Re: The Tax Trap

When I was 49 I was made redundant , I asked the job centre to retrain me , I'd worked in shops all my life . They willingly sent me on a 6 month course to understand computers etc , I was trained to type , I learned how to fully use a computer and gained experience and confidence , I then got offered a job in an accountants as receptionist and eventually did secretarial work . The training company were happy as they got more boxes ticked as I was considered unemployable as I was nearly 50 .

Then age 57 I decided to retrain again , I changed jobs and became a foot health professional best thing I ever did .

P.S. I call myself a jack of all trades and a master of none

I'm not sure if the training company's are still there at the job centres to help others though , the one I trained with was subsidised by the government . It was called Paragon Training

Re: The Tax Trap

This is a very specific example. IMO it's not that easy to get benefits now so this is an optimistic scenario for the minimum wage family. But middle income earners are being increasingly squeezed. The 50k to 70k bracket more so than others.

Re: The Tax Trap

There are some very closed minds on here plying the tory hate and bile mantra that those on benefits are subhuman, yet have these people not contributed to the pot during their working days.

Many jobs contribute to bad health, or even snatched away for political ideology, having support when its needed is something i believe in.

This money is then spent in the economy to help keep businesses going, a few may well be scroungers we seem to have imported a fair share of those
but they are in the minority, every section of society has some. Most here grew up through a time when houses and work were not hard to come by

Very different now, and especially if your not part of the London centric bubble

Re: The Tax Trap

I've asked about training many times all I've ever been offered was paid for courses that as a cleaner I haven't been able to afford. I'm not convinced the systems actually work that well but I'm very glad they helped you Susan.

Re: The Tax Trap

Agree with everything you've said there except the London centric comment because IMO housing down here is even worse to find than elsewhere especially with cuts to housing benefit where you can find it doesn't covet a rabbit hutch let alone a family home.

Re: The Tax Trap

I simply don't know how anyone affords a family home anywhere in the south.
I know a four bedroomed house costs anywhere from £1400+ pm .

Re: The Tax Trap

One beds are nearly a thousand muddy its criminal really.

Re: The Tax Trap

True. My son and his wife live in a one bedroom flat in London, really only big enough for a single person, rent is over a thousand pounds a month. He will never be able to get on the housing ladder.

Re: The Tax Trap

Many of us can't even earn enough a month to afford that even. If prices don't fall I can see thousands on the streets in the next decade.

Re: The Tax Trap

I don't think house prices will ever fall.
It's supply and demand .
There is a dearth of housing both in the private and state sector so how can it?