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People who are 'too proud to sign on the dole ' . Fools the lot of em , what did they pay there taxes for?
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HI BS, sorry didnt hear it but when I went to sign on the dole after working for 20 years and paying my taxes, it was degrading! Not because I was too proud to sign on but because of the way I was treated by job centre staff, they made me feel like scum and therefore IMO degraded me. That said, I still signed on though, degraded or not.
I took redundancy 'cos the offer was too good to turn down.so until I turned 60 I lived off my redundancy pay-off. When I was sorting out pension etc the tax office asked what my earnings had been for the past 12 months and I told them I hadn't worked at all. They then asked what benefits I'd claimed and I said 'none'. I was advised I could have claimed jobseekers allowance but I told them I wasn't seeking a job - I was told that didn't matter and I should have claimed anyway......
I left a well-paid but stressful job abroad to come back to England and eventually set myself up as a freelancer.
I decided, however, to take about 4 months off first to relax and recover before getting back into things.
I was fortunate enough to have enough money saved to just about pay my way during that period (but not much more). A few of my friends urged me to sign on to the dole (or more likely income support).
I didn't do it for two reasons:
1 - It didn't seem right. I had been on income support in the past when I really needed it, and even though I was still entitled, I didn't feel that my situation justified taking money when other people needed it more. This is not the same as not signing on out of pride!
2 - As I have seen with several of my friends, once you are signed on, you are given all kinds of hoops to jump through by the authorities- supposedly in order to make being signed on uncomfortable. Unfortunately, this often has the opposite effect and fighting to remain on the dole becomes like a job in itself. It drains your energy and you lose the initiative you need to go out and do something else.
I decided, however, to take about 4 months off first to relax and recover before getting back into things.
I was fortunate enough to have enough money saved to just about pay my way during that period (but not much more). A few of my friends urged me to sign on to the dole (or more likely income support).
I didn't do it for two reasons:
1 - It didn't seem right. I had been on income support in the past when I really needed it, and even though I was still entitled, I didn't feel that my situation justified taking money when other people needed it more. This is not the same as not signing on out of pride!
2 - As I have seen with several of my friends, once you are signed on, you are given all kinds of hoops to jump through by the authorities- supposedly in order to make being signed on uncomfortable. Unfortunately, this often has the opposite effect and fighting to remain on the dole becomes like a job in itself. It drains your energy and you lose the initiative you need to go out and do something else.
Degrading or not its a lifeline for many,but it is also abused by many,it should be used to help you through a bad time till you can get back on your feet,theres no shame in that,but if your using it for years on end and theres work available,only then should you bow your head in shame and be given the nickname "Leech" or "Sponge"
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