When is minimum wage not minimum wage?

Well wouldn’t you know it something I want to write about occurs a couple of days after my post about ending the blog!

My son is currently trudging the streets delivering leaflets and is he receiving minimum wage? Is he hell! So how does an employer get away with this? By employing him on a self-employed basis! The situation is he is self-employed but not really self-employed,  if you see what I mean. Fact is he works for no-one but this company and answered an ad which didn’t specify self-employment but that’s the deal. No wage at all just a certain amount per leaflet. This carry on is actually fairly prolific in this country and I know many people employed on this basis. Some actually get minimum wage or higher, it’s just that the company don’t want to deal with tax etc. My son is only young so although it’s annoying that he works 5 hrs and only makes enough for his bus fare for the week, it’s not a matter of not being able to feed his children. The sad thing is that working for the same company are people who have rent to pay, kids to feed and a home to run.

Under universal credit people in this situation will be hounded to get better work as obviously they don’t make enough  to live on and will have to claim something to enable them to live. Rather than being vilified these people should be applauded. Pounding the streets in all weather’s, putting their hands through letter boxes where dogs live, carrying heavy loads for several hours a day for what? A couple of pence per leaflet. What an awful situation to be in damned if you do and damned if you don’t!

The UK in 2014 what a great country to live in!

Thinking of ending this blog.

I’m thinking of giving up this blog in favour of something different (maybe to do with my depression/low mood). Nothing much seems to change on the day to day benefits fight for the better and to be honest I’ve obviously not been keeping this blog up to date due to my mindset and the numerous other things I’m pursuing in an effort to make my life and that of my family a bit better.

My partner is still on the work programme but it’s not moving forward, in part due to the offices closing and them not finding any premises for over three months. I can’t see anything much changing for the foreseeable future and my head is all over the place. I don’t think I’m a bad person but my life has been hard and doesn’t get any easier. I’ve made and continue to make bad decisions, but I have tried to be a good Mum and equip my children to cope in the real world. I’ve applied for numerous jobs but often get no acknowledgement and am still jobless. Nothing seems to run smoothly for me and on top of having to struggle along on a tight budget, I have had a six month running battle with a utility company which had to go the the ombudsman due to getting absolutely nowhere on my own.

Although I do no paid work I am constantly on the go, feel like I have little time for myself, I am the one who everyone comes to with all the family problems. I don’t see myself as one of the ‘scroungers’ but am aware that is increasingly how the public view people such as myself. Maybe they are right? After all people do manage to work with children and a depressed partner. I’m increasingly disheartened and disillusioned with the direction this country is travelling. I’m not sure where to go from here.

Thank you all for looking at this blog, I’ve had more hits than I ever imagined when I first began it as a place to offload and try to help anyone I could. I am not going to close totally just yet and will continue to post should anything happen or come to mind that may be of any use to anyone.

Cheers for the support. Bye for now.