'Income Support' for new graduate

[vtecstu]

Prepared to get a minor flaming for this, but here goes...

Girlfriend has just graduated and has moved in with me, and is actively seeking a job (very important!). However, it appears that she isn't eligible for Jobseekers Allowance - she can't get 'contribution based' because she's made next to no national insurance contributions so far, and she may not be able to get 'income based' on the basis that I work full time.

I'm aware that a lot of people (myself included) think that handouts should be drastically reduced, but she's genuinely looking for a job at the moment and can't get anything, so my salary is having to support two people. I do earn comfortably over the average wage, but this still seems very unfair when so much is handed out to useless twunts with no ambition or interest in actually getting a job.

As I said, I'm awaiting a bit of a flaming, but I think it's pretty ridiculous that someone actively seeking a job isn't eligible for a jobseekers allowance, and so am asking the good people of PH to suggest any way that she may be entitled to something (without committing some kind of fraud, obviously!).

Alternatively, can I get some kind of temporary tax break now that I am living as a couple with single income?

A quick look at my profile will reveal that I work in Finance, however I'm sure the Government websites are designed to be as patronising as possible without actually answering any questions, and the people that man their telephones have (thus far) been worse...!

Cheers guys.

FLAME ON!

[Northern Chimp]

I am not 100% sure on this info as it may now be out of date; your GF will still need to sign-on to ensure she gets her "stamp" otherwise she will have gaps in her tax "contributions" for this year which could cause be a pain in the ass in the future.

Also, and again, I am not 100%, you should not have to pay couples Council Tax as she is not working but you will most likely have to cite her JSA claim to validate this as her student days are over.

Best of luck!!!!!

[Dave_ST220]

vtecstu said:

I do earn comfortably over the average wage, but this still seems very unfair when so much is handed out to useless twunts with no ambition or interest in actually getting a job.

Well that is life i guess, i work long days & pay thousands in tax, i would get fk all if the Mrs lost her job. Welcome to new labour.

[vtecstu]

Dave_ST220 said:

vtecstu said:

I do earn comfortably over the average wage, but this still seems very unfair when so much is handed out to useless twunts with no ambition or interest in actually getting a job.

Well that is life i guess, i work long days & pay thousands in tax, i would get fk all if the Mrs lost her job. Welcome to new labour.

I dislike New Labour.

Northern Chimp - Cheers for the heads up on the Council Tax. Only just informed them that I'm no longer a single occupant, but well worth looking into...

[Dave_ST220]

The mistake she made was trying to do the right thing, the way forward was to leave school(pregnant of course) and keep having kids. She would be in a nice new house now(same as the ones people like you & i WORK our ass for) and would probably get around a grand a WEEK for doing fk all.

[vtecstu]

Dave_ST220 said:

The mistake she made was trying to do the right thing, the way forward was to leave school(pregnant of course) and keep having kids. She would be in a nice new house now(same as the ones people like you & i WORK our ass for) and would probably get around a grand a WEEK for doing fk all.

This whole jobseekers allowance thing is bks.
2 people in house, both jobless and no intention of getting one = 2 lots of free money.
2 people in house, one of whom works his ass off and pays stloads of tax, other genuinely trying to find something despite increasing unemployment = no free money, and also have the 'privelege' of giving money to the first couple.

Really boiling my piss that she can't get any kind of help from our useless Government despite having to pay for public transport to get to interviews, agency registrations etc.

Cheers for the comments so far. Any other comments / advice?

[Eric Mc]

Funny how people are ready to criticise claimants until they sniff out the chance that they themselves might be in a position to make a claim.

[vtecstu]

Eric Mc said:

Funny how people are ready to criticise claimants until they sniff out the chance that they themselves might be in a position to make a claim.

Know what you mean - I certainly don't enjoy working my arse off to support work-shy cretins who will cost the country far more than they'll contribute to it over the course of their lives.

But surely there's a difference between the people who play the system looking for nothing but a free ride and those that could genuinely use the support (for covering travel to interviews etc) and get feck all. Or is that just my rose-tinted glasses?

[Tuscanless Ali]

I'm not even sure you would be eligible to get a council tax discount.

[vtecstu]

Tuscanless Ali said:

I'm not even sure you would be eligible to get a council tax discount.

Also suspecting not...! I think I may have been able to get a council tax discount if she had a reference number for the benefits that she was also able to claim. But she isn't, so we get neither.

Very infuriating - never been a fan of the benefits system, and now that I've looked more at it and seen that it's geared so much towards the work-shy it makes me question even more why the rest of us pay so much in taxes each month.