The reality of Britain today. Demonise the disadvantage. Pick on those struggling with life and make things worse. In Britain today, 2.4 million people are unemployed, competing for 503,000 vacancies – one in four will not find a job, no matter what they do. Every jobseeker agrees to a set of conditions they must fulfill in order to claim support; if they fail one of these, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will stop some or all of their benefits for a minimum of four weeks, rising to three years. Sanctions are nothing new, but were toughened up in 2012 by the coalition government, who claim they positively motivate people to step up their search for work – and are continuing to make them tougher. Some 860,000 people were sanctioned in the year to June 2013, many for spurious or arbitrary reasons. Every two minutes, a young person has their benefits stopped. Meanwhile, whistleblowers have claimed Jobcentre staff’s own jobs are under threat if they fail to apply sanctions. The question is being asked: does the Jobcentre exist to find people work, or simply to get them off benefits by any means?
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 10:55:54 +0000
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