BUMP:
Jonathan Isaby, TaxPayers' Alliance
Today the TaxPayers’ Alliance has published proposals that we believe ought to be the next big welfare reform.
Work for the Dole proposes that those who are out of work and in receipt of benefits - often amounting to a significant five-figure sum - should be expected to undertake compulsory community work or training (or work experience or supervised job-seeking) for 30 hours a week in return for that cash.
People would not be expected to join the programme the moment they find themselves out of work. Anyone with a history of at least five years of National Insurance (NI) contributions would enjoy a two-year grace period, whereas someone with no history of NI payments, for example, would have to start Work for the Dole after three months of claiming Universal Credit. This would help cement the contributory principle.
Those unwilling to participate in the programme would have their benefits stopped - although it should be emphasised that none of these sanctions, nor the programme itself, would apply to pensioners, or those with disabilities or caring responsibilities.
Our proposals have not been conjured up out of thin air: we have analysed the impact and success of similar programmes in a number of other countries such as Australia, Canada and the US, which have shown how welfare rolls can be reduced by 50% as a result of their introduction. In the UK, this would lead to several billion pounds of taxpayers’ money being saved every single year.
Work for the Dole would tackle welfare fraud (by stopping people working in the shadow economy while also claiming benefits) and make a life subsisting on benefits less attractive than it is at the moment – thereby making work more attractive.
For those still unable to find work, however, isn’t it fairer to those footing the bills that they ought to give something back to their community in return for those benefits payments? The general public certainly agree. Polling has shown that there is 75% net agreement for the proposition that people should do community work in exchange for their benefits.
The government’s current welfare reforms are steps in the right direction, but it is clear that more radical action is required in order to deliver results that will reduce welfare dependency and the associated benefits bill.
http://news.uk.msn.com/socialvoices/on-benefits-youll-need-to-give-something-back#tscptmf
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