Record Numbers Not Working Due To Ill Health

Yoginimeisje

I'm self-employed, so can never take time off or my bills & mortgage [when I still had one] wouldn't be paid. Hence never having any jabs as couldn't risk being ill.

But the jabs may well have prevented you getting ill.

I'm self-employed, so can never take time off or my bills & mortgage [when I still had one] wouldn't be paid. Hence never having any jabs as couldn't risk being ill.

My son never claimed any benefits, until he came back to live with me 3yrs ago.

Germanshepherdsmum

If I were to say what I thought I would be banned.

Agree.

My son had a severe adverse reaction to the Swine flu jab. 10yrs on he is still recovering, just getting back to work now, but not the high-powered job he had before. Some never recover, some left paralysed.

Cumbrian123

How about benefit payments for those who are Not poorly , only .
I wonder how many folks would suddenly become productive and stop whining- just a thought .
No I’m not from a warm comfortable environment, glass of wine etc etc

Cumbrian123, why do you want to stop benefits for those who are ill? What are they supposed to live on? How are they meant to pay their rent or mortgage? Eat? Travel to hospital for teatment?
Surely you have not thought this through? Or have I misunderstood you?
And most sick people are not "whining", they are soldiering on, struggling to hold down a job, or trying to get the benefits they are legally entitled to.
Please don't tarnish the character of the many sick people because of the relatively few malingerers. The benefit system is hard enough to navigate when you are well, even harder when you are ill.

I was just thinking of a friend who has a disabled sticker and parks in a disabled spot because she has a chronic illness and is very weak. She doesn’t look disabled and it is surprising ( or maybe not ) the number of times people inform her she is taking up a space for people who are really disabled. We shouldn’t judge, should we? I would think the majority on sickness benefit are actually sick but of course there are a few unscrupulous people around, always have been. The same with beggars. To my mind if they are asking I will give them something if I feel as though I want to. The very fact that they are begging means they need help, psychological if nothing else.

People who are ill can’t just ‘stop whining’ and get better.

How about benefit payments for those who are Not poorly , only .
I wonder how many folks would suddenly become productive and stop whining- just a thought .
No I’m not from a warm comfortable environment, glass of wine etc etc

I mostly agree with you Rainnsnow, but some of us have aged out of paid employment and self-employment is all that is left to us. Self-employment isn't always a choice. It's a last resort.

It scares me what would happen if I got really ill. I have no other means of support and don't get a pension for another 10 years.

Lots of people pay tax to fund this type of support system. Shaming people when they are physically ill is wrong. Nosey people may not be privy to all the information. Lots of strong views on here . Working for your self does limit some benefits, but that should be part of the choice you make when going self employed. I’m proud we do look after others in society but the system is flawed. Older people don’t always use computers and feel shameful about claiming when they are really ill. Lots want to work and run them selves into the ground doing so whilst ill .

Sorry posted too soon

Well said.

Norah

halfpint1

I am self employed and have been for many years, being too sick to work is never an option.

Indeed. Never been an option for us.

I'm self employed and I have to be totally wiped out, unable to sit up, let alone stand up, to be off work now.

I even worked less than 10 hours post op, in hospital. I hadn't intended to and had cancelled most of my clients, but one got in touch and begged. And to keep them, I did the work. They were grateful and I got a bonus payment as thanks, but that wasn't why I did it. I did it because if they had gone elsewhere because I hadn't helped, it would have made a big dent in my regular earnings.

Having said that, I worked through radiotherapy post cancer surgery, and I was an employee then.

My whole immediate family has had Covid at least twice ….I’ve had it three times and yes….. weve had all the jabs!! Nobody is long term ill ….nobody is ‘not working’ nobody is not going to school! But then I’m a skeptic and cynic so these folk do t stand a chance with me!!

GSM me too

I'm sorry to hear about your friend. It must be really difficult for her. I don't think anyone has denied the existence of Long Covid though, although maybe it feels like that when you are so close to it. I hope she improves very soon.

Nobody has said otherwise have they? Yes, working might be a struggle but good for her.

