How do the unemployed continue to smoke and wear designer clothes?

Get a grip. The unemployed and not getting rich off the state. In fact no one can honestly live on state handouts and believe me a lot have tried. What you do not take into account is that some of these people have richer aunties and uncles who give them "unrecorded handouts". Now, to the best of my knowledge, people are not required to report every gift. (Unlike MP's) Just because some may be poor does not mean their family members are the same. For instance, a friend of mine has a brother who works in the city - a millionaire. And gives him his old car every three years when he gets a new one. so to reduce human nature and vast complexities to a quick look at a council estate is a non starter. Also the fact that it looks like a council estate is also deceptive. And It is also arguable if you are correct to say they were unemployed just because they live on a council estate. They may just have bought flats there.

Are you suggesting that they should be required to dress in cast-off clothes so they can feel even worse about their situation? They probably got those outfits while they were still working. Maybe they are panhandling. I hear that panhandlers claim to make $60 per hour.

I have done my calculations and it seems people on benefit earn the same as a single persons avarage salary which is £25,000 With that theory they have more lesuire time to smoke ciggarates and buy clothes.

So, everyone who lives on a council estate is a benefit scrounger?? Most are decent hard working people, get off your high horse, mate, and drop the bigotry. Judge not, lest ye, yerself be judged. Footnote: Most scroungers, and bloodsuckers, who live off the backs of poorer people, live in big houses in the stockbroker belt!

As an unemployed person half of me wants to slap you for being so ignorant as to think that just because I don't have a job at this precise moment in time I hang around street corners in my Nike trackie with a cigarette hanging from my lip laughing at all the sad gits out there who do work for a living so that I can hang around street corners in my........., and the other half of me agrees with you. The designer tracksuit, baby to match, newest mobile and endless (questionable!) fags seem to be the uniform of the unemployed these days. Chav City!! I wear a tracksuit some days, I don't smoke, don't have a baby, have only recently got a new camera phone and only hang around street corners if I've dropped something. The difference between me and them? How you perceive us.

Yes, you are. They get some type of monthly handout that comes from our taxes, and instead of spending it wisely on food, housing and clothes that one could wear to, oh, I don't know, maybe a job interview, they squander it on crap like that.

its called welfare, instead of taking care of their children they spend the money on themselves

God dont even get me started on this. I hate these people, they know how to work the system and get every benefit under the sun. They should have thier benefit stopped after a certain perio of time. Ive worked full time for 9 years, and was recently on Job Seekers, i was told my benefit would run out after 6 months, and now if i get paid off i have not built up enough cedit to get full benefits. Then theres all these folk who have 6 or 7 kids and get full benefits for each one and heres me, working full time an i could not afford to have a child so take that option of not having one

logic" they get pregnant, ask money from the government for their kids, let their kids loose and keep the money for themselves. or they just simply sell mary-joe- and wanna