Lazy Jobseekers to lose benefits for three years.

Ok, it can be abused with kids, but that is a minority of people, and probably a tiny minority too. I guess there is a loophole here, but still the vast majority of people do not get enough money to live comfortably and live decently. The vast majority would also not want to be on benefits long term and would much rather have a career.
There are many people here who will get decent paying jobs to have enough money to go on holidays, support their kids, live comfortably and save for the future. Yet they get so upset when people who get benefits only look for work for 3 days out of the week instead of spending 40 hours a week to look for work because they get a few pounds a day.

Hmm, maybe they should cut other state benefits apart from this, because it seems unemployment is a very big problem.. how about pulling out of Iraq and cutting military spending! We're spending 100's of millions on new nuclear submarines! WTF we have an economy to save!!!

I wouldn't be surprised if the politicians are actively trying to encourage this "them" and "us" mentality. Turning the unemployed into the enemy and punishing them with menial work for a laughable allowance is a great PR move as everybody loves to see the enemy get punished.

People need to realize that unemployed people aren't an enemy that needs punishment as there's a good chance you will be one of them in the future.

I am not a cretin. Throwing names around does not improve an argument.

I am just saying that you are given money to support yourself while you look for work, so therefore treat it like a job and look for work as hard as you can - 3 out of 7 days isn't what I would call sufficient effort if I were in your shoes, unless you had a good reason...but in your free time, you simply leisure around, which shouldn't take up over half of your time if you've effectively been paid to find work.

I don't know where you're getting this about people saying that those on JSA are below those who work. No one has said anything like this. Instead, many (like myself) have simply said that those on JSA should spend more time looking for jobs than many of them do (such as the OP and their example of only doing 3 days a week) and a few people have suggested giving those on JSA menial jobs so that they contribute to society by doing things such as picking up litter, while also probably being motivated to get out of that situation. I'm not saying that I agree with that latter argument (although I don't think it's a poor argument and could possibly be sensible if thought about correctly), but these arguments are not at all saying that JSA receivers are worth less than others. It's just that we're saying that we want them to not have to rely on it and to do their utmost to find a way to not have to receive it.

And yes, I agree that it would be useful to get those on JSA doing jobs like you suggested, although of course, jobs such as litter-picking need to be done too and considering how many people are on JSA, I'm sure a vast range of types of jobs could be filled.

1) Volunteer work? Searching the internet for part time work? Going out washing cars? Something that can be added to a CV to improve chances of employment.

2) Stop assuming jobs "don't exist" because they do. The "I won't bother trying to find a job because there are no jobs" attitude is quite frankly, stupid.

Yes, but in order for other people to keep themselves from starvation and destitution, they work and earn money so that they do not need to do that. That's why you're looking for a job and if you're not able to take it seriously enough but would rather waste more time using up tax payer's money so that they can feed you, that is frankly not good enough. People don't give money towards people like you because they want to look after you and give you an easy ride - they do it for as short as possible so that you can get back on your feet and then fend for yourself and to do that, you need to find a job. Deciding that you'd rather spend more than 50% of that time not jobseeking, but on those days, still taking money to live - well that is just wrong. How can you not see that?

That is why it is called jobseekers allowance. If you were given money just to survive and weren't expected to try your best to get off it as soon as possible, it would be called food money or something and essentially would just last for as long as you please to casually look around.

Again, throwing names around isn't necessary - it just makes it seem that you can't back-up your point properly. I mean honestly, if I were in your shoes, I would spend probably Monday - Saturday handing out CVs, applying online, going into shops and businesses, talking to the Job center, going to free employability workshops, et cetera and trust me, I'd be so exhausted from all of that that I wouldn't even have time to go on TSR to argue with people that I deserve that JSA money. Now I'm not saying you have to work 24/7 to find a job just because I would spend like 90% of my time, but can you not see that spending less than 50% of your time is beyond ridiculous? Yeah, maybe sometimes it gets you down and you take a day off, but then you get back to it and don't give up as you're getting money to survive and it's only fair to take it while you absolutely need it, so the quicker you get a job, the quicker you can live for yourself.

Sorry that it's a rant, but honestly, you're attacking me for not understanding the amount of time you take for job-seeking when you're getting money to live for free.

http://money.aol.co.uk/2012/07/03/lazy-jobseekers-may-lose-benefits-for-three-years/

This will be open to abuse.

I already know of one person who had his benefits stopped (although not for three years but for one month) because he was not doing enough to look for work. The man in question did not fail to attend any of his appointments, but believed that it was pointless looking for jobs that were not there, and failed to fill-in his job application tracker with jobs he applied for.

Yesterday my right-wing A4E advisor sternly warned me that the rate at which I was applying for jobs has decreased over the months and said I must try harder or face sanctions. I spend 3 days per week at that place looking for jobs and applying for them. And talking about politics is off the cards.

In my view, right wing Tories seem to be kicking the wrong people. Unemployed people are already having a tough time, and these Tories would prefer to see them shackled to a rock and whipped if they don't do as they are told.

I never said being on JSA is easy or cheap - I'm just saying spending less than 50% of your time looking for a job is not good enough when you're getting free money for food. Whether it's enough is another matter.

Tbh, if I saw people spending more time looking for a job on JSA, I'd happily agree that they should have more money so they can stabily handle things. The anount of money is a separate issue though to my annoyance in this thread. All I said is 3 days of a week is not enough and no one has provided one credible argument yet for why one may spend over half their time not looking for work when on JSA.

And if you have this computer, I'm sure you can e-mail or Skype with businesses. There are ways around a lot of problems if you want to solve them.

I really do hope at one point in your life you do have to have JSA for an extended time because you clearly have no idea what it's actually like to be on it, I've been on JSA for about 18 months, it's not enough money to pay all the bills and I'm £100s behind on some of them, to say I should be looking for work Monday-Saturday handing out CVs and I'll easily find work is total crap. Firstly where's the money coming from to pay for all the printing of these CVs? Also the travel expenses and whatnot. It just isn't practical, it's Easy to say but that's all it is.


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

Money for printing CVs? Even if you don't have a printer, you can have plain black on white A4 for about 1-2p per sheet. Emailed CVs are free, and the vast majority of jobs at the Jobcentre ask you to e-mail your CV in.

Job centre will pay travel expenses for any confirmed interviews. And if you've been on JSA for 18 months you'll have a New Deal railcard entitling you to 50% off the rest of your train travel (not Scotland)

Say what you like about being on JSA but putting up those two things as barriers to employment says to me that you're more interested in making excuses.