A million on benefit capable of work

[Jazzy]

The Work and Pensions Secretary will release figures showing how many people are long-term claimants of unemployment benefit and other welfare payments.

The statistics are likely to add to a Coalition row over the growing cost of social security payments, which economists say is hampering efforts to reduce the deficit.

It could also add to tensions within Labour over how to deal with the growing benefit budget.
In an annual report on his Social Justice Strategy, Mr Duncan Smith will publish statistics showing “the scale of entrenched social breakdown that has taken hold across Britain over the last decade”.

Even though there are 400,000 fewer people out of work than a year ago, Mr Duncan Smith will say, there are still too many people with a long-term dependency on benefits.

About one million people have been on work-related benefits for three out of the past four years. All of those claimants have been formally assessed as “capable of preparing for or looking for work,” the report will say. The one million is made up of people claiming jobseeker’s allowance or the work-related part of employment support allowance — the replacement for incapacity benefit — and some single parents claiming income support.

Mr Duncan Smith today briefed the Cabinet on his universal credit scheme, which will merge several benefits into one payment, meant to increase economic incentives for welfare claimants to take a job or increase their working hours.

Chris Skidmore, a member of the Free Enterprise Group of Conservative MPs, said the contributory principle in welfare should be strengthened, so that only people who had worked and paid taxes could claim full benefits. He said the current changes should be only the “first wave” in a bigger programme of reform.

Full article

That's a lot of people but what are they to do if there are no jobs to be had? What are your thoughts about this?

 

[Sinon]

I've been on benefits since November (Jobseeker Allowance). I've applied to over 100 jobs, and I can count the number of responses I've had on one hand. I can count the number of interviews I've had on one finger. I seem to be stuck in a rut where I'm too young to be hired for my experience, but too old to be hired as a trainee. Add to that so many jobs have moronic requirements (I can't get a job as a secretary because I need a word-processing qualification, for example) means it's much harder than most people realise to get a job.

So I get pissed off when people just say I should get a job. I'm fuckin' trying. I can't pull work out of my sphincter like some people believe I can >_>

 

[Jazzy]

I'm totally convinced it's not "what you know" it's "who you know" that gets you a job where I live. I found out about a secretarial job opening at the hospital. I have a friend who is out of work and has been in the secretarial field for a long time. She went and filled out an application. About a week later, she got a call for an interview. According to her, the interview went very well. Did she get the job? NO. Why you might ask. Well, a friend of the hiring administrator has a daughter that needed a job. She has ZERO secretarial experience. Guess what??...yes, you guessed correctly. The NO EXPERIENCE one got the job. There's no way, of course, to ever prove this but you don't have to be Einstein to figure it out.

 

[Evil Eye]

I'm sure millions are capable... but if they don't get hired :/

I need a word-processing

Those still exist?