Friday, November 12, 2010

The problem with workfare...

...Whether it is called workfare (politics.co.uk), or work for the dole, or anything else, is that it relies on an often baseless assumption; that there are jobs available for the people who are unemployed and eligible for welfare.  Sure, there are some jobs, and some people who are unemployed could do some of them.  But the systems we have in place do not guarantee a job for every person, and there certainly are not as many jobs as there are people unemployed (there are not even as many as there are people looking for work).

Workfare laws in a situation where there aren't jobs for all the unemployed, will end up punishing those whose fault is not willingness to work, or lack of effort in seeking a job, but working in the wrong industry at the wrong time.  This is hardly desirable.

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