British Workers Wanted - Channel 4

[tim...]

well it's a hell of a lot more than when I was in my first job

but whilst I can remember how much I earned

I haven't a clue how much my house share cost, so I couldn't put it in those terms

But I can definitely remember that I didn't earn enough to rent a flat for myself and had to live in a house share for the first 4 years of my career until I had established some seniority and an enhanced salary

and I certainly couldn't have decided that I wanted to settle down with a pregnant girlfriend on the salary from my first job - as the 19 YO in the example did (apparently the pregnancy was planned and not an accident!). This is just irresponsible. You cut your cloth to suit your means, not inflate your needs unreasonably because it entitles you to take a trip to the social for some more cloth.

tim

[tim...]

people on long term benefits are starting out on their career whatever their age

I have no idea why "7.50 is too low to get out of bed for" (we weren't told the circumstances of the person who said it except to confirm that he was out of work)

but I would be surprised if that was the response of someone on JSA alone

tim

[whisky-dave]

Well if he ever wants to own a home of his own, that'll need tripling at le ast.

Then explain how an MP in london gets a free house, free travel, seriously subserdised food and drink if not paid for can't afford to live on their s aleries of £65k+ so need a pay rise 5x that of inflation ?

[tim...]

a washing machine!

luxury

2 hours down the laundry each week for most of us

tim

[tim...]

It's on C4

you're allowed to watch catch up without a license

tim

[tim...]

no

it's an above average salary for the group of everybody

tim

[tim...]

Despite several years of trying before I gave up completely, I could never find anybody prepared to let me work short hours

It was like I had asked then to get me a slice of cheese from the moon

tim

[tim...]

That didn't happen in the 80s

tim

[Yellow]

I agree, and as I said we didn't just take on apprentices but for roles that just required people to get up to speed too. And I also agree this can take a good month or even more depending on the role.

But anyway, I have just been watching the show and the lad the employment agency took on would not have been more typical situation, to the point that it almost seemed set up.

They did not train him properly or convey to him exactly what was expected of him while he took every opportunity not to be doing the job and was not at all pro-active. Quite a sad thing to watch.

And the "wine and cheese party" - how ridicules was that as it simply attracted people who did not want a job but did want a free drink and I am unclear what point it was trying to prove.

[Yellow]

I don't pretend to know the answer but I find it quite depressing that people can afford to live on benefits (and because I get someone screams at me - you can!) by making the career choice of having children.

[Yellow]

What is JSA now £60 or £70 a week perhaps, for a single person? Let's say it is £75 for arguments sake and let's say a job is 40 hours a week

- that means on benefits (but of course you can stay in bed) you are getting the equivalent of £1.87 an hour.

How therefore is £7.50 not "enough"? Enough for what?

[tim...]

It was long before Corbyn that the idea of having to live in a shared house was unacceptably "slumming it" for benefits claimants.

that started with A B Liar.

tim

[Dan S. MacAbre]

In my case, I'd handed my notice in because I made more money doing programming 'on the side'. He asked if I'd be happy working half days. It seemed too good to pass up.

[Dan S. MacAbre]

Interesting - I didn't know that.

[Brian Gaff]

I feel your idea though good in part is a little one size fits all. This has always been the problem. In some places unless wages are raised then there is no way in hell anyone will be motivated to work and you cannot let them starve in a high cost area.

In the old days we used to have top up benefits so you always had enough to live on but what used to happen was employers took the piss and used the benefit to subsidise their miserly wages and coin in the dosh. Brian

[tim...]

except that they are giving employers the false impress that their expectation of the perfect worker at minimum wage are reasonable

often it isn't just about how hard they work

tim

[Graeme]

In message , tim... writes

Note the *later* :-)

Yes, I started out doing the launderette thing, combined with taking stuff back to Mum whenever I visited. The twin tub was lucky - someone I knew was upgrading, so I got the cast off. Did treat myself to a pair of those huge wooden tongs though.

[Mark]

It certainly did.

[Mark]

Same here. Often the people who were good at their job were kept there and not promoted. Therefore there was a kind on incentive to be bad at the job.

[Mark]

The triple lock helps the retired.

True. All I know is, on the rare occasions I was unemployed, I was inelligble for any benefits.