How the welfare system needs to be fixed?

[Rob Dutoit]

The problem is that no government is brave enough to fix the system, because they will vote themselves straight out of office. I feel that you should get six months welfare support when you lose your job and then you are on your own. It sounds harsh, but it will end the abuse of the system, the corruption and fraudulent claims etc.

The welfare system was intended to help people through a bad time, but its now become a way of life for some areas of society. It cannot be fixed in the sense that you are talking, because there will always be a loophole that gets abused etc. Give them 6 months welfare if they lose their job and thats it. Some people will not help themselves if everyone does it for them, hence I do not feel that welfare benefits are of much help. As you have noticed, its just created a class of people who live off the system.

I would also eradicate benefits that top up your wages etc, because essentially all that you are doing is subsiding big corporations by allowing them to pay a lower wage than the living wage. This is one of the reasons, why house prices and rents are so high in England because of the housing benefit and social services financial aid. Its actually pricing out the people who actually work for a living, but are not poor enough to qualify for state aid - in essence, you are better off on the dole than actually working.

This is an unintended consequence of the state trying to help people and it needs to be stopped. But no government will do it because they know they will voted out of office quicker than you can bat your eyelids as it sounds a horrible thing to do. But I actually believe that you have to be cruel to be kind sometimes. People on benefit are getting too much help with the result that they don't help themselves. The only way that the welfare system will be fixed is when the state runs out of money, because more people are cashing in than paying in, which will happen in various EU states over the next decade.