This is never going to be a good idea as it is open to far too much abuse.
It seems a strange predicament though - trying to force unemployed people to work when actually there are not enough jobs anyway - hence why the unemploment rate is currently so high.
Whichever way you package it, it is another benefits bashing policy which aims to win votes via political spin. The sad part is many people lap it up and think everyone on benefits is a lazy workshy scumbag on £25k a year with better TV and car than many in work.
It would be easy to blame the media, but really the fickle nature of the 'mob' is just as culpable.
We need to make work pay in order to motivate and empower people. If someone works 30hrs a week they should get minimum wage. Agreed, they also have other help with rent and suchlike, but surely the purpose of the system is to help people get onto their feet and become working, tax contributing individuals? If we penalise people for being out of work, what message or indeed incentive are we offering them to crack on and work?
Long term unemployment will not be fixed by this kind of policy - but it grabs headlines and wins support. If they were to perhaps look at the cycles of the welfare dependant and make some attempt to fix the social issues instead, they may see a better response, but of course that is far harder and not as apt to win them votes by inciting the hatred of the righteous workers.
It also does not fit in with 5 year political cycles so is a completely useless endeavour to the political parties.
It is a long term goal that is needed, and a long term plan - one that starts off in the classroom and one that teaches social responsibility. Child poverty begets child poverty, much in the same way teenage pregnancy does. It is a cycle that has to break for any progress to be made. The proposed policy would compound and strengthen that cycle rather than help to break it.
A person on JSA working for £2.30 an hour is going to believe that work does not pay. After all, personal experience shapes the people we are, and if you work most of the week for £70 what opinion are you likely to form? Particulalry if you have to take out travel costs. Essentially it is easy labour that is easily exploited - and generally we have laws against that kind of thing, but obviosuly not when the Government has an election to win.
Pay NMW for the hours worked. Perhaps failure to do so is not technically illegal, but it is so morally bankrupt you would have to question whether any right minded person would condone it - which in many cases is the very basis of our laws.
It also amuses me how many people wonder into a thread like this, eager to bash the 'dossers'. They are taken in by the headlines and misreporting, bleating on about why the tax payer should pay X Y Z. Seriously?
If you want to talk about tax, then who do you think pays for most of your government and council, and any government run establishment? Who do you think props up MP's ludicrous pensions, and helps fund local councillors gold plated pensions? I would say they cost the righteous tax payer far more money than the 'dole dossers' and yet nothing is said. The bill for the civil service pension pot is massively in excess of that of JSA, and it is known that a lot of civil service roles are 'jobs for the boys' and many of the people in those roles are useless (I know I have certainly worked with many).
Working age benefits account for £26bn of the DWP's overal £166bn expenditure. Only £5.5bn of which is for JSA.
Why aren't we bashing pensioners? They cost £91bn!!
Why aren't we bashing all of those working families costing us billions in tax credits? 1.9m families who are working still claim child tax credits, as well as maximum working tax credits. Who pays for that £23bn bill?
What about housing benefit? £23bn. Again something that is open to people who work.
Income support - 8bn, open to those working less than 16hrs a week who need some extra help.
Thats just £50+bn worth of examples of where our taxes go, and a lot of it to those who are in work. But yes lets only bash the unemployed as they are all lazy 'dossers' who cost the country oh so very much money.
Lets completely ignore that there are more working families claiming more in tax payers money than is spent on JSA. Why should I have to pay for my working neighbour to have a better life eh? Why should I have to help pay for the person across the street to afford to have a child
and still pay the bills? If they need benefits to do so because they have made a choice of
their own volition, why aren't we bashing them for being irresponsible and costing the tax payer billions?
Lets ignore the fact that many people who are long term unemployed do not have the life skills or ability to win a job over those other 1000 people who are better equipped and are also applying for the same position because of the amount of unemployment caused by mismanagement of the country.
People say we should take responsibility for our lives but completely gloss over all of those so called responsible people who are costing the tax payer billions every year. The cost is an order of magnitude higher than what jobless 'dossers' cost.
Lets completely ignore the totally skewed wealth distribution and bash the 'dossers' whilst the MP's laugh all the way to the bank for doing what amounts to a very poor job of running the country.
Lets completely ignore the woeful lack of provision and help for jobseekers and the poor attitude of staff at job centres.
Lets just keep bashing the 'dossers' to take out our own frustrations at the injustice of someone having the gall to be out of work in the first place.
How many of the 'dosser' bashing righteous workers here receive(d) tax or child credits by the way?
It is a giant political smoke screen and people lap it up. If it was not so tragic - it would actually be funny.
