Benefit Levels

People keep citing these huge amounts that people get on benefits in the UK. Single men getting £12-14,000 per year and having no incentive to work was being cited by some Tory on BBC's Question Time on Friday. Fucking hell! I get £4,800 in Income Support including the top-up for being ill. I get about £4,400 in Housing Benefit - about £9,200 in total. I don't know what people do to get so much more! I really don't. As far as I can make out there is no way for me to fiddle the system even if I did lie my arse off, and risk prosecution. I give the relevant agencies my information, they tell me what I get and I have fuck-all to say about it. I guess my accommodation is pretty cheap - £320 per month - but all of that goes directly to my landlord, and it is cheap because I live with five other adults (four middle-aged bachelors). My standard of living is determined by the IS. Out of that comes all my bills, telephone, food, clothes, everything. It's not exactly the lap of luxury, I get by because I walk everywhere, don't own a car. I don't have holidays. I don't have an ipod or a flash computer. I have a PAYG mobile I put £5 on every couple of months and only use it for texts and incoming calls. My luxury is that I buy second books to read, mostly from charity shops.

So perhaps a review is in order if people are getting so much more than me, but why do I have this sinking feeling that I'm the one who's going to end up with LESS!?