Is 80% Pay Too Much?

blacklabrador A few people I know are the same. They want to work because their jobs aren't just about earning money. It's part of their life.

lilyflower I think that's unfair because we're talking about people in all wage brackets. JSA wouldn't pay the bills for someone on £35k. I can see where you're coming from ie. some people don't deserve the money but it also applies to a select few on benefits all of the time who don't work at all ever, and could. I suspect (and hope) those who see this whole thing as better than not working are a minority.

Dennab For starts I never said "some people don't deserve the money"! Totally agree JSA would not pay the bills of someone on £35k but they won't have all those bills, they can't travel, eat out, socialise, mortgage holiday, suspended bank overdraft interest, and they have a job to go back to. Give everyone enough to cover basics including the self-employed and those who had just moved jobs, some of whom missed out due to 'yearly income' or the 'cut off date' for employers claiming. Wait until Boris asks how to get the money back and Tax/NI goes up, that won't be fair either.

lilyflower I'm sure you're right with that latter point about Boris. The tories aren't about to start taking more money from the rich! We'll all be paying more tax no doubt. A friend of mine has no income due to going freelance recently so no 2019 tax return. Another has nothing because she was a recent new starter. I can't see how they could make someone who is used to shopping in M&S for their food, pays 80 quid a month for broadband, has a car on lease for 350 quid a month and so on suddenly pay for all of that with JSA. You'd be solving one problem giving that money saved to people in my friends' situation but creating another by unfairly penalising those people who usually earn a good wage.

Dennab the old sayings "cut your cloth accordingly" and "save for a rainy day" come to mind, also if a person is made redundant they have to manage. I'd be looking for cheaper broadband and car.

lilyflower I do see where you're coming from but I am looking at it from the government's perspective. I fully agree it would be healthy lesson in finances for some! Changing a car though? It's not something you could realistically do under current circunstances if you're signed up to a 5 year lease in what is ultimately a short term problem.

Dennab My comments were general comments and not for this specific period in time. Some things you can't change in the short term but it may prompt some to look at 'high value expenditure' and reconsider when agreements/leases are up.

lilyflower Ah I see. Yes I have to say it has encouraged myself and my other half to rethink the way we do things and will have a positive effect on finances, hopefully. There are also the health benefits of course. We've been going out walking which is something we never did before. I certainly didn't. We're eating less, spending less, doing more exercise and appreciating the simple things in life such as wildlife and local architecture. I hope others are doing the same.

Dennab It can be done. I've always saved, wage was 1/3 tax man, 1/3 living, 1/3 save. It pays off, Partner and I retired early to enjoy life and beat stress, only income now is allocated monthly savings we may be poor but we are HAPPY and ALIVE much better than being rich and dead. PS. we sold the car and walk.

lilyflower I like cars too much to go that far. However, I buy cheap (£hundreds not thousands) and secondhand! I can't say I have been as sensible as yourself with money but learning. Happiness is indeed the most important thing to have and I therefore feel very lucky to be stuck in this mess with the person I married. People with cars worth £50k sitting on the drive outside their house in a popular area will suddenly realise that excess money is worthless at times like this and indeed over the long term in life generally.

Dennab I couldn't have coped if I'd still been with the ex. The car was used for his work, I got the bus, we now walk to supermarket 10 mins way, was daily to get 'yellow stickers' now weekly with the 'cabin' bag to bring back the haul. Now is the time to learn fast and retire early, it's great

lilyflower That does sound like a great life. I still reminisce about the time I went in an Asda just in passing and came out with virtually all of the whoopsies. We bought bags of milk for something like 5p and froze them!

Dennab We put the difference between what we paid and it would have cost in a savings account, last year it paid for new washer and TV and half of holiday, this year up to £332. It's surprising what you can save, only buy what you would have normally and go for 'wonky' veg it's no different.

lilyflower Good advice, thank you. Our TV is always a talking point when I tell people how to save money. It came from a man on Freecycle. It's big, only a few years old and 4K (not that it matters) and the only thing wrong is a slight blue tint. It's not enough to make a massive difference though. We have never paid for a TV. As far as veg goes, we're only going to cut it up anyway. You'd think it would be obvious but that programme Shop Well For Less shows how clueless some people can be!

No they are not winding me up, they are deadly serious. They are intending to refuse to go back to work as long as they can get 80% using whatever excuse they can, e.g. they are other people in household have symptoms, etc. They said they are actually saving more money avoiding commuting costs and other extras and of course with limits on what you can do they aren't spending as much money.

Golfforall You are right!

The furlough letter makes it very clear that the company has a 1 week notice to call the worker back, it is not an option for the worker to return to work or not. If he refuses, he will lose his job.

rararachel Looks like a case of intellectually challenged folk (don't understand the rules ) trying to be clever and milk the system . It won't end well for them .

Golfforall I suspect not. At a time when I'd be worried about actually having a job to go back to and the future stability of the company I would be jumping through hoops. Their OH is adopting a similar approach so they are both off on 80%. Some people

Ann1984 thank you for giving an overview of your circumstances. Clearly someone people like yourselves need and want to get back to work.

I'm predicting things like public sector pay freezes and VAT increases once we return to some sort of normality.

Sadly what you say has and will always be the case for those who know how to "work" the system .

When the government is trying to support tens of millions of people in a matter of days there are bound to be winners and losers . The losers are of course "News" the winners are not , so we hear little about those people .

It is a National Emergency (indeed a Global Emergency) yet we have food rotting in the fields as very few Britons want to do the picking even in this weather . So companies are flying planeloads of Eastern Europeans in to get some of the produce picked .

Perhaps if this lockdown persists for much longer medically fit recipients of the various support payments could each be required to do , say, 2 weeks Land Army service to aid the Nation in such trying times .