Long story short. Why is it considered acceptable for chicks to be on the single mothers pension spitting out spawn, but dudes on the dole are generally considered bludgers?.
...and can someone explain to me how an under 16 chick with a kid is able to receive the same funding as someone NOT receiving funds from a crime?.
Meh. (a) It's not considered acceptable by anyone I've ever met; and (b) what you gonna do, let the kid starve to death?
ReplyDeleteAs a chick who received Sole Parent benefits (part benefit - while working and/or studying) I may have to come back to this one when I have more time. Don't be too quick to judge my friend.
ReplyDeleteMate
ReplyDeleteThe government made it even worse with their baby bonus. I bet if you chart pop growth in Inala and Woodridge the number of sprogs jumped exponentially when the baby bonus came in.
Idiots (the bulk of he aussie population) assume that blokes on the dole are just wasting the money while single mothers use the money to care for their kids. Reality is something completely different in most cases.
I could go on and on (with personal experiences) but I don't want to burst a vein.
Short answer is: Life Sucks.
Doc Yobbo speaks very neatly for me, there. But I will say, as a parent: I really wonder how the hell anyone can do the single parent thing and hold down a serious job.
ReplyDeleteMy mother did, yes. But she was a teacher, and my sister and I spent long hours hanging around the schoolyard after the schoolday finished, while mum caught up on her paperwork. And most of what we did as a family revolved around school, and school-based events.
I don't think I missed out. But I know my mother did. I can remember her falling asleep, face-down at the table in a mass of half-marked student assignments. And that was a good night.
She gave up pretty much everything, in those years, but her work and her two kids -- and in retrospect, I'm amazed she held onto that much, and did it as credibly as she did. I'm not sure I could do the same.
Mayhem,
ReplyDeleteNot talking about it when it's a necessity for survival. It's a good thing to have and it has kept many families together, I'm talking about people who do it by choice.
I know a family who has six ... or seven kids. They "aren't" together to receive the funding they need for her to get the funding she gets. He is on disability - no idea if it's fraud - but they ARE together and she IS pregnant again. There is NO WAY they could afford to have these kids any other way and it's TOTALLY for the purpose of 'bludging'.
Explain to me how that is any different to your stereotypical dole bludger?.
Doc, I just wonder how many under age pregnant chicks have been charged.
Cap'n, Not having a go at the pension itself. Having a go at the people abusing it.
Single men, and single women on the dole are considered dole bludgers. Single fathers on the dole and bennies are not considered dole bludgers. Well, I presume. I've never actually met or heard of one.
ReplyDeleteAccording to both major parties, Australia is undersized. The unionist party wants more high paid workers, and the capitalist party wants more low paid workers.
It is a problem made all the more worse for people like me and Trish, I took care of a special needs kid for a long time, there was no way I could work, but still people assumed because this child looked 'normal' I was merely bludging.
ReplyDeleteWhen I see pregnant children it still annoys me, but worse I wonder for the life of the child about to be born. Once the reality sets in, it is unbelievably hard being a single parent. Often made worse by the judgements of others who are happy to put everyone into the same catagory. I know you don't, but for every Moko type of person there are fifteen more telling you what a waste of tax payers money you are.
In reality in the places you have mentioned for some, motherhood isn't just an aim in life, it's a career option.
Working families should be getting more, and so should the elderly.
ReplyDeleteApologies if I'm a tad sensitive on this issue. But if I had a $ for everyone who DID judge me, I wouldn't have neede the pension in the first place. I actually had a bus driver call me a slut once, because I used my pension card to receive a discounted fare home from work.
ReplyDeleteOkay, now that I have a little more time, I'll try to express myself a bit better.
ReplyDeleteEver since The Brat was little, I have worked, either part-time or casual, and received a part pension ('til he was 16 anyway, 'cos kids don't need parenting anymore once they turn 16 apparently). I also spent a good deal of that time studying, but never finished my degree because it was just too fkn hard. I know there are women who can, and some with less suppport than I had, but I just didn't cope.
The situation you describe with the couple who are together but not "together" pisses me off enormously, they sound exactly like a family I met years ago when I was in banking. If it wouldn't have lost me my job (Privacy Act), I would have been onto Centrelink like a shot.
I also know girls, even a cousin, who are professional single mums. They piss me off too.
But more than that, I know many many many very decent, hardworking, single Mums and Dads.
The biggest problem is that the dickheads are the Single Parents who get the publicity. You rarely hear, in the public domain, about the decent ones, only the a*holes who make it hard for the rest of us. Yes, my friends, my family, even some acquaintances, tell me how wonderful I am, "don't know how you do it" etc., etc.
Truth is you just do it, you don't think about it, you're not a hero, or in any way more special than any other decent parent. I don't want or need any special recognition, but I also don't want or need to be lumped in with the bludgers (and they do exist - in the minority), either.
Trouble is... with the coverage being somewhat unbalanced, too many people see all single parents as being crap, lousy, neglectful parents.
I'm not saying you Moko, I guess I'm just over it, "Oh Goody another story about idiots ripping off the system", to make my life that little bit more difficult.
So yeah, my apologies again for over sensitivity mate.