God what nasty people are in this group. I have a young friend, a mum of 5 yr old twins who caught covid at the beginning when they were 2. No help from the dad who she eventually left. Long covid has left her very disabled but she STILL works part time, with difficulty. It’s a painful struggle all the time. Just because maybe you didn’t catch it or had a sniffle doesn’t mean long covid isn’t out there. It’s devastating.

This gaming sounds like fraud biglouis.

Of course if you have a serious car accident, a heart attack or cancer the ability to choose is taken out of your hands. Thankfully I have never been in that position.

I’m extremely grateful to now be retired and to only have my husband and my dog to look after, and to no longer ‘eat what I kill’ as was the case in my profession, with other hunters always trying to snare valuable corporate clients - as did I. That was, and still is, the reality in my field. My blood pressure has dropped to a level I would never have believed possible. But those who have never been wholly dependent on clients or customers, who can disappear in the blink of an eye, for their daily bread will probably never understand the drive to survive that that situation instils.

I used to post on another forum. There was a member who was very well read up on benefits and had arranged his affairs so as to take maximum advantage of loopholes and inconsistencies in the system. He was also very helpful in giving advice to others (including myself).

Although what he had done was 100% legal the amount of flack and abuse he took was phenomenol and eventually drove him off the site. I suspect there was a great deal of bitterness and envy at the root of it from people who had not been quite so clever in arranging their own financial affairs.

There is no system yet invented that cannot be"gamed". Gaming is not breaking the rules, but manipulating them so as to gain maximum advantage for oneself. Having the intelligence and cunning to take advantage of the loopholes and ambiguities can be a great source of satisfaction to those who were born with that kind of mind.

Primrose53

We always laugh about the time we had to take a neighbour to the disability assessment office (or whatever it’s called) as he couldn’t drive. He has special needs. We went down a one way street and parked in a small multi storey nearby. I accompanied him down and went in with him but it was so busy I was not allowed to stay.

I waited outside watching people coming and going. I noticed a youngish chap going in who was dragging his leg and limping badly. After over 2 hours our neighbour came out and we walked into the multi storey and the “limping man” actually overtook us on the stairs, taking them two at a time with no sign of a limp! 🤣

They film now in various places to check people like this. They would not have necessarily paid his claim.

I just feel that those on here stating because they are self employed they simply have never been able to go off sick are very strong mentally and generally enjoy good health with occasional blips - seriously if you had a serious car accident, a stroke, a heart attack, cancer and some other long term conditions like MS to simply would not be able to work - however much to needed to nor wan to let down clients - is not a sin to be seriously unwell. Those of us in PAYE with paid sick leave are extremely fortunate, but there again most of us have choices as to our employment status and you just never know what’s around the corner - the healthiest and fittest of us with perfect work records can be suddenly struck down without warning - both my Dad and husband prides themselves on never taking a “sickie”, one died of terminal cancer and the other had a near fatal heart attack - both were previously fit and healthy people

Germanshepherdsmum

Covid - after I retired.
Real flu once in my 20s, flu jab every year.
Gastroenteritis - one day at home with phone.
Mental breakdown - yes, medication for depression and anxiety still taken to this day, no time off. How I carried on I don’t know but I had no choice.

Perhaps now you understand that if you’re self employed you still work because you have to. You know what I did for a living - keeping my valuable client base was crucial.

You sound just like my OH!! I pull his leg and tell him he’s like the old dolls on French and Saunders who say it’s “all stuff and b****y nonsense”. They carried on whatever and one even chopped her arm off on the kitchen table because she hurt her hand!! 🤣🤣🤣

We always laugh about the time we had to take a neighbour to the disability assessment office (or whatever it’s called) as he couldn’t drive. He has special needs. We went down a one way street and parked in a small multi storey nearby. I accompanied him down and went in with him but it was so busy I was not allowed to stay.

I waited outside watching people coming and going. I noticed a youngish chap going in who was dragging his leg and limping badly. After over 2 hours our neighbour came out and we walked into the multi storey and the “limping man” actually overtook us on the stairs, taking them two at a time with no sign of a limp! 🤣