Housing Benefit for under 25s

It's fine to disagree durhamjen but surely all tax payers contribute to civil service, NHS pensions. The only person who would contribute to my pension is me.

No, gillybob. All taxpayers contribute to the normal pension, but NHS pensions are paid through superannuation, like all council pensions. They have a fund which they all pay into.

Arguing politics is like arguing religion Ana you could argue until you are blue in the face.

My problem is that I was brought up by staunch labour parents in a labour controlled town but then my husband and I started our own small business and my eyes were opened.

Much rather be red in the face, or even green, gillybob.
All local authority workers pay between 5.5 and 12.5% of their pay into the pension scheme.

There will always be those who can't see beyond their own very limited experience, gillybob.

I've never been sure what all these 'links' are supposed to achieve, apart from irritating GNetters who would rather obtain their own information.

What on earth do you mean durhamjen ? Red/Green ?

There have been many t.v progs that remind us of just how squalid life was, even the 60,s 70's and up to the 80's were quite horrible for some.

I know there has been reference made already to the Nick Hedges photos, commissioned for Shelter and being exhibited at the Science Museum, London, they were printed in the Daily Mail today. When my daughter called round today I asked her to look at them and tell me when she thought they were taken. She said about 1920. She was astonished they were photos of housing and the families in the 60's and 70's.

I think it's because we are of that generation we remember the hardship of our era, hopefully we all faired a little better but we were not oblivious to what was going on around us. I think my memories run in tandem with the word 'austerity' and it's meaning for todays families.but I can't help but thinking back to a time when people lived in 'abject poverty', not that long ago. No electric, no warmth, no food or running water and as mentioned rats running every where. I would hazard a guess not one of those families, parents or children would say our welfare, benefits housing, health and education could ever come close to being called poverty or austerity in comparison to their understanding of the meaning of those words.

That doesn't detract or excuse any government from giving help where it is genuinely needed but my God pictures like those do put a little perspective on today's standard of living, in my book anyway.

I thought my post was pretty inoffensive too POGS. It does seem pretty naïve to believe that everything that is posted on the internet is completely true no matter which blog, forum, etc., it is posted on. I am not a particularly cynical person but spinning will happen particularly when we are dealing with anything political. I did say it may be true; the problem is we cannot know.

Teacher, civil servants, etc., do indeed contribute to their pensions durhamjen, as they should, but their employer - the tax payer - also contributes and this has been rather more than the average employer has been able to do. Originally this was to offset lower pay than the private sector but I don't think that has been the case in recent years.

Exactly the Point I was trying to make Gracesgran

But after a couple of glasses of wine................

Durhamjen I find myself agreeing with much of what you say. Keep up the good work if you think there is any point .

I mean political arguments often go nowhere because people are entrenched in their views.

I know I am!

I know I should really read through this thread before commenting but there are 361 posts and I really can't face that, so I expect I'm being simplistic about this.

But my point is, many under 25s live at home with parents. I think there's even a term for them 'KIPPERS'. Granted these may be better off or more supporting types of parents but unless there is an overriding problem, I don't understand why some feel they can just move out of the family home and be supported by us.

What happened to the concept of 'the family'?

The comments about public service pensions are, I feel, misleading - although perhaps understandable, given this government's enthusiasm for undermining the contribution of public service workers.

An extract from BBC News - Business - in May 2012, commenting on Lord Hutton's pension report:

"The median average salary-linked public sector pension that is currently being paid out to a pensioner, is worth £5,600 a year.

That compares with £5,860 in the private sector, according to the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF).

Using a mean average, some £7,800 a year is being paid in a public sector pension compared with £7,467 for a private sector salary-linked pension.

Some 87% of public sector employees are currently paying into a salary-linked pension scheme, compared with 12% of private sector employees."

Lord Hutton also stated that he regarded public sector pensions to be "far from "gold-plated" and that although some private sector employees receive less, this should not affect public sector pensions - it should not he says, be a race to the bottom.

