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Poverty forces people to work for
cash-in-hand out of need not greed
Sign our petition and add your support to our campaign.
I fully support this increasing the £5 limit to £50 would discourage benefit fraud and provide a stepping stone for the long term unemployed back to full time work as there is lots of low hour work about that could be more viable with a upper limit of the said £50.
About time you politicans of all parties practised what you preached and got your own house in order before chasing so call benefit thieves.
Well done, Community Links for running this much needed campaign and earning your seat on the HMRC group. Benefit reform is much needed and many enquiries and reviews have been done - change is inevitably uncomfortable but decisions must be based on current evidence and long-term solutions.
I’ve been unemployed for Two Years now, having been self employed, I went self employed under the encouragement of the Job centre and spent the next six years trying to build a career, only to be taxed heavily on anything I made, until eventually, I had no option, due to recession to call it a day and
sign on, I have been sent on numerous courses, all of which I seem to be over qualified for, and now it seems they can only advise me to go self employed,
I honestly can’t see the sense in any of this, if the government where more lenient to cash in hand work,
and turned a blind eye (like they did with expenses), maybe it would enable the average working class
person to build a life. The thing is they would probably use this as way of feathering their own nests.
The £5 limit is ridiculous - it forces people into so called benefit fraud just to survive. Rigid benefit rules means they have no way of managing a move into employment or of working flexibly.Public money is wasted on the detection and punishment of many so called benefit cheats. On the other hand tax avoidance is legal for the rich.
My husband is on benefits and is disabled. He is too ill to work again, and we are struggling to survive on state benefits.
I work part time as a learning support worker, a job which I very much enjoy. However, we receive a £20.00 per week disregard on my earnings, and it currently costs me around £40.00 per week to travel to and from work.
I am reluctant to give up a job that I enjoy, but it makes no sense financially to keep working, and I feel very disillusioned and demoralised by this situation.
I fully support this campaign. There is currently no incentive to work whilst claiming Jobseekers Allowance - with one hours work at the national minimum wage already resulting in a reduction in your benefit. We need to have earning disregards that at least allows someone to work for one day a week without it affecting their benefit. The earnings disregard for single people on JSA has been £5 for 21 years!! We need to up that to the region of £50 - and especially in the current recession - where people on benefits need to try out work, and not be forced to work in the informal economy.
People need to be able to take themselves from being on benefits to self sufficiency - the present system adds a huge barrier to this happening. I came off benefits more than 20 years ago with the help of the Enterprise Allowance Scheme - I know how difficult it is, as an honest person, to follow the rules when life is so precarious.
We work to provide blind people with talking software so that they can enjoy using the computer for learning, work and improving their life style.
In the Summer we were excited to create 30 jobs for long-term talented unemployed blind people as part of the government’s Futurejobs scheme. It has been a disaster. We had over 100 applications and only two have been acceptded by the Jobcentres as eligible and that’s not all. There is a scheme called Access To Work which, on the tin, says that help with finance for equipment needed by disabled people is provided to get them back into work. Hours and days later, we learn that the scheme cannot help us. We are left angry and there are badly disapointed blind people let down and desparately wanting work.
I wholeheartedly sign this petition and ashamed how unemployed disabled people wanting to work and earn are treated in 2009. I certainly don’t blame ordinary people earning something on the side to support their families regardless of the petty rules which have been drawn up by well paid people who should know better.
It’s high time this was changed, I personally find the £5/£10 rule disgraceful - I wish you all the best in your campaign. By the way, I work in a Jobcentre Plus office, it’s difficult for us too - people take their frustration out on us, swear at us and say things like “it’s okay for you, on that side of the desk”. Try to remember Jobcentre staff aren’t magicians, WE can’t “magic up” jobs - there aren’t many to be had. We’re not all heartless, either - I personally feel deeply for my customers and find my job bleak and soul-destroying, but I need to pay a mortgage for as long as I can - and try to remember too that nearly all of us have family and friends who are unemployed, we’re all just humans, and my not having a job wouldn’t improve your situation.
A higher earning limit would be an incentive to work. Simples.
If anyone in the government, politician or civil servant, disagrees with this campaign, I’d love to see you dare to explain your position, rather than hiding behind the Victorian hypocrisy and irrelevance of the latest Government statement: ‘Some people obey the rules’ - PATHETIC!
A high proportion of vacancies, including those in jobcentres, are part-time. Due to the steep withdrawal rates of benefits, those people claiming benefits have little or no incentive in taking up these vacancies. Benefit reforms have to start dealing with these unfairness’s instead of attacking the most vulnerable in our society.
I fully support the campaign as the current MTR set at this rate makes no sense / has no place in a system which is meant to support people back into work.
I fully support the campaign as the current MTR set at this rate makes no sense / has no place in a system which is meant to support people back into work
I sign this petition as i only have one name one place of birth and one national insurance number i am british by birth i have trained hard in colllege i have been through two recessions so far this is the third one i am trained but due to running costs i am forced to work for cash in hand the standard of living on benefits payouts is simply not enough i am here to stand and be counted and support people of a similar nature in the same position
I’m proud to say I am a part of this campaign. I only hope they listen.
((((hugs))))
~Loving Light~
no work is available many rogue businesses are apparently setting up to con the unemployed who have recently been made redundant basically they want you to hand them your money which you earned. work that is available legally is none existent firms are tightening there belts and not taking anyone on, jsa what we get once a fortnight is very little for what i have to pay for basically interviews i do not drive so say £6 bus fair i know you can claim it back ill be honest i never have done. work seems to be going to foreigners as well. i have been doing temp work for aprox year and a half 4 in total, they promised longer time at work then i get finished at the end of either 3 or months as they do not want to pay for me anymore then im back on the dole queue for another 3-4 months from 200.00 a week to 60.00 a week hay what fun it is too be out of work im trying to get back on that ladder with not much help from job centre mind just the people i contact who want staff do not reply back with an answer which is annoying.
