Volunteer Work For The Unemployed

[Mrs Mop]

Going back to when Maggie Thatcher was PM, many on the dole were put onto Incapacity Benefit to reduce the numbers on the dole, these people were kept on their instead of helping them to find work.

 

We now have another Conservative Government who wants to get people off the sick into work but again their is no jobs so they are going to get them to sweep leaves up instead to reduce the numbers on the sick.

[BillyMalc]

So sorry to hear about your friend Eddie, and it is exactly what I worry about most when thinking of having to deal with Jobcentres or what have ya: having to dance to the tune of some jobsworth, who is more preoccupied with hitting their targets, as set by their managers (who also have targets to meet), who hasn't got a clue about or is even interested in the skills that I can bring to a job and what I would need for that job to give me. It seems that it's now considered unreasonable, if not downright arrogant, to want to work reasonable hours for a reasonable salary. If it really was the case that we would all pull together to get the economy back on its feet then fine, but at the moment it's (as per usual) a few fat cats with big salaries and a luxury lifestyle telling me that I should be prepared to spend hours of my life a day, plus god knows how much money, on travelling to work, if not "simply" relocate, to a job with a substandard salary. These people honest to god might have a feel for number crunching, but they've got no idea about people and they care even less

[scotslass]

What worries me most about the current government is their punitive attitude. We are being given the impression that we as a nation are all lazy good-for-nothings who must be punished as severely as possible for the financial mess the country is in. The older generation, most of whom have worked hard all their lives, are the frequent target for blame. It is not helpful to demoralise people, and that is what this government is doing. We are expected to feel ashamed of ourselves and to feel that we deserve everything we get. A nation in crisis needs to be encouraged, not demoralised.

 

 

I agree. I also think it does no good to demonise certain sections of society, as if all the unemployed are "workshy" and all those on sickness benefits are "playing the system", while the rest of us - including highly paid MPs - are beyond reproach.

 

This country is in a mess but we're not going to sort it out by forcing people (and how do we intend to force them?) to work for four weeks at something they resent. That isn't educational, an encouragement or an incentive - it's punitive, though what this government hopes to achieve is unclear. It's the kind of thing angry tabloid-readers might suggest, not our political leaders.

 

Do they really imagine that the lives of those who really do not want to work (and I accept they exist) will be transformed? That four weeks' miserable labour will give them something to aspire to?

 

All this will do is further divide the people of this country - and that's the last thing we need.

[Ian]

I'm not against the idea in principle if it is done right & constructively for all but unfortunately I suspect it probably won't be

 

To my mind the unemployed (of which I'm unfortunately one at this moment) includes

 

Those who want to work, are doing all they can to get a job but haven't yet found something suitable. For a reasonable period I believe they should be able to claim benefits (which they have probably already paid their taxes to provide after all) without being forced into menial work.

 

Those who want to work but may have become downhearted & unoptimistic. I think they may benefit from such a scehme by being given some motivation / work ethic back but the work has to be useful & relevant to getting them back on their feet not a "punishment" / pointless number crunching exercise

 

Those who have no intention whatsoever of working & think they are better off on benefits (or even crime). I believe such a scheme could solve that problem.

 

There also has to be jobs made available to apply for however. When I look at my local paper these days I doubt if there are 200 jobs in total each week (they don't even print the number anymore), a few years ago they sold Wednesdays paper on the jobs with a splash on the hundreds / thousand plus they had that week. Some of the job centre staff & related contractors are clueless and / or pointless in my opinion (remember the tv show on A4e in this area?) & the money funding their existance could be far better spent on job creation.

[cycas]

Some of the job centre staff & related contractors are clueless and / or pointless in my opinion (remember the tv show on A4e in this area?) & the money funding their existance could be far better spent on job creation.

 

Have to admit I've had the same impression when working as a subcontractor for some public sector organisations : meeting people who seem like they would be unemployable outside the sector (and are pretty useless within it).

 

But that's the problem isn't it - if you have people who aren't exactly unwilling to work as such, but who are just a bit clueless, jobsworthy, easily distracted, and generally lacking in common sense - what on earth do you do with them? When so many relatively talented and effective people are also struggling for work too ..

[blackmagic]

"Some of the job centre staff & related contractors are clueless and / or pointless in my opinion"

 

Would agree with you there.

 

My son's partner is a theatre costume designer. When she signed on the jobcentre 'person' consulted the computer and then suggested a job designing kitchens.

 

I think the only people who will benefit are those who want to.

 

A friend was a in charge of a care home and when community service came in. She had people sent to her under the scheme who didn't want to be there and had no interest in the job.

 

The stress of coping with them and providing the appropriate care for her residents eventually led to her resigning.

 

If someone doesn't agree to go on the scheme and has their benefit stopped will the wife/children have to be taken care of?

 

Will children be taken into care? That will surely cost more.

 

Will four weeks picking up litter really help someone with their work ethic.

 

"Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith will this week unveil plans for four-week programmes of compulsory community work – doing jobs such as picking up litter or gardening – for jobless people judged to have lost the work ethic."

[Ian]

If someone doesn't agree to go on the scheme and has their benefit stopped will the wife/children have to be taken care of?

 

Will children be taken into care? That will surely cost more.

 

Will four weeks picking up litter really help someone with their work ethic.

 

"Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith will this week unveil plans for four-week programmes of compulsory community work – doing jobs such as picking up litter or gardening – for jobless people judged to have lost the work ethic."

 

I voted for them (sort of) & yet despite that fact I'm afraid I think they have announced various ill thought out schemes & made little progress so far. I think Osbourne thought he was being clever (by hitting the better off) on child benefit for example & yet he failed to consider that two people who weren't higher rate tax payers may still have a higher total household income than one earner families & in doing so just made the Government look idiotic.

 

As to judged to have lost work ethic I can only ask by who (re the clueless above) If for example you print 10 jobs of a job point the idiots will enter applied for 10 jobs as to what you are doing to find work. It doesn't appear to enter their heads that you haven't applied for the job until you've contacted the employer (nobody usually checks you've actually applied). No doubt they'll be pushing people to apply for (or print) any old job before long just so that it looks like they are doing something.

[blackmagic]

When my husband worked in a shop in town there were regular callers looking or a job.

 

This was so that they could claim that they were actively looking for a job.

 

And yes, they applied for any job- they had to to get the required number of applications every week, especially in an area where there are no jobs and very little public transport.

 

Employers get tens of applications for every job advertised, whether relevant or not, which is just a waste of everybody's time.

[mum24dog]

IME the people who get jobs are often those who show initiative.

Just an example from my own family - my sister-in-law was a solicitor before she had a family. When she was wanting to get back into work she recognised that she would need to update her knowledge and skills if she were ever to be considered for one of the very few jobs around at the time and so she volunteered to work in the legal dept of the local authority for nothing. She did it for well over a year but it paid off because she was taken on permanently.

 

Being made to do unpaid work is not volunteering. Twisting arms and threatening loss of benefits does not lead to volunteers. Some people will give willingly of their time if the opportunity or need arises - they are the volunteers.

 

Some people just haven't been brought up in a culture where volunteering in one way or another is the norm and wouldn't think of doing owt for nowt. Maybe they need a bit of a prod.

 

Pam