By daily mail-esque rant do you mean completely misinformed?
Firstly you cannot get JSA and IS at the same time. To my knowledge there is no money paid to get people sign on/interviews.

Also, you work 35 hours and get paid £1.42 an hour for the previlege?
( Holly Would long wheel based tranny, Wed 2 Jun 2010, 14:04, 3 replies)

Firstly....
he gets £4.86/hour as he said he gets £170/week BUT how do you only have £50/week to live off? Not having a go just asking (being nosy probably)?
(Studentken is looking for motivation on, Wed 2 Jun 2010, 14:25, closed)

I thought the £170 was what he would have gotten if he was claiming benefits
ie the £50 of JSA, £55 of housing, £50 of Income support and £15 Council tax benefit = £170. Though I may have misunderstood.
( Holly Would long wheel based tranny, Wed 2 Jun 2010, 14:40, closed)

£50
is pretty normal for a modern apprenticeship, for instance - my niece is training to be a hairdresser and gets paid about that. And yes, you can get grants for interview clothes plus transport to and from interviews etc. Although I don't know if this comes direct from the government but I know for a fact that places like remploy do this.
(berk, Wed 2 Jun 2010, 14:33, closed)

I read somewhere
that minimum wage applies to apprenticeships.
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Wed 2 Jun 2010, 14:37, closed)

From HMRC website:
From pay reference periods starting on or after 1 October 2006 the special rules for apprentices will be extended to apprentices aged over 25. This will mean that:

apprentices under age 19 will not qualify for the national minimum wage
apprentices over age 19 and in the first 12 months of their apprenticeship will not qualify for the national minimum wage.
(Marmite Omelette ...but I feel better having screamed, don't you?, Wed 2 Jun 2010, 14:54, closed)

Interviews for work, yes, but not to get to the jobcentre.
Which again was how it reads.
( Holly Would long wheel based tranny, Wed 2 Jun 2010, 14:56, closed)

Yes, this.
It's JSA if you are able to work, ESA if you are unable to work due to illness or disability or IS if you are unable to work due to other reasons (such as being a single parent)

You cannot claim two of these at the same time.

So your total income if you were not in work would be £120 per week. That is intended to cover rent, council tax, bills, food and bus fare to interviews. If your rent comes to more than the LHA then you have to make up the difference yourself. Granted, you get free prescriptions etc on these benefits but the extra £50 a week ought to cover that.

And bear in mind that when you work, you get paid every week/month with no fuss, if you left one job for another the overlap wouldn't leave you out of pocket, and you don't have to tell your employer (wait, make that 2-3 separate departments of your employer, none of which talk to each other) if you move in with someone, have a child or move house. You can take on extra casual or temporary work without having to declare it (except for tax purposes of course) and most of all you have the satisfaction of knowing you are supporting yourself and not relying on handouts.

It's a myth that people are better off on benefits than working, except in some cases when you have a lot of children. Obviously there are some people who are going to sit on their arse and do nothing and be supported, just because they can, but don't assume that the majority of people who are on benefits are having one long party. (And if they are it's probably funded by illegal means, anyway, and not benefits at all)
(Marmite Omelette ...but I feel better having screamed, don't you?, Wed 2 Jun 2010, 14:52, closed)

"Obviously there are some people who are going to sit on their arse and do nothing and be supported, just because they can"
This

is the entire problem.
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Wed 2 Jun 2010, 14:57, closed)

These people, you wouldn't want to work with.
I often wonder if the govenment have an active interest in keeping people down. *dons tinfoil hat* The lower classes probably provide the majority of the soldiers on the front line.
( Holly Would long wheel based tranny, Wed 2 Jun 2010, 15:15, closed)

Nah
they're too bone idle to sign up.
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Wed 2 Jun 2010, 15:24, closed)

I believe it was part of Cameron's manifesto
to do something about that.
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Wed 2 Jun 2010, 15:24, closed)

Tony Blair's, John Major's, and Maggie's too, I understand.

( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Wed 2 Jun 2010, 15:27, closed)

^^^
...and all of them were going to have "a bonfire of the quangos" as well, so expect a shed load more "sleep councils" and "potato council" type jobs soon.
(dchurch bah, Wed 2 Jun 2010, 15:30, closed)