I have a friend who found herself pregnant at 17. She was happy with the father and they made the best of a surprise situation. Once her daughter was a few months old, my friend decided to do what she'd always wanted to do and train to be a midwife. Unfortunately, around about the same time, her partner was made redundant. Because her midwifery course would provide a small bursary and she was living at home with her partner, she did not qualify for most of the benefits that young mums who do not work are entitled do. She had to choose to either give up her course, or ask her partner to move out. In the end, it had to be the latter and in the process, they broke up.
This girl was trying to make the best life for herself and her new family and was being hindered every step of the way. Had she decided to simply sit at home and never look for work, she would have been better off.
I know many more young parents who severely struggle to balance work and childcare and yet do it because it is the right thing to do. Every day they look on Facebook and see other young girls who have young children, lovely houses, exciting social lives and have never worked a day in their life. And will never work a day in their life.
That cannot be right.
I heard a story today about a woman who is a heroin addict and, because of this, gets £900 per month in "disability" benefits. A friend's daughter has Downs Syndrome. She receives £500 per month in disability benefits. An addiction to an illegal drug is worth more than a condition that a young girl was born with.
That cannot be right.
Every day, people young and old head to the job centre, walk around town handing out CVs, desperate to find a day's work. At the same time, many others sit at home, watching their widescreen TV, playing their X Box, talking on their iPhone 5, all of which have been paid for with benefits.
That cannot be right.
I read an article about a lady who had known from a very young age that she never wanted to work so at the age of 18, she got pregnant because she "knew the government would foot the bill". She is now a single mum to three children, each of whom has their own room. In her house she has 3 widescreen TVs, several games consoles and the latest mobile phones. She has a car and always manages at least one family holiday every year. She has never had a job. She will never have a job. Because she will never need to.
That cannot be right.
Our benefits system has to exist. I am so glad it does exist. It should be there for the girl who finds herself pregnant and wants to create a good life for herself and her young child. It should be there for the young couple who give birth to a child with a disability and requires full time care. It should be there for the people who lose their jobs and need to keep paying the rent while they find another one. It should be there to help rehabilitate drug users and alcoholics while they get back on their feet.
It should NOT be there to pay for the latest gadgets for people who are too lazy to look for a job. It should not be there to help fund a person's addiction while they sip on methadone. It should not encourage young girls to have babies because they know that if they have a child, the government will give them a nice house and lots of money to spend however they want. And when the child grows out of benefits? Just have another one.
It should be mentioned that while all this is going on, the 1,000 richest people in Great Britain saw their wealth GROW by £155 billion over the past three years. During the "recession". To give you a frame of reference, the UK's entire budget defecit is £122 billion.
There is something very wrong.
Maybe instead of David Cameron and Ed Milliband spending PMQs bickering like very upper class school kids and getting absolutely nowhere, they should be working on fixing broken Britain.
