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How about if people on JSA do a couple of days voluntary work a week...
Bom Diddly Wo
Posts: 14,094 Forum Member
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they are immune to having their benefits cut off for not seeking work.
After all voluntary workers are a valuable part of the economy and they are jobs that still need doing if we are to maintain the society that we have built.
If some people are prepared to live off the meagre JSA and put in a couple of days at a recognised organisation or job then that should be aknowledged.
They would still be given the assesments at various stages of their claim to see what help they need finding full time, paid work and they would still be encouraged to look for and find a full time job.
There simply are not enough jobs around for all the people who need one so instead of punishing people for not being able to find a non existant job how about encouraging people to do something useful.
Not full time because that would be exploitative and employers would use it to get posts filled for free but 2 days a week at something that is a proper voluntary job. Obviously any full time work should be filled and payed for in the appropriate manner.
After all voluntary workers are a valuable part of the economy and they are jobs that still need doing if we are to maintain the society that we have built.
If some people are prepared to live off the meagre JSA and put in a couple of days at a recognised organisation or job then that should be aknowledged.
They would still be given the assesments at various stages of their claim to see what help they need finding full time, paid work and they would still be encouraged to look for and find a full time job.
There simply are not enough jobs around for all the people who need one so instead of punishing people for not being able to find a non existant job how about encouraging people to do something useful.
Not full time because that would be exploitative and employers would use it to get posts filled for free but 2 days a week at something that is a proper voluntary job. Obviously any full time work should be filled and payed for in the appropriate manner.
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that's right, as you aren't seeking work whilst volunteering
i think the OP means why not let people volunteer and still claim
i think it's a good idea, and perhaps people doing that should get an extra £10 per week if they do so. of course the systems would need to be in place so people weren't working cash in hand and the employer saying it's volunteering, but that's difficult to do which is why it's probably not allowed
At the moment you are allowed to do up to 16 hours of voluntary work in a week without it affecting your benefits.
My idea would be to free people from the threat of sanctions (being cut off) to their JSA if they were doing, say 16 hours voluntary work in a week. Lots of charitable organisations are reliant on volunteers and a lot of charitable organisations provide usefull if not essential services that fill a lot of gaps left by government.
They would be being genuinely useful to society and although it would be state sponsered it would still be cheaper than if these organisations didn't exist and the govt' were having to fill the places.
Organisations would have to be checked before hand and deemed suitable to take on voluntary staff in this way and it should never be the case that volunteers are replacing or taking the place that would otherwise have had to have been given to a fully paid employee.
I wanted a job. To get a job I needed to volunteer. If I volunteered I lost the JSA. I couldn't volunteer and therefore I ended up leeching off the state for six months.
I'm not talking about a requirement but something more led by the claimant. Also I would take the pressure off people who volunteered to be having to look for work to get the JSA. As long as they volunteer for 16 hours a week then they can if they want to treat that as a very low paid part time job.
I would still encourage people to get into full time employment but would not still be threatening them with the stick if they couldn't find any.
There simply aren't enough jobs for those who want them so why keep hitting people when they are down. With my method people would be engaging in the work place, gaining experience and things to put on their c.v. and possibly salvaging some self respect because they weren't being told off every fortnight for not doing enough to get a proper job.
These days one can volunteer for up to 16 hours a week before they in their infinite wisdom deem it to be an interuption to your search for a job.
Some unemployed people may have substance abuse problems but that really is a massive generalisation and not useful. There may be a few for who, this wouldn't work but even amoungst substance abusers there are some people who are capable of doing some voluntary work and might do it gladly if it meant the pressure of having to find a full time job was lifted from them.
I was doing 8 hours a week, so it wasn't an issue.
Fortunately, even though it was TOTALLY not the kind of work I was looking for, I ended up getting offered a full-time job as assistant manager, and I've never been happier! Considering I only started DOING it to keep the DWP off my back, that's kind of a result, really.
Edit: The office-based part of my voluntary work I carry on at home because it's internet-based data entry.
I don't know how that is different fromwhat is already happening. The government force those out of work to volunteer and have done for years.
I volunteer because I want to and other volunteers were forced to be there or lose their benefits.
If a benefit claimant wants to volunteer for their own reasons, then they can. Sorry not seeing any change here apart from you limiting it to 16 hours.
er, why would you assume this? Several million people are out of work at the moment, whether on JSA or not-how many of them do you imagine are on on drugs?
That's the theory- in practice, however, I kind of wish I'd never told the JC that I was volunteering- they managed to lose the forms about it, and missing paperwork = stopped benefits until it's sorted out.
Yeah, ridiculous assumption. Aside from which, how much coke does the quoted poster reckon CIty workers get through???
I hoping to change career to get into teaching. I am hoping that my voluntary work for a children's mental health charity might just give me the edge as I "get" children who have special needs and can be challenging with their behaviours. I didn't do it to bump up my CV but to give a bit back as they helped my son big time.
It could get me that place at uni on a PGCE course. Keep everything crossed.
Good luck! I work for a mental health charity too... apart from anything else, it's a good cause- like yourself, they've helped ME out in the past, so I thought it was only fair.
I was made redundant in 2005. I was out of work for two years (technically making me long term unemployed) and since I couldn't get a job, eventually started my own business instead. Many people who lose their jobs in their fifties, forties, and yes, even in their thirties these dats, cannot get back into work because employers tend to prefer hiring younger people. Those older people tend to become what you so diplomatically call 'chronically unemployed'. But a surprisingly large number of them are in fact not mentally unhinged raging junkies.:)
Aside from which, I did a LOT more drugs when I was earning a good wage than I ever did when I was unemployed. It had something to do with being able to afford it, I think.
They helped my lad big time, big big time. It's nice to give them something back and the bonus might be It will give me an edge.
:-)
I can see how that would have helped.
doing voluntary work is already encouraged - it shows prospective employers that you are willing to show up, do a days work and are reliable
However, as benefits are a temporary solution, and everyone is encouraged to get off them I am not sure what you mean by immunity - after all, doing voluntary work is limited to 16 hours per week so that it does not interfere with jobseeking, and anything you do for a fixed number of hours is something you must be willing to give up so that you can take employment - what is immunity needed for?