Claimants To Work For Benefits Is It Fair?

[gordiescotland1]

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/472791/Work-for-your-welfare-benefits-long-term-jobless-to-be-told-in-new-crackdown
What do people think of this story?

[B00]

Hasn't this idea been around for quite a number of years already? And remained just that, an idea?

I get the feeling it's one of those "sounds good to the voters, but we've no intentions of actually doing it" jobbies.

[sandyRoe]

If the unemployed are going to have to go to job centres every day will more dole clerks need to be employed?

[cazzz1975]

a certain number of hours a week work provided from a volunteer is enough for a company to drop an employee from full time to part time

[cazzz1975]

I get the feeling it's one of those "sounds good to the voters, but we've no intentions of actually doing it" jobbies.

indeed, Unemployment only counts for 3% of the welfare budget, they are just saying what the outraged want to hear.

[jim360]

You'd have thought so, Sandy -- but they've been laying off DWP staff members from across the department at an alarming rate. At the same time as increasing the workload on those remaining. Utterly crazy.

The way this government is handling benefits at all levels is dreadfully poor and it's going to come back to bite them at some point soon.

[Daffy6543]

I saw a study the other day that said the majority of the welfare budget was spent on pensions but it is a vote loser to try and take money from pensioners so they attack the easy targets.

[Ken4155]

Would it not be a better idea to create 13 week posts for the long term unemployed on minimum wages, cleaning the war memorials and such. Surely that would give them more of a work ethic than a few hours 'unpaid' per week. Or is that solution just far too simple?

[DaisyNonna]

As ever, joined up thinking not in use.
Not everyone on benefits is claiming because the don't want to work. What a bout those made redundant through no fault of their own?

[pixie373]

They won't mind, daisy, it's those trying to avoid work that won't like it.
It also won't be "unpaid", ken. They would get their benefits in return for work.

[mikey4444]

I heard some idiot Government woman being interviewed on the Today Program this morning, by Evan Davies. He repeatedly asked her for the results of the pilot study for this new push to get people back to work, and just as repeatedly she refused to answer.

I am as keen as anyone else to get our long-term dole bludgers back to work but it appears that the pilot scheme has shown that it didn't work. That is why so many well-known organisations are refusing to be part of this new scheme, like the Salvation Army, Oxfam and the YMCA.

I just want to know the truth...is that such a difficult question to ask ?

[Everhelpful]

Why does everybody assume all people on benefits are scroungers?

[Ken4155]

pixie; anything less than minimum wage may as well be 'unpaid'. And, as i said earlier, this crackpot scheme will not solve the problem of long term unemployment, which is surely what ANY government should strive for.

[Ken4155]

Everhelpful; because it fits in with their support of schemes such as this. Those 3 years out of work in the early 80s all but destroyed me as a person. I was a young man with a young family and had never been out of work since leaving school in 1970. I would hazard a guess that the vast majority of those long term unemployed would embrace full time employment with a decent wage. If only such jobs were readily availabl. Not every person who drinks lager is a lout, not everyone who attends a football match is a hooligan.

[douglas9401]

Welcome to the 1980s.

[weecalf]

what about exclaimants get jobs for a headline .the rest of us are not living in luxury but we work .

[mikey4444]

Not everybody on the dole are scroungers Everhelpful, but my experience tells me that a lot are. I live on a "challenging" estate, and I am literally surrounded by dole bludgers. I have lived here 34 years and there are families that have never worked in all that time.

But of course, if people need to have help to get back to work, than everything should be done to assist them. I am not sure if this latest scheme is the right way to go about it though.

[ToraToraTora]

"Why does everybody assume all people on benefits are scroungers? "

did you read that back to yourself?

[hc4361]

How much will the supervisors and organisers of the 'volunteers' be paid?

How many jobs will be lost because 'volunteers' are, for example, cleaning streets that people are already paid a proper wage to clean?

[hc4361]

Another thought - if something goes badly wrong such as a 'volunteer' stealing on the job; a 'volunteer' attacking somebody connected to the job such as another volunteer or member of the public; a 'volunteer' getting seriously injured because of lack of training/inability to understand etc - who will be liable?

[Everhelpful]

Tora,who do you think you are?,what kind of arrogant reply was that? Don't try and be clever by trying to humiliate me,I am entitled to an opinion as well as the next person,I stated a perfectly reasonable response, there are thousands out of work on benefits who would love to be in employment.