[lbo-talk] Dependency and wage labour doctrine in action in extremis

[Hein Marais]

>
> Judeo-Christian commandments and the permanent austerity of late  
> capitalism: a perfect match. Smith has seen the future, and it  
> doesn't work, but it shall.
>
> Hein
>
>
> Iain Duncan Smith: it's a sin that people fail to take up work
>
> Work and pensions secretary prepares to introduce the most severe  
> welfare sanctions ever imposed by a British government
>
> Thursday 11 November 2010 09.11 GMT
>
The Guardian
> Ian Duncan Smith, the work and pensions secretary, said today it was  
> a "sin" that people failed to take up available jobs as he prepared  
> to announce a tougher-than-expected squeeze on the unemployed.
>
>
>
>
>
> This will see the jobless face the threat of losing all benefits for  
> as long as three years if they refuse community work or the offer of  
> a job, or fail to apply for a post if advised to do so.
>
> In the most severe welfare sanctions ever imposed by a British  
> government, unemployed people will lose benefits for three months if  
> they fail to take up one of the options for the first time, six  
> months if they refuse an offer twice, and three years if they refuse  
> an offer three times.
>
> Downing Street sources said the new "claimant contract" will come  
> into force as soon as legislation is passed, and may not wait for  
> the introduction of a streamlined universal credit system in 2013-14.
>
> Duncan Smith will tell MPs today that he is introducing the biggest  
> shake-up of the welfare system since the Beveridge reforms ushered  
> in the welfare state after the second world war. He will say that a  
> new universal credit system will make 2.5 million of the poorest  
> people better off and reduce the number of workless households by  
> 300,000.
>
> Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Duncan Smith said the  
> sanctions would be applied to those who would not cooperate when  
> work was available.
>
> He said that 4 million jobs were created under Labour, yet 70% of  
> them were filled were by people from overseas because people from  
> this country were not capable or able to take those jobs. "Surely  
> that's a sin, that's the problem," the former Tory leader said.
>
> The key incentive in his measures was that "work should always pay  
> and that you should be better off in work than out of work".
>
> He said the situation of one in five households out of work could  
> not persist and needed to be changed and promised a package of  
> support to help people overcome difficulties to get back into  
> employment.
>
> He told BBC Breakfast: "We will help people look for work and get  
> them work-ready; that will go alongside it. Then, if having done all  
> of that people have a job offer, they should take that work. That's  
> a condition most taxpayers would accept."
>
> The new workfare regime is certain to be criticised for expecting  
> the jobless to take work at a time when unemployment is forecast to  
> rise. The move could potentially leave thousands of people receiving  
> no benefits other than some money to cover their housing costs.
>
> Duncan Smith said: "We are coming out of a recession, more jobs are  
> being created ... It is not enough but it is growing all the time.  
> As the economy grows and more jobs become available, all we are  
> simply saying is, people have a responsibility now we are making  
> work pay to take the job when it is available."
>
> The welfare white paper is deemed so groundbreaking that David  
> Cameron chose to laud the measures as he landed at the G20 summit in  
> South Korea.
>
> He said: "The message is clear. If you can work, then a life on  
> benefits will no longer be an option. If people are asked to do  
> community work they will be expected to turn up. If people are asked  
> to apply for a job by an adviser they will be expected to put  
> themselves forward. If people can work and they are offered work,  
> they will be expected to take it. This is the deal. Break the deal  
> and they will lose their unemployment benefit. Break it three times  
> and they will lose it for three years."
>
> The regime will apply to all 1.6 million jobseeker's allowance  
> claimants, irrespective of how long they have been unemployed. JSA  
> is worth only £64.45 a week for over-25s, and No 10 said it expected  
> the sanction to be enforced, once warranted, as a matter of course.
>
> Job advisers should not use discretion to let people stay on  
> benefit, Downing Street said, arguing that too many advisers did not  
> make use of the sanctions available to them.
>
> Many charities and local government leaders will be wary of offering  
> work to unemployed people, especially if they have been in effect  
> forced to take the work or lose benefit. The community jobs set  
> aside for the jobless include clearing up litter and doing charity  
> work.
>
> Cameron argues that the new regime is necessary to prevent a  
> dependency culture. He believes a new universal credit system  
> bringing together tax credits and a range of benefits simplifies the  
> system so much that it will ensure work will always pay in  
> comparison with staying unemployed. Ministers say that, with 5  
> million people on out-of-work benefits and almost 2 million people  
> growing up in workless households, they have to embark on "root and  
> branch reform".
>
> The new universal credit, costed at £2bn for this parliament, is  
> designed to remove the financial disincentives to work, ensuring  
> that someone keeps a minimum 35p in every extra pound earned.  
> Cameron said: "It simply has to pay to work. You cannot have a  
> situation where if someone gets out of bed and goes and does a hard  
> day's work they end up worse off. That is not fair and sends  
> entirely the wrong message."
>
> Duncan Smith will cast his reforms as a "once-in-a-generation"  
> attempt to get the jobless back to work. But the man credited by  
> Duncan Smith as his greatest influence on poverty reduction  
> criticised the changes. Bob Holman, an academic and community worker  
> from Glasgow who has worked for Duncan Smith's thinktank the Centre  
> for Social Justice, accused the work and pensions secretary of  
> forcing people into "degrading" jobs.
>
> Asked his opinion about Duncan Smith and his plans for welfare  
> reform, Holman said: "Well, my view has taken a bit of a dent. When  
> Iain came to Easterhouse [in Glasgow] in 2002, one of the things he  
> expressed admiration for were unemployed people who were working or  
> giving their time as volunteers to our project … Now he seems to  
> have turned that on its head.
>
> "He seems to be regarding them with disrespect and saying 'you're  
> not really a part of society. We're going to force you to do these,  
> what are really degrading jobs,' which won't equip them for  
> anything, but in a way are punishing them for not working and in a  
> climate in which jobs are hard to get."
>
> Douglas Alexander, Duncan Smith's Labour shadow, told BBC Breakfast  
> that his party supported moves to simplify the benefits system, but  
> concerns remained about job availability.
>
> He said: "If we can have a simpler benefits system that removes  
> disincentives for people to get into work, we will support them.  
> That was a big part of the work we were trying to take forward  
> ourselves when we were in government."
>
> He added: "Our real concern is this: without work these changes  
> won't work. If you are going to move people from welfare into work,  
> there needs to be jobs for people to take up ... It is important to  
> remember that if you get these changes wrong, you could end up with  
> a higher welfare bill not a lower welfare bill."
>
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> Jobless claimants face tougher rules
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> Severe welfare shakeup will introduce claimant contract with up to  
> three years' benefits penalty for refusing a job
>
> Related
>
> 26 Oct 2010
>
> Iain Duncan Smith's bus advice reveals a poor grasp of work and jobs  
> | Neil Lee
>
> 22 Oct 2010
>
> Iain Duncan Smith tells unemployed they should get on the bus to  
> find work
>
> 6 Oct 2010
>
> Welfare reform: Poverty trapped | Editorial
>
> 5 Oct 2010
>
> Banished from the city | Lynsey Hanley
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