David Cameron this morning confirmed that the coalition plans to scrap many existing welfare benefits and replace them with a single benefit. The prime minister told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show that, although the reform would cost money upfront, it would save public funds in the long run.
If the reason for bringing in the Universal Credit is that currently you can be better off on benefit than in work then Universal Credit will fail. For the vast majority of people you cannot be better off on benefit than in work. You may not be much better off than on benefit but you will be better off. It is certainly true that some of the workfare companies will twist peoples’ arms to take jobs that have heavy travelling costs that can outweigh the extra amount that they will get working but there are always jobs that are not worth taking because they are too far away no matter what the money. There are real barriers to people re-entering the job market such as lack of retraining opportunities and lack of childcare facilities.
The only way to bear down on unemployment is to have industries that invest in the things that people need such as building affordable housing and renewable energy. A society not based on an endless quest for bigger and faster profit will always create unemployment and will always want to blame the poor for being poor.
Welfare to work has not stopped unemployment rising. It cannot do so. It can only do two things. Firstly it can force people into the new poverty pay economy. Secondly it cannot serve the ideological need of the right wing to blame the poor while the bankers walk off with every more of our money: if anyone is working the system it is they and not working class people thrown onto the dole or people who cannot get into a job because of the health problems they face or because of the attitude of employers towards disability.
There seems to be an ingrained mythology created by all political parties and the media that people who are unemployed are unemployed by choice and that everyone could secure gainful employment if only they were willing to accept some unspecified vacancy or other. The myth says that there is always work available that anyone can get, that will make that person better off than they would be if unemployed, whatever their personal circumstances and wherever the live in the country.
This is a lie.
The reason there are so many people unemployed is because there are NOT enough fairly paid jobs available distributed equitably across the whole of the British isles.
That is the truth.
…or because of the attitude of employers towards disability.
That’s the point that so many people seem to miss and it’s harmful when politicians miss it when making policy. If you look at the following statistics:
http://www.iosh.co.uk/news_and_events/news/latest_news_releases/25_back_to_work_plans.aspx
…once you have ignored the ludicrous spin and flipped it the right way up – 73% of employers will not give disabled people a chance of work.
And James is right too. When following the subtitles on the telly it’s sometimes difficult for me to work out who is speaking, but I’m pretty sure that the BBC presenter on the news today made a comment about ‘people choosing welfare over work.’ The propaganda is working – a lot of people are subscribing to this lie.
Oops…I only intended for ‘presenter’ to be in bold!
It’s bound to have got overshadowed by the Child Benefit cut. But it’s worth mentioning that Workfare has resurfaced:
http://intensiveactivity.wordpress.com/2010/10/03/welfare-reform-big-work-programme-to-include-workfare/
We’ll be watching what’s said on this during the Conference very closely