Quote:
Originally Posted by Sweetpea
If it takes longer than anticipated, I still can't get fired because of this, but I will get only 70% of my last earned wages. But my company won't have to pay for all this (or they'll probably pay and get it all back from the government).
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Statutory sick pay in the UK is very low in comparison and does not relate to your previous salary.
I have an insurance policy which will pay 50% of my pre-tax salary, this will not be taxed. The policy will continue to pay until I'm able to return to suitable work (not just
any job) or I reach retirement age. It's inexpensive.
I'm against the government providing this cover for everybody because I know it'll not be the working class that get the benefit, it'll be the idle class instead.
The problem of course is that such policies require to be underwritten, and if you have poor health to start with you won't be able to buy it.
Sadly in the UK x% of the population pays the tax for y%. I have no idea what x and y equate to but if I was to guess I'd say 60/40. I don't mind paying pensions, and some forms of tax credits, but I utterly object to people existing their entire lives from other people's pockets.
There is a safety net which ensures that no matter what happens you will have a reasonable standard of living, as that safety net raises higher more people realise it's not with the rat race and drop onto it, or worse still never get off it.
In principle I support maternity pay, funded through a national insurance policy. However national insurance in the UK is nothing of the kind and instead is just another tax.
All of this of course is one big catch 22. In order to do things fairly then people who should be supported will not be. In order to support people who should be, people should not be are supported. I don't think the government has reached the optimum balance though. I would like to opt out of the state pension (not the S2P), unemployment benefits, sickness benefits, etc etc because they are of no use to me. If I become to ill to work the payout from the government is a joke. When I retire - if I live long enough, the government will have to raise the age a few times - then the state pension will be a pittance. So as it stands I have to pay for my own healthcare, pension and insurance yet I also pay for other peoples.
The only way towards a solution that I can think of is to properly ring fence national insurance and make sure that people pay the correct amount based on their salary, and people without insurance do not get to claim. Of course it gets complicated when there's someone who has never been fit to work, do they get the premiums paid for them, and thus a payout? What level of payout do they get? Do we really let people starve who won't work? What about their children, it's not their fault... Edit : more detail, just to make sure I'm not misunderstood... the playing field should be level, someone who suffers from poor health should not have to pay more national insurance. Women should not have to pay more because they might get pregant. Disabled people should be entitled to a significantly higher quality of life than they are now. A person earing a very large salary should have that salary covered, not just a low amount. Likewise someone who is able to work, but does not find work should get at most enough to barely survive. We also need to ensure that doctors neither state someone is unfit when they are fit, but also that they do not state someone is fit when they are unfit.
There is no perfect answer, nor even an answer that's close to it.