The UK welfare system & the culture it’s created
“I was told to get drunk and check in as an alcoholic so that I could claim benefits”
This one sentence sums up the monster that the welfare system has created. I’ve come across a number of clients on benefits in my current role and have witnessed first hand the culture that the system has created.
The gentlemen who decided to take this path told me he would ‘do whatever he could to undo that decision’. At the time, his job wasn’t paying enough for him to make ends meet. As a bricklayer, he found himself at a stage where no work was coming in. Desperate and confused, he started drinking excessively and checked in with the doctor as an alcoholic. Soon after, he started claiming Employment Support Allowance (ESA).
Whats surprising is, he did this on the advice of a friend who confirmed this is a good way to be financially stable.
Most of those who follow this path do unfortunately become trapped in a cycle. One consisting of alcohol, substance abuse, debt and broken relationships continues until the person is left with nowhere to turn.
The reality is the system does not work. It discourages work. It creates poverty & dependence. It promotes laziness and a sense of entitlement. Not only that, the recipients of state benefits do not value these handouts. Money is not managed well and the level of debt they later fall in to isn’t even a surprise.
Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank states “poverty is not created by poor people … but by the system we have built, the institutions we have designed and concepts we have formulated.”
It may well be what the welfare state has become.
Yes, there are people who should be in receipt of support from the state but as it stands the net is too wide. Meanwhile cuts that are being made are being made in the wrong places.
There should be a well-paying alternative that doesn’t force individuals to consider relying on the welfare system.
Hard work must be rewarded to kill this culture.