Before you hand over money to a Big Issue seller, think about this…
How come if you are a single mother on benefits and do a bit of bar work to pay for Christmas you are a ‘scrounger’, but if you live in a hostel, receive benefits and then top that up by earning £100 a week selling Big Issue, you’re a hero and do-gooders will come up to you and give you a fiver and a large cappuccino?
The recent story in the press about the Big Issue seller claiming £25,000 in benefits while living in a £130,000 house is a timely reminder…
As a Romanian immigrant living in the UK, Big Issue seller Firuta Vasile already qualified for more than £25,500 a year in benefits.
But one state handout she wasn’t entitled to was housing benefit. Until now.
Yesterday the 27-year-old mother of four was celebrating having won the extra payout – worth at least £2,600 a year – after her local council was over-ruled by a judge.
Miss Vasile, whose marital status is unknown, said the benefits money would help her pay rent on her £130,000 three-bedroomed home, while she continues to earn around £100 a week selling copies of the homelessness magazine.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2087857/Romanian-Big-Issue-seller-given-legal-right-claim-housing-benefit.html#ixzz1jvyhuvME
Even the Big Issue admits that most of its sellers aren’t actually homeless, they are living in hostels or other supported accommodation while claiming benefits . It admits that most need the money for drink or drugs, and in the run-up to Christmas advised not to give substantial sums of money to sellers (other than buying a magazine), for fear they would have enough money to kills themselves with drink/drugs.
So unless it is to make living on the streets as a drunk or junkie a viable lifestyle… what is the Big Issue for?
