Long term sickness

[cromwell]

The Telegraph ran a story from Hastings the other day.
My brother used to live in Battle, just up the road and we went out to Hastings for a day thirty years ago.
Even then it was a bit of a dump; not at all what I had expected and I don't suppose it will have improved much since.

The story was about a man called Geoff, not his real name.
Geoff has had one job in his life, working in a cafe when he was a teenager. He didn't like it, said it was too busy and it stressed him out. He didn't like being told what to do, either.
So he went to his GP, got signed off for depression etc, and he hasn't worked since.

Geoff is now 49 years old.

So he's been living on benefits for thirty years.
How is this even possible?
How can you be allowed to just chuck on the sick and stay there because basically, you don't like working? For thirty years?

It is literally incredible.

[miasmum]

and you cant even blame the Tories for that sad state of affairs as he has done that through numerous Governments

But I think the person to blame apart from Geoff himself, is a lazy GP who has continued to provided him with the means to do this. Surely he has had benefit assessments over the years too?

Hastings, is a sad town, it has a lovely part called Old Town but the actual town is sad and run down, like a lot of seaside towns, Blackpool, Yarmouth, Ilfracombe come to mind

[Suff]

As has been said this has gone on for decades.

Had the GP refused to sign this person off, s/he would have found a solicitors letter on legal aid.

The problem is that to deal with this kind of thing by review and forcing the person into work, means truly disabled people will be sucked in too.

There is a way to deal with this but it tends to create a self fulfilling jobs creation scheme.

Simply put you don't do "reassessment", you put the person in a controlled environment (dubbed an institution naturally), to see how to help them with their issues and get them back into work.

No visits, no time out, no TV, no pub, no beer, no holidays on the state. Until the person has their own certified personal plan of action to get them back into work.

Care to guess how many would be back in work in 3 months?

Of course there would be screaming activists but it would work.

[Workingman]

A nice few click-bait paragraphs detailing 'Garys' story at the start of the article.

But dig deeper into what is a long article and you find that those on "sickness benefits" are a small percentage of those out of work - or now known as economically inactive. You will also find that the Garys of the country are an even smaller percentage of those on some form of sickness benefit.

They do exist, of course, and they are chancers of the first order who need to be challenged. However, it is also clear that the system itself is broken, and that also needs challenging.

Unfortunately, many people will tarnish everyone with the 'Gary' brush simply because they do not have the attention span to read past the first advert break in the article.

[cruiser2]

One of my wife's nephews has never worked. He is married with children and on benefits. He is now about 50 years old.

When his mother died, who had not worked after she got married,he came round to our house saying we had to pay for the funeral. We have never seen or heard from him since.

There are two estates in the area with a lot of the residents on benefits. The local council regularly publishs information on how to claim benefits. I admit to trying but
I get too much Stae and Company pension to qualify. I just pay income tax and council tax for those who are getting benefits.

That is why I am spending my money while I can

[cromwell]

It's certainly true that this is not a new phenomenon.
but it seems to be increasing in the young, especially since lockdown.
I do wonder if there is something else at play here. in some parts of the country it is nigh on impossible for a young person to buy a house withouth help from the bank of mum and dad; even with that help it is sometimes impossible.
They can go to uni and come out with a massive debt, which doesn't help either.
The path that was available to me, that of buing a semi-detached house on an ordinary wage, isn't available to my children and to many other peole's children.
So they get married later and start a family later, if at all.

So i wonder if there isn't a sense of nihilism; a sense of "Why bother?". To work away without ever having a chance of what your parents had. No home, little chance of social housing and paying an extortionate rent in the private sector.
"Why work for that?" might be what some are thinking.

[saundra]

All my life of known people who milk the system and still do but most work for cash in hand
I remember I was about 18 went into hospital then on,sick and darnt leave the house in case somebody Saw me in the street and social stopped my £3-00 a week sick pay the old days
I do feel sorry for people not being able to buy a house tho unless they get help from family glad I helped my boys but people expect to have instant credit for holiday cars designer clothes then wonder why

[cromwell]

One of my wife's nephews has never worked. He is married with children and on benefits. He is now about 50 years old.

When his mother died, who had not worked after she got married,he came round to our house saying we had to pay for the funeral. We have never seen or heard from him since.

That is some nerve!

[Workingman]

The current figure from the media of 9.2 million economically inactive is not the phenomenon being made out. Since 1971 the figure has hovered at about 8.6 million - sometimes above and sometimes below. It has been at 9.2 million a few times and also as low as 8 million...

The breakdown of the economically inactive is also interesting. Approximate figures:
25% Students or 16–24-year-olds in further education or training
16% Retirees aged 55+. Those who bought pensions and decided to use them early
26% Caring for family in some capacity
24% On a sickness benefits: be they short, medium or long-term.
9% Other

There is a sub-group of those on sickness benefits defined as "discouraged workers" and they make up a massive 0.4% of the total. This where the 'Garys' are to be found yet the Telegraph is making out that they are the BIG problem.

It is hard to get accurate numbers for those in the other categories. Short-term are those on a limited sick note - flu, gastroenteritis etc. We have all been there. Medium-term includes broken bones. industrial injuries, minor car accidents, slips and falls needing recovery time. I bet many of us have also been there.

It's the long-term where the big problem arises and they are not all chavs and scallies. Many of them are really in need who need help. I know, I have been there.

It's ever so easy to be judgmental.

I am not saying that there is not a problem, but the only way to reduce it is face-to-face interviews backed up with evidence. Only then can we really act.

[Kaz]

Crommers I think you have a point there. Luckily my three have a work ethic, but it's certainly a harder road for their generation than it was for ours