Why are benefits paid in cash?
Discussion
As subject.
I've no idea how widespread the stereotype of people who don't work, claim benefits, but have 50" Plasma's whilst dining on Stella and Silk Cut actually is, but it seems very simple/obvious that if you want to encourage people to work you only give them what they need to live.
So, why aren't benefits paid solely in the form of redeemable food vouchers, energy vouchers and so on vs. "here's you cash do what you want with it"?
I've no idea how widespread the stereotype of people who don't work, claim benefits, but have 50" Plasma's whilst dining on Stella and Silk Cut actually is, but it seems very simple/obvious that if you want to encourage people to work you only give them what they need to live.
So, why aren't benefits paid solely in the form of redeemable food vouchers, energy vouchers and so on vs. "here's you cash do what you want with it"?
paddyhasneeds said:
As subject.
I've no idea how widespread the stereotype of people who don't work, claim benefits, but have 50" Plasma's whilst dining on Stella and Silk Cut actually is, but it seems very simple/obvious that if you want to encourage people to work you only give them what they need to live.
So, why aren't benefits paid solely in the form of redeemable food vouchers, energy vouchers and so on vs. "here's you cash do what you want with it"?
Because it would create other problems such as a blackmarket trade in vouchers, + the extra cost of producing the vouchers of a suitable quality to prevent mass conterfeiting.I've no idea how widespread the stereotype of people who don't work, claim benefits, but have 50" Plasma's whilst dining on Stella and Silk Cut actually is, but it seems very simple/obvious that if you want to encourage people to work you only give them what they need to live.
So, why aren't benefits paid solely in the form of redeemable food vouchers, energy vouchers and so on vs. "here's you cash do what you want with it"?
You didn't think hard about this before you posted did you?
Semi hemi said:
jas xjr said:
slightly o/t but why cant the long term unemployed be made to do voluntary work? or something useful
And the Oxymoron of the week is 
Back to the OP......Obviously not everyone in the UK has access to a bank account, and not everybody on benefit is a dole scrounging scumbag, there are plenty of deserving genuine hardship cases out there......Pity the dishonest ones spoil it for the rest...
Semi hemi said:
paddyhasneeds said:
As subject.
I've no idea how widespread the stereotype of people who don't work, claim benefits, but have 50" Plasma's whilst dining on Stella and Silk Cut actually is, but it seems very simple/obvious that if you want to encourage people to work you only give them what they need to live.
So, why aren't benefits paid solely in the form of redeemable food vouchers, energy vouchers and so on vs. "here's you cash do what you want with it"?
Because it would create other problems such as a blackmarket trade in vouchers, + the extra cost of producing the vouchers of a suitable quality to prevent mass conterfeiting.I've no idea how widespread the stereotype of people who don't work, claim benefits, but have 50" Plasma's whilst dining on Stella and Silk Cut actually is, but it seems very simple/obvious that if you want to encourage people to work you only give them what they need to live.
So, why aren't benefits paid solely in the form of redeemable food vouchers, energy vouchers and so on vs. "here's you cash do what you want with it"?
You didn't think hard about this before you posted did you?
V8mate is spot on. It's the same with asylum seekers, in fact. Not so many years ago, they were indeed "paid" in vouchers but protested that this was against their human rights and the voucher system was abolished in favour of cash.
Of course, one could say that if they feel that giving them handouts in the form of vouchers is demeaning, they could f
k off elsewhere, but that's another debate entirely 
Of course, one could say that if they feel that giving them handouts in the form of vouchers is demeaning, they could f
k off elsewhere, but that's another debate entirely paddyhasneeds said:
Semi hemi said:
paddyhasneeds said:
As subject.
I've no idea how widespread the stereotype of people who don't work, claim benefits, but have 50" Plasma's whilst dining on Stella and Silk Cut actually is, but it seems very simple/obvious that if you want to encourage people to work you only give them what they need to live.
So, why aren't benefits paid solely in the form of redeemable food vouchers, energy vouchers and so on vs. "here's you cash do what you want with it"?
Because it would create other problems such as a blackmarket trade in vouchers, + the extra cost of producing the vouchers of a suitable quality to prevent mass conterfeiting.I've no idea how widespread the stereotype of people who don't work, claim benefits, but have 50" Plasma's whilst dining on Stella and Silk Cut actually is, but it seems very simple/obvious that if you want to encourage people to work you only give them what they need to live.
So, why aren't benefits paid solely in the form of redeemable food vouchers, energy vouchers and so on vs. "here's you cash do what you want with it"?
You didn't think hard about this before you posted did you?
Wacky Racer said:
Back to the OP......Obviously not everyone in the UK has access to a bank account, and not everybody on benefit is a dole scrounging scumbag, there are plenty of deserving genuine hardship cases out there......Pity the dishonest ones spoil it for the rest...
Fully accept/appreciate that, but even for the genuine hardship cases shouldn't the role of the state be to provide them with what is needed for an acceptable standard of living, and again I question whether a pile of cash is the best way to do this vs. a more controlled and cost effective scheme?I heard of somewhere in the UK giving fruit and veg vouchers to families with kids a few years back, half of them sold them on to get money for the inevitable fags and booze. So it eneded up being a more expensive way of paying for their fags and booze than just giving them the money.
Semi hemi said:
jas xjr said:
slightly o/t but why cant the long term unemployed be made to do voluntary work? or something useful
And the Oxymoron of the week is I can never understand why we are so ready to just hand over the cash! Surely it would be a far better system if we only paid out benefit to people who have made some contribution to the system. Not just from paying national insurance but staying in school until 18 and going to university. This would stop the "leave school early and jump on the dole" culture as well as the many (NOT all!) immigrants who come here just for the handouts.
The idea of dedicated vouchers for food and clothing is, IMHO, a good one but should be combined with a low level of hard cash also!
The idea of dedicated vouchers for food and clothing is, IMHO, a good one but should be combined with a low level of hard cash also!
A bloke I know used to have a couple of shops in a st-hole part of Manchester with about nine flats above them. He used to get the rent paid straight from the DSS. They then brought in a new rule where the housing benefit would be paid straight to the dole scum because 'it helps them learn the value of money'. Every giro day he would have to walk round all the pubs and bookies and collect the rent before they could piss it all up the wall.
t-hole part of Manchester with about nine flats above them. He used to get the rent paid straight from the DSS. They then brought in a new rule where the housing benefit would be paid straight to the dole scum because 'it helps them learn the value of money'. Every giro day he would have to walk round all the pubs and bookies and collect the rent before they could piss it all up the wall.Gassing Station | The Pie & Piston Archive | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff