I left school in 1960, maybe 1961, with the headmasters words ringing in my ears.
Smith, he said, it would benefit neither you nor the school for you to stay here a day longer than necessary.
My Mother was present for this interview, which was ostensibly about my spending a further year in what was called 6th Remove to resit my GCE examinations.
On hearing the headmaster share his opinion of my general worthlessness my Mother was mortified.
She dragged me out of school and onto the bus and, as we were walking up the hill towards home, we passed the premises of The Normeir Tyre Company, they were advertising for a trainee, the wage £4/1 shilling a week.
So I started work on the Monday after I had left school, or school had left me, on the Friday.
I enjoyed receiving a weekly wage packet.
Of the £4/1 shilling I gave my Mother £3 for my Board and Lodging and kept the £1/1 shilling for myself.
I managed pretty well on the money, and if occasionally I ran out of money on a Thursday or, heaven forfend, a Wednesday, I simply had to wait 'til Friday and I would have money again.
After a year I left the job, which it turned out was not a trainee salesman at all but, after a weeks training, a Tyre Fitter which as I have mentioned in a previous blog, was the most responsible job that I have ever had.
My next job, as a Civil Servant, was monthly paid.
I had to convince my Mother that £3 a week could be converted into a monthly amount by multiplying by 52 and then dividing by 12.
So 3x52 = 156.
156 divided by 12 = 13.
So if I paid her £13 pounds a month then we would be as we were.
She was not convinced. a) I had failed Maths, so there was a credibility problem and, b) Some months had four weeks and some five, so that was another problem.
Eventually I managed to convince her but for both of us the transition from weekly to monthly was difficult.
So when I retired, after a lifetime of robbing Peter to pay Paul, of too many days and not enough money at the end of the month.
I checked the small print and decided that I wanted my pension paid weekly.
The young lady in the Ministry of Pensions advised me that it would have to be paid monthly but I disagreed and quoted the relevant sub section, after speaking with her nameless and faceless supervisor I was advised that yes, the pension could be paid weekly, if I requested it to be.
I requested and for the last four years my pension has been paid weekly.
Why tell you this story?
Well it is a big society story.
Mr Ian Duncan Smith is introducing a new system of benefit payments and Universal Credit is to be paid monthly.
Already Housing Associations are advising tenants to pay more in advance, because as the payment is to be made in arrears and rent is paid in advance, they may well find that following the introduction of Universal Credit, they will almost immediately be plunged into arrears.
There is nothing big society about this decision, because benefits are paid in arrears, by transferring all beneficiaries to a monthly payment the Government will effectively save money by keeping substantial receipts in the Treasury for four weeks before they are paid out so who wins and who loses?
Is the reverse calculation multiply by 12 and divide by 52? Perhaps the mathematicians can advise?
My Mother was of course right all those years ago, because I paid her in arrears not in advance, for one month I had free board and lodging but I doubt if Mr Duncan Smith will be as generous as my Mother.
Smith, he said, it would benefit neither you nor the school for you to stay here a day longer than necessary.
My Mother was present for this interview, which was ostensibly about my spending a further year in what was called 6th Remove to resit my GCE examinations.
On hearing the headmaster share his opinion of my general worthlessness my Mother was mortified.
She dragged me out of school and onto the bus and, as we were walking up the hill towards home, we passed the premises of The Normeir Tyre Company, they were advertising for a trainee, the wage £4/1 shilling a week.
So I started work on the Monday after I had left school, or school had left me, on the Friday.
I enjoyed receiving a weekly wage packet.
Of the £4/1 shilling I gave my Mother £3 for my Board and Lodging and kept the £1/1 shilling for myself.
I managed pretty well on the money, and if occasionally I ran out of money on a Thursday or, heaven forfend, a Wednesday, I simply had to wait 'til Friday and I would have money again.
After a year I left the job, which it turned out was not a trainee salesman at all but, after a weeks training, a Tyre Fitter which as I have mentioned in a previous blog, was the most responsible job that I have ever had.
My next job, as a Civil Servant, was monthly paid.
I had to convince my Mother that £3 a week could be converted into a monthly amount by multiplying by 52 and then dividing by 12.
So 3x52 = 156.
156 divided by 12 = 13.
So if I paid her £13 pounds a month then we would be as we were.
She was not convinced. a) I had failed Maths, so there was a credibility problem and, b) Some months had four weeks and some five, so that was another problem.
Eventually I managed to convince her but for both of us the transition from weekly to monthly was difficult.
So when I retired, after a lifetime of robbing Peter to pay Paul, of too many days and not enough money at the end of the month.
I checked the small print and decided that I wanted my pension paid weekly.
The young lady in the Ministry of Pensions advised me that it would have to be paid monthly but I disagreed and quoted the relevant sub section, after speaking with her nameless and faceless supervisor I was advised that yes, the pension could be paid weekly, if I requested it to be.
I requested and for the last four years my pension has been paid weekly.
Why tell you this story?
Well it is a big society story.
Mr Ian Duncan Smith is introducing a new system of benefit payments and Universal Credit is to be paid monthly.
Already Housing Associations are advising tenants to pay more in advance, because as the payment is to be made in arrears and rent is paid in advance, they may well find that following the introduction of Universal Credit, they will almost immediately be plunged into arrears.
There is nothing big society about this decision, because benefits are paid in arrears, by transferring all beneficiaries to a monthly payment the Government will effectively save money by keeping substantial receipts in the Treasury for four weeks before they are paid out so who wins and who loses?
Is the reverse calculation multiply by 12 and divide by 52? Perhaps the mathematicians can advise?
My Mother was of course right all those years ago, because I paid her in arrears not in advance, for one month I had free board and lodging but I doubt if Mr Duncan Smith will be as generous as my Mother.
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