Adding Reply Archived Topic: It will not be bumped to the top of the forum. Topic EMA £100 bonuses! Membername   Not a member? Sign Up Free (takes 20 seconds) Password   Forgotten your password? Post Font: Verdana Arial Black Georgia Comic Sans Impact   Size: Tiny Normal Big Huge   Color: Default Dark Red Red Orange Brown Green Olive Cyan Blue Dark Blue Indigo Black [ Check Spelling ] [ Post Preview ] [ LiveTags ] FAQ Keyword Search: Post Options Favorites Manager Notify me of new replies to this topic by email Notify me of new replies to this topic by private message Original Post ferakin Posted at 7:31 am on Sep. 21, 2008 In the UK college (16-18) students can obtain a grant of £30 a week to go towards their travel to college and their educational supplies if their family income falls within a certain bracket (which is under about £30,000 a year or something). Firstly, many students are committing benefit fraud by claiming to live with their poorer parent (thus being eligible for the grant) but actually living with the wealthier one. This is hard to prove, but wrong. But my big issue is with the £100 bonuses that these students can claim for turning up to class. Yes, they need the EMA grants to fund their education. But if £30 a week is what they're getting then it's obviously deemed to be enough for 99.9% of students needs. Why, then, do these students get a £100 bonus 4 times a year, simply for attending class. They don't even have to be doing all that well, just have to be there. When I was at college last year I didn't get any bonuses even though I too attended class every day, and then did more than most of these EMA students by actually doing really well in class. Where is my 'you-did-well' bonus!?? The bonus scheme is incredibly unfair and in my eyes is attempted bribery. Grr. What do you think? x

Replies luckybuhda Posted at 3:24 pm on Oct. 7, 2008 yeah, the bonuses are rediculous and i think instead of just giving it to students that attendlessons they should look at there grades and see if they have met there targets, also why not just pay the equivilent of 100 but in the form of bus passes and stuff or to go towards college trips. then again this would still not work cos the people would then use the money they would have used to pay for there bus passes and use it on alcohol lol. i myself do get ema and admit that non of it has gone towards anything to do with my education (except ucas application) but seeing as i pay my taxes and so do myparents why shouldnt i get some of it back i get taxed 24% of my wages and i'm 18 thats 150 a month i get taken off me and only get 120 ema a month so i'm still 30 pound down even with there help. how annoying! luckybuhda Posted at 3:13 pm on Oct. 7, 2008 i agree that ema is delt with in the wrong way, but cant beleive how ignorant some people are, just becuase certian people dont earn a decent wage doesnt mean that they are lazy! infact usually the lower paid jobs require more hard work than the high paid ones. i get paid 4.85 an hour to run around after customers and its bloody hard work! i do qualify for ema because my parents dont live together, if they did i wouldnt get it as my dad earns over 60k but my mum obviously earns less but doesnt mean shes lazy and nither am i, we both work and im glad i get ema cos the amount my dad has to pay on taxes (40%) should be coming back to me but the majority of it will unfortunatly be paying for people that cant be bothered to go to college and relay on others to pay for them to live.  lol got abit carried away here but you cant be so naive to think everyone getting ema has lazy parents and im sure that all the parents who dont earn enough and therefore there kids get ema would much rather have a better wage and give the child the money themselves than relay on the government to pay for them. ElephantStone Posted at 12:22 pm on Oct. 7, 2008 Im going to get a lot of shit now. But I think EMA students fully deserve the £100. The drop out rate for them is undoubtdly higher, certainly the equivalents in my college drop out more frequently. And life is harder for them. You dont know what it is like. ashles Posted at 11:45 am on Sep. 28, 2008 You wouldn't be complaining if you got EMA!  <br> I get £30 a week because I live with my mum and don't see my dad, and my mum's income is around £3000 p.a, and she can't afford to buy me everything I need for college as well as my younger sister's stuff. <br> So yeah it is fair, but some people don't need £30 a week, I could manage without but it's great that I can get it, it takes a lot of stress of my mum not having to buy my textbooks and stuff. Day Old Blues Posted at 10:37 am on Sep. 23, 2008 Quote: from dcdx89 at 3:42 pm on Sep. 21, 2008 Me like a lot of people see that EMA is a fucking unfair system...what because my parents work hard to earn over £30,000 and because i don't live in a shitty house i don't get any money... So i can still attend college everyday, behave myself and learn but if my mum and dad were lazy and on benefits or something i could be earning £30 a week..great. I would rather keep my pride cheers. You're such a tit. Seeing as the upper boundary is £30,000 there is going to be tens of thousands of parents who earn in the 20k range, still work hard to support their children but not in such amazingly high powered jobs as your splendid parents. Not everyone who gets EMA has 'lazy parents and lives in a shitty house.' Have you ever seen someone who is d-i-s-a-b-l-e-d? I agree that in