Urgent form is needed particularly in the recession when there are simply not jobs available and Jobseekers Allowance is not adequate.
well done keep on campaigning! this is a great way to raise awareness about the real struggle many people have in this country.
I dont suppose someone on this site could point me to one of those cash in hand job’s?, it would be nice as iam a bit short ATM…
I have been in the situation of having to take CIH work as benefits weren’t enough and the jobs on offer didn’t have high enough wages to pay rent/utilities. While I didn’t feel exploited, I did feel frustrated and ignored. Eventually I got a temp job with a good enough wage to live on - but the benefits system needs overhauling to *support* people trying to get into work, rather than preventing them by making it financially impossible.
Benefits are scandalously low, and the even lower levels for young people completely unjustified.
England in the past created an environment for chash in hand jobs and temp jobs this need to be emphaised to ride the wave in the storm.
Small businesses need to be allowed to florish, and larger businesses need to be stopped from exploiting workers. Working rights and minimum wage guarantees are crucial alongside benefits reform.
Also we need to work to break down the them and us scenario. Some people don’t even want to walk through the door of the job centre…they are usually the people who the job centre is trying to reach - something’s not right there…
I believe something should have been done a good few years ago, as some people tend to struggle to live and bide by the rules and other are not so helpful people to society that take advantage - which has also helped with the recession that we are having today!!!
A very worthwhile campaign. Let’s help people use their skills and abilities to contribute to society and build a flexible system which allows people a decent income. Everyone deserves that.
There are real problems for people wanting to work but needing a safety net. This is a much needed campaign.
Please keep your promise to half child poverty by 2010 & support the family & parents.
Please support efforts to keep families out of poverty.
Keep up the good work.
Living in poverty has changed a lot of families, there is no peace, children committing crime, parents becoming less confident to do anything. We need change to help family so that our communities will be a better place.
There are hundreds of disadvantaged families like myself. We need support so that we can make a difference.
Dear Clive Efford MP,
I hope you support along with me, the Need not Greed campaign.
The issue of poverty, not just child poverty, should be at the top of your agenda. It is a crime for people to be suffering when we have enough to go around.
Please support this campaign, we NEED more positive initiatives to support people living in poverty, rather than constantly blaming & stigmatising individuals.
Less scare tactics & more support to help people provide for their families in a positive way.
Good luck with such an important campaign. Keep up the hard work.
We need to change people draining from the taxation system and allow them to contribute to it. To provide more funds for the NHS etc.
From the MPs I’ve spoken to, I’m sure they’ll do all they can to help improve things once they are aware of the reality of the situation.
There are many people who can/want to only work part-time hours and yet when it comes to receiving benefits, such as Housing Council Tax Benefit, they are penalised if they earn over a certain amount each week.
To have 65p taken away from every £1 that is earned over £60 (or however much income that the Government determines a person can live on) is completely and utterly wrong.
Tax Credits should not be included when it comes to calculating how much Housing Benefit a person can receive.
If the Government really wanted to help the low-paid, a person would be allowed to earn up to £400 excluding Tax Credits before their benefits were reduced.
Story and video of why people work cash-in-hand and the conditions they work in :
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7824291.stm
I really support the proposals being put forward in this campaign, I think that the benefits system is not modern enough for the type of work that exists today and leaves people very few options.
All the political parties need to tackle this issue together,or we will never end povety in this country.
This campaign is so necessary as the way benefits are organised too often entrenches people in poverty which they cannot get out of, no matter how they try. I know this as I spent years on and off benefits, sincerely trying to get work but the inflexibility of the system only resulted in the loss of housing benefit and all my regular income while they took weeks to react to my new situation. The low amount of benefits does not allow people to live with dignity and people get trapped in an ever decreasing circle of debt. As well as this any practical support or sympathy for claimants focuses on families, while single people are never mentioned and are treated as worthless.
Hey,
Well done on your article in the observer yesterday. It is a fantastic achievement to get this issue highlighted in the Media.
I’m looking forward to taking part in the debate and working with you closely in the future.
Deven.
the system needs to be more flexible, most people are put in a position where they have no options and no way out - wages are unrealistic employers are encouraged to pay low wages and no single parent especially, but not only, can possibly earn enough to maintain a family of growing kids with expectations fuelled by the media.
I fully support your campaign
I really support this campaign and hope it will encourage the government to put more resource into ensuring people are aware of the benefits they are actually entitled to and making them as accessible as possible, instead of spending ridiculous amounts of money on benefit fraud campaigns
I think your campaign and what you stand for is excellent. Its about time there was support for people and children in the vicious circle of ‘poverty’ and lack of access to fair resources. Please make sure you carry on this important message and I will try my best to spread the message of injustice.
So relevant and so needed. Anything I can do to help.
I would like to add my full support for this excellent campaign. Working within the health care setting, I have seen the physical effects that poverty, depression and illness can have on people who have been out of work. Having a “hard†and in flexible attitude to cash in hand is not the answer and only heightens the problem. These people need our help to support them back into employment and integrated back into society. The “need not greed campaign” is a fantastic initiative and one in which the government must endorse.
Good luck!!
This is an initiative which was desparately needed. Cash-in-hand work puts poor people in vicious cycle of poverty and this barriers can be changed when attituded towards this people would change. It is obvious that both employee and employer of informal economy have the strength and skills to survive and less access to information and support to regularize their works.
A concerted effort is needed and Need not Greed campaign has started that. Good luck
I would like to add my support to this campaign.
I fully support this campaign and wish you luck with your work.
How is one to get out of poverty when they are in such a state.