem with SOME people but we get to hear about those plastered across the front pages of the UK tabloid press, implying everyone on welfare fall into this category when it simply isn't true.
A good friend of mine while at university became good friends with another guy. This guys parents, brothers and grandparents all lived their lives deliberately sponging off the state. My friend went back to this guys house and all his family were laughing at them both for being at Uni and for trying to work for a living.
However for every family like the above, there are 1000s of people in dire need that are not conning the system.
I know people born with severe disabilities both mental and physical stopping them ever from doing work in a normal working environment
A few charity/government schemes have been set up to give them a sense of self worth where they are working at the mercy of people donating or tax payers expense in that they aren't making a profit, but it is giving them self worth, but those seem to be being cut more and more lately.
Due to the minority of people conning the system and those being heavily publicised, people are scared to admit they are on welfare, not because of shame but because so many others now think they are pulling a fast one, they are deemed guilty without trial.
But, take any race of people from any country, any religious belief, any sexual preference, white, black, asian etc. You could spend the next year printing weekly headlines of someone from that race/gender/religion being a sponger, being violent, being a bully or whatever. But just because some are like that we don't presume all are.
If there's 1000 people claiming they are starving and 50 of them aren't, I would rather 1000 people get handouts and those 50 people live off other peoples generosity than no one gets it and 950 people go without food. And I view the whole of welfare with that mindset.
Sure in an ideal world the 50 would be found out but in an ideal world, those at the top would treat their workers fairly, wouldn't use loopholes not to pay tax etc.
over the years they try to weed out the cheats and scroungers but end up harming those in greatest need. I can give yo a few real life examples. I spent some time in care (children's home) as a teenager. I witnessed people reach 18/19. thrown out of the home with zero family to fall back on, zero help, if they didn't have a roof over their head, they couldn't go to their parents, relatives etc as many didn't have them.
About 80% of the people I was in care with were dead by the time I was 35.
My wife left home a couple of weeks before her 16 birthday with her brother who was a year older, due to their new step dad sexually abusing my wife. The authorities were informed but nothing could be proven. At 16 she started a hairdressing apprenticeship (and today, 31 years later, is happily self employed as a mobile hairdresser).
They were given housing benefit that allowed them to rent a one room tiny bedsit. They needed this, it allowed them to work, exist and get away from her stepdad.
Today her brother is a policeman, she is self employed, both hard working tax payers, but if another young girl found themselves in my wife's horrible position, due to the government clamping down on cheats and spongers, they would no longer get housing benefit as it's been stopped for people that age.
Which is what I mean by rules put in place to stop the spongers harming the people that really need help.
Trouble is, its very hard for the poor to be poor compared to 50+ years ago.
So many rules and regulations in place, illegal to beg in certain places, cost of housing (in England) off the scale compared to what it was like before Thatcher introduced the greed culture.
Look at some of the worlds greatest from history, they simply couldn't do what they did today. So many of them didn't fit into the school system, but weren't written off as thug's and louts, many of therm started work at 13-14 etc.
My son wanted to work when he was 15 in his school holidays, but no one would employ him, not because he isn't capable (studying systems engineering at uni) but because company policy wouldn't allow it due to health and safety/insurance etc.
When I was 19, I lived in Guildford in Surrey which is considered a very affluent part of the UK. I rented a one bedroomed flat (bedroom, living room, kitchen, bathroom) with my wife (then girlfriend) for £20 a week each. The rates were next to nothing as were the electricity bills.
My wife earned very little doing her apprenticeship and I worked in a small hardware shop which I loved but the pay wasn't very good. We could still easily afford to rent our flat, eat, and go out a few times a week to the pub etc.
The cost to buy an average 3 bed semi house in Guildford was around £20k when Thatcher came to power in 1979
Two years later in 1981 it had risen to £30k
Another two years and it was £34K
Another two years and it was £48K
Another two years in 1987 it was 72K
Another two years in 1989 and it has risen from £20k ten years ago to £95k
What it meant in reality is no one could do the sensible thing and save up for a deposit because the prices rose far faster than anyone could possibly save.
So the banks etc offered 100% mortgages (even higher in some cases).
Then greedy people realised they could take out a 100% mortgage, rent out their home for a year or two and sell it and make a fortune. This meant that loads of people started to buy to let. Which meant that they needed the rent to be enough to pay their mortgages, which meant the cost of renting went through the roof.
And it very soon became what is still the case today, many people didn't earn enough to qualify for a decent rate mortgage but the amount of rent they pay would easily cover the mortgage repayments.
The more people made, the more they bought, the greedier they got and the higher the house prices rose.
In the middle of all that is the poor person. They cant take a low wage job and afford to live now, it's simply impossible. They find employment, find their benefits stopped and find themselves worse off than when they weren't working. A catch 22 situation but still not their fault.
Then there's the fact that if between 1979 and 1989 house prices rose from 20K to 95K, the cost of welfare payments to pay for rent for those that need help, also went through the roof. The same house would cost around £270k now which would mean if wages rose by a similar amount, average salary for someone 18 - 25 would be something around £80k a year now rather than £15k to £20k
At the same time utilities have been privatised and the prices gone through the roof.
The local taxes that were rates and are now called council tax is off the scale compared to what it used to be in relations to someone earnings.
And all of that is why we are in the recession we are in now. Its the house price boom that has caused the mess, people had to turn to the sub prime market to get a roof over their heads, prices continued rising and rising and a 3 year old could tell it couldn't continue.
All that's happened is property developers and estate agents have got rich and everyone else is worse off with mortgage payments off the scale due to the cost of their houses.
Yet I guarantee you when house prices start rising our government will be happy.
And all most people want to do is an honest days work and be able to live.
At the same time companies have ignored their workers who help build their companies up, outsourced to cheap labour abroad meaning there isn't the jobs for those that do want to work, and those jobs that do exist are mainly minimum wage.
The greed of society is what's caused such a great need for welfare over the years and I cant see it getting any better.
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