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Originally Posted by Hitch
I don't know about your neck of the woods, but here, I could not manage to live on welfare. Simply could not.
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You can't live on welfare alone, but you also get rent subsidization, exempt from some taxes, and extra money if you match some specific criteria. If you match all the criteria, then welfare + rent subsidization + exemption + extras can be as much as a minimum wage.
At that point, you're at the point that you're basically not going to die, if you live very cheaply. (Normally, you could get some rent subsidization + extras on top of a minimum wage as well; you'll need to earn about €500 gross more than a minimum wage before working in a non-minimum wage job starts to pay off... barely.)
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I confess, I've never been on welfare here, but I don't imagine that it's a lot different. After all, as we agreed, it's a safety net. It's not really intended to preserve your savings, if you lose a job. "Safety net" doesn't mean "I don't want to use my money to live on." it means, "I need help." No?
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Agreed, but I am still of the opinion that "You need to sell and spend everything you have before we help you" is a bit too far in the other direction.
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Can you freelance, as a self-employed person? Any options for that? (If this is too personal, I'll drop it. I'm not trying to be nosy about your circumstances.)
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I'm not in welfare, but I had a close one, once again.
I've been there once, years ago, having to blow an amount of savings that were... non-trivial, before the government thought I might need some assistance. (Because of my poor eye-sight, a *lot* of jobs are unfit for me because they require having a car, or I can't reach the job location in a normal amount of time.)
Since that time, this stuff is a personal pet peeve, and I rant about it any chance I get. The pet peeve is aggravated by the fact that (and here is where the political bit comes in) you can basically shove it and see how you manage/get a new job, as long as you have some savings left.
On the other hand ... uhm.... 'new countrymen' / 'non-western immigrants' ... *cough* ... get assistance (money, housing, schooling, help in finding a job, even help and money for *moving if necessary*, and *exemption from waiting lists* in some municipalities) that I can only *dream* of if I ever should end up in welfare (again).
It almost makes it worth my while to become a refugee in my own ***ramsay**** country.
I try to avoid welfare, but with the current 'wheeee, flexible job market! fun!'-mentality over here, you can end up there in a jiffy.