Quote Originally Posted by WBA123 View Post
There is a massive financial difference between working and claiming benefits though. A quick google tells me you get about £77 per week JSA. Maybe you get more on Universal Credit and other benefits. But lets say by claiming you get £500 per month for arguments sake.

If you got a job working for £9 per hour for 38 hours per week, you'd take home £1368 pre tax. And you wouldn't be paying much tax on that as the first £12k per year is tax free. Lets say £100 tax, it means you would be better off by about £750 per month roughly working full time compared to claiming benefits. Your household is £1500+ better off if you are with a partner who is also working.

But if I got the same claiming benefits than what I took home now, then yes I'd absolutely do that. Why work if you don't have to? The truth is though, I can't see how anyone can think its financially beneficial not to work in this country - although some probably do.

“The why work if you don’t have to” is the wrong way of looking at this in my opinion.

In my younger days I could’ve had the same in benefits as I did at my first job but quite rightly, that scenario wasn’t tolerated in our household.

I’m in the last stretch of my working life now and winding down, it might seem perverse to many but I’m finding it hard doing less.

I have feelings of guilt about it and I have a regular dream that I’m 23 again and back at the busiest and most stressful job I ever had.

Once I do completely finish and sell my business off I will have to find something else to do, probably voluntary work of some type.

I don’t get how people can sit on their a r s e for the whole of their lives doing nothing.