There are some who see welfare as a career choice. Unfortunately we have got to a point were we can't call them out on it.With the latest budget now done and dusted there's a certain cohort of workers who got very little from it. Yesterday I overheard some people having a conversation and one of the people was a bus driver with a national transport co. He said if he only worked 20 hours a week, his partner could stay doing her job in a supermarket for the same no of hours and he would then be able to get a medical card, free books certain cash payments and other benefits . It was obvious from the chat that he was not the woman's husband and some children were hers, some his. I've no problem at all with those who cannot work for good reason, but when people choose to take advantage of benefits over working then surely that's wrong? Is it as widespread as I'm led to believe, or is it all bravado talk?
It should always pay to work over not working. Maybe if workers retained more of their income from taking on extra hours they would do the extra hours.Remember the cost of work plays a huge part too. Seeing people decide to stay home to mind the kids is already a norm given the costs there. Add in travel costs, especially for jobs that might require out of hours travel, and things can become very weighted in one direction or another.
This sort of discussion also happens at both ends of the spectrum. I know lots of people who refuse to take on extra hours of work or extra duties because the margin costs make it not worth it.
Is it as widespread as a single conversation that you claim to have overheard, curiously been able to recount in detail, and have jumped to some conclusions about? Almost certainly not.Yesterday I overheard some people having a conversation and one of the people was a bus driver with a national transport co. He said if he only worked 20 hours a week, his partner could stay doing her job in a supermarket for the same no of hours and he would then be able to get a medical card, free books certain cash payments and other benefits . It was obvious from the chat that he was not the woman's husband and some children were hers, some his. I've no problem at all with those who cannot work for good reason, but when people choose to take advantage of benefits over working then surely that's wrong? Is it as widespread as I'm led to believe, or is it all bravado talk?
That’s why the left and the likes of Sinn Fein/IRA are anti-cashless society.I think a big problem too is people working partly for cash. Don’t begrudge it(well maybe a little)
According to this “There are more people employed in Ireland than ever before. It is expected that over 2.5 million will be in employment in 2023."I've no problem at all with those who cannot work for good reason, but when people choose to take advantage of benefits over working then surely that's wrong? Is it as widespread as I'm led to believe, or is it all bravado talk?
The issue as I understand it is that the various welfare systems combine to make it worthwhile for many people to work part-time (2-3 days per week max) in low-earning employment but not full time nor in in higher-earning employment.According to this “There are more people employed in Ireland than ever before. It is expected that over 2.5 million will be in employment in 2023."
Scroll to Your Guide to Budget 2023 PDF, page 6 under Labour Market.
Your information appears to be hearsay.
It's a long time since I looked at thresholds for these things. It can be very complex to look at the interaction of medical card entitlements, USC, HAP, etc and it is very hard to design a system with no poverty traps.The issue as I understand it is that the various welfare systems combine to make it worthwhile for many people to work part-time (2-3 days per week max) in low-earning employment but not full time nor in in higher-earning employment.
Just wondering where are you getting these figures?It's a long time since I looked at thresholds for these things. It can be very complex to look at the interaction of medical card entitlements, USC, HAP, etc and it is very hard to design a system with no poverty traps.
At a macro level the workforce today contains only about 11% of people who would rather be working more hours. It was as high as 25% in 2012 when the economy was on the floor. To me that tells a lot.
I think there is a small but material cohort who for all sorts of reasons are happy with low hours and the extra gross income from more hours is not worth it.
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