Con Dems plan to push millions into jobs that don’t exist
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As has been detailed elsewhere the government are planning huge cuts to the benefits system. The rhetoric being deployed by Osbourne et. al. is that there reforms represent a real way out of poverty, a means of ‘helping people back into work’. Thus Osbourne says that
“Incapacity benefit and Employment Support Allowance is a very large budget. Yes, we have got to look at all these things, make sure we do it in a way that protects those with genuine needs, those with disabilities, protects those who can’t work but also encourages those who can work into work.”
Yet even if we take at face value the dubious claim that hundreds of thousands of well people are on incapacity benefit, the idea of thousands of people moving from incapacity benefit and into jobs is simply implausible given the state of the economy and the government’s plans for cuts. Right now the number of people claiming jobseekers allowance is 5 times greater than the number of vacancies in the economy. Put another, even if everybody claiming standard unemployment benefit was desperate to work and had all the right skills, we would only be able to find jobs for a small minority. The ratio of jobseekers to vacancies is almost certain to rise as the government cuts sharply and demand falls further.
So where exactly are all these jobs for those currently on incapacity benefit going to come from? With millions on jobseekers allowance struggling in vain to get a job, who will be rolling out positions for those with several years of incapacity benefit on their CVs?
Quite simply the government are being dishonest. They know full well that there is little prospect of getting people on incapacity into jobs. What they are actually hoping is that they will be able to push some people from incapacity benefit onto jobseekers allowance, thus cutting their income from a luxurious £81-91 per week to a far more prudent £60. While they talk of pushing people into phantom jobs, they plan to shave a bit off the deficit by targetting those with the least.
To contact Reuben email reuben@thethirdestate.net
Reader Comments
A few points.
This isn’t a prescription for overnight change, but an aim, a target. It’s not dishonest, because no-one apart from you suggests that it will happen immediately. The government has stated that they see the strong and urgent need to create employment.
Is reforming incapacity benefit worthwhile or achievable? I tend towards the view that some people are on incapacity benefit who shouldn’t be – or at least, that there are a lot of people working full-time who are at least as ill as some of those claiming incapacity benefit. This suggests that we are not helping people in the right way.
Is it necessary? Absolutely. The thing I’m having most difficulty with is your idea that this is taking from those with the least. As far as I can see, there is (within reason) a fixed sum we can afford to pay out. The more people scamming incapacity benefit, the lower the amount paid to everyone claiming JSA.
If there is no problem with the system, then you’re right, this is a vile attempt to cut incapacity benefit through a back door. Are you really so out of touch with reality that you believe there is no problem with the system, as it stands, though? That’s worse than the stereotypical ‘who are the Rolling Stones?’ judges ever manage.
Anyway, surely even if you believe the current system to be completely free from exploitation, you must agree that it’s better to spend more money helping someone hold down a job than it is to spend less money on handouts? We’re not helping people right, quite a lot of the time.
“Osbourne” is spelt Osborne.
Apart from that, you have a point, Sir. The stigmatisation of people on incapacity benefit won’t suddenly make them more able to work. And trying to make political capital by finger-pointing at the very small numbers of people claiming who shouldn’t be claiming (as Osborne does) is pretty pointless, and is extremely insulting to the many who are unable to work.
I wonder how Norman Tebbit’s wife feels about all this?