My husband came to this country in 1970 at the invitation of the British government because there was a huge shortage of nurses, particularly in the specialism in which he was recruited - learning disabilities. He worked very long shifts for very low pay, in chronically under staffed wards, caring for people, many of whom had profound disabilities. Through hard work and undertaking additional training, he progressed to staff nurse, charge nurse and then nursing officer. He then obtained a position in London as a resource manager in social services. Throughout those 38 years he contributed to the pension scheme.

Many workers in the private sector - myself included - have not contributed throughout their working lives to either a work-based occupational pension scheme or a private pension scheme. I worked part-time for most of my working life, paying only the married woman's contribution until 1987. I only contributed to a work-based pension scheme from 1990 and retired in 2007. I therefore receive a very small private pension but fortunately because I had worked continuously from the age of 17 my state pension (with its SERPS element) is quite good. Given our very different employment records and financial contributions, I don't feel that my husband's pension, in relation to mine, could be described as "gold plated".

I think it's a bit pointless arguing about whose pensions are subsidised the most by the taxpayer.
Public sector pensions certainly are, since besides the employees' superannuation contribution, the taxpayer-funded employer (the NHS, local council, Government department or whatever) makes at least an equal contribution.
But private pensions are subsidised too in that there is tax relief on pension contributions, so that however much someone pays into a private pension, the Government contributes at the person's highest tax rate.

However, the tax and benefits system is so complex that it is quite difficult to work out who benefits the most in terms of lifetime contributions/lifetime benefits. Nick Robinson attempted this a couple of years ago in a programme for BBC 2 and the results were quite surprising.

What is really sad I think is that the original aims of the NHS and the Welfare State have been traduced into the politics of envy, unrealistic expectation and suspicion, fuelled partly by politicians' false promises and partly by the media.

As a tax payer, I do feel uncomfortable with some of the things my taxes go to pay for.

Benefits for the poverty stricken is not one of them. I am pleased to help.

Anya I don't think the average single under 25 would get much housing benefit anyway. Otherwise, why are there so many young people living on the streets?

Employer Contributions 2015/16

The average employer contribution rate currently paid is 18.9%. The rate that will apply from 1 April 2015 will be, on average, 21.1%.

www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/employers/employer-contribution-rates/

No employer I have ever worked for has paid anything like this into my pension.

I shall go back to the original topic now.

Not exactly housing benefits, but for those who think that youngsters are not interested in politics, I find this rather heartening.

www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/children-march-parliament-make-voices-7881660

I also find it sad that they have to do it. Childhood should be just that. What chance do many of these have?
Children are the ones who suffer most from benefits cuts, whether under 25 or under 18.

The median average salary-linked public sector pension that is currently being paid out to a pensioner, is worth £5,600 a year.

I have just realised that my so-called 'gold plated pension' is less than the median average.
Many women had their early contributions refunded to them as a 'marriage gratuity' or a 'bonus' when they left to have a family.

Here's another reason why under 25s are suffering. If they have jobs their pay has gone down.

www.theguardian.com/society/2014/oct/18/under-30s-priced-out-of-uk-alan-milburn

Today there was a private members bill to stop landlords giving tenants notice because they complain about things that need fixing. It was talked out by two Tory MPs so did not get to the next stage. This is happening all over the country but particularly in London.
There's all about it on Shelter's website if you want to know about it.

blog.shelter.org.uk/

Sad that Philip Davies MP, who (surprise, surprise) owns a flat in London for which he receives rent, managed to stay away from the races long enough to ensure this bill didn't get through. As a private landlord himself one may have hoped he would have had more integrity.

Taken from the official Register of MP's Interests:
8. Land and Property

Flat in London from which rental income is received. (Registered 18 September 2012)

SHAME

Yes, I noticed that, ga. The other one was Chope, but I cannot find out that he is a landlord, which makes me wonder why he did it. Maybe he has friends and family who are landlords.