the 'welfare state' it's really annoying that properly lazy people don't bother getting a job and get benefits spoon fed to them. But your comments are completely snobbish and greedy. The bonuses are a bit excessive, but I think they'll definitely be encouraging people who might otherwise not stay on at college/attend much to go regularly. amiee Posted at 9:27 am on Sep. 23, 2008 God, I give up. Some people are just idiots. Sachacohen2 Posted at 8:32 am on Sep. 23, 2008 Quote: from dcdx89 at 3:42 pm on Sep. 21, 2008 Me like a lot of people see that EMA is a fucking unfair system...what because my parents work hard to earn over £30,000 and because i don't live in a shitty house i don't get any money... So i can still attend college everyday, behave myself and learn but if my mum and dad were lazy and on benefits or something i could be earning £30 a week..great. I would rather keep my pride cheers. I agree. Sachacohen2 Posted at 8:28 am on Sep. 23, 2008 it is annoying. I wish i got ema sometimes. But i think they should be restricted to where they can spend the money e.g. only on schools books or uni . And they shouldn't just look at the income figure but also how many people there are in the family Daleacus Posted at 1:40 pm on Sep. 22, 2008 This simple answer to your simple question is that it is bribery to get you to attend. I don't think it's a BAD thing, but giving people raw cash for it is a bit daft - should be something geared towards education, like £100 of school travel costs covered. Besides the point, the entire system is wrong as it's based on income - that fact alone shows that it's a dumb system. Income itself means nothing, the important figure with this is how much disposable income (not spent on essentials like bills and vehicles) you have to support a child in education. Someone who has £30,000 a year coming in and four kids actually has less of a chance than someone with one kid earning much less a year to send their kids through sixth form - because the four kids use four times the money and the EMA system doesn't take into account circumstances such as this. So it's flawed fundamentally - it looks at the wrong figure and fails to make allowances. Regardless of income, your circumstances should dictate on whether or not you warrant £30 a week for nothing. Anyway. Yes, bonuses. Alright idea, wrong incentive with raw money. ferakin Posted at 12:41 pm on Sep. 22, 2008 dcdx89's comments were ignorant, and i think dramaqueenxoxo makes a valid point. there are many reasons why a household can't afford to NOT have EMA (they're temporarily out of work, have too many other expenses, have more important expenses, can't actually get work or are ill etc.) but i think people are missing the point here! my rife is with the bonuses offered to those students for simply attending a class. students who dont get ema but also attend the class do not gain any kind of bonus or reward. apart from the people who cheat the system and undeservedly claim EMA, it is a fair sum of £30 which may or may not (i dont know, having never recieved it) be enough for the student (i imagine art students to struggle on it actually). it is the bonus scheme which is so unfair. x amiee Posted at 11:15 am on Sep. 22, 2008 Quote: from dcdx89 at 3:42 pm on Sep. 21, 2008 Me like a lot of people see that EMA is a fucking unfair system...what because my parents work hard to earn over £30,000 and because i don't live in a shitty house i don't get any money...   So i can still attend college everyday, behave myself and learn but if my mum and dad were lazy and on benefits or something i could be earning £30 a week..great.   I would rather keep my pride cheers. Get a grip. You don't think the parents of those receiving the EMA work hard? You can't be so dim as to believe that all of those receiving £30 a week are children of those who are unemployed, lazy, on benefits, living in shitty housing, etc., surely? dramaqueenxoxo Posted at 3:52 am on Sep. 22, 2008 Grr! I want my EMA now! I am supposed to get £30 a week because my parents are unemployed but they fucked the forms up! It is fair because in some households, parents can't afford to have a child dependant on them over the age of 16 so many people (myself included) would leave after GCSEs and get a job. Driftwood Posted at 2:15 am on Sep. 22, 2008 Quote: from cheeseyitem at 7:34 am on Sep. 21, 2008 i dont like people who get ema, not fair on the rich kids... :O thats offensive to moi!! biatch :) x jonlester31 Posted at 1:28 pm on Sep. 21, 2008 and 30 franks equals what? Kieran Posted at 1:05 pm on Sep. 21, 2008 this is all alot of crap im ar 16 i work bloddy hard on the weekends i have no time to myself and i dont qualify for ema basicaly wat the govenment is doing is saying to the lazy arses of the country 'its ok ur on the dole for no reason so we will pay your child 2' i dont qualify for the ema but i get sod all from my mum and dad i pay for my bus passes my self and my food and still my freinds with ema have money just to throw away it realy pisses me off (the people who are genuinely dissabled are right to get this grant im excluding them from my tyrade its just the scum of the country what anoyes me,  <p> another thing , why sould i be judged on what my mum and dad has??? im 16 and i work , my freind is elegable for ema and works as a model, £200 for 4 hours work of fluttering her eye lashes and i work for £4,25 an hour  <br>   <br> Tryade over ,,,,,, Kieran Most recent 15 of 39 previous replies displayed.