Neets 'should not get benefits', say MPs

carolt

kennyboy66 wrote: »

Plenty - but the hardest was working on a farm during harvest (bales of hay / straw). The hardest days work I have ever had by a country mile - didn't make it back the next day. I could barely lift a cup of tea to my mouth.

That's true - I totally forgot to include my work on a kibbutz - like farming BUT everything is covered in at least 1 inch spikes. And all hard physical work done in temps of 35-40C.

On the downside, we started work at 5am.

On the upside, we finished at 1pm, because it then got too hot to be outside.

Good fun, actually. And a chance to see TRUE socialism in action.

ninky_2

carolt wrote: »

But at the end of the day, it's a wrong-headed incentive problem.

If that 15% suddenly had no cash at all - no benefits whatsoever, then they'd find the option of voluntary work/training etc, even if they couldn't immediately get a job, a hell of a lot more appealing.

I suspect the 15% would prettty quickly reduce to near 0%.

or go into criminal activity. it can only work if the country can guarantee a job or training.

imagine you're a kid who has been in and out of foster care. parents don't care and won't offer help. you have no qualifications. you reach adulthood and have no one to turn to. how is cutting off your access to benefits going to help you?

i've just written about the national civic service scheme that david lammy my local mp has been proposing. his scheme is specifically aimed at neets. i think our area (tottenham) has quite a few. by making it compulsory you actually benefit the people who need it most.

lostinrates

kennyboy66 wrote: »

Plenty - but the hardest was working on a farm during harvest (bales of hay / straw). The hardest days work I have ever had by a country mile - didn't make it back the next day. I could barely lift a cup of tea to my mouth.

Over a making week, the days which were loading bales on and off a trailer and unloading them into a barn I could loose over a stone. Good old days! carrying four bales knackers me out now!

lostinrates

kennyboy66 wrote: »

Paid to ride a horse ?

Have only sat on a horse properly once, but does it get any better than being paid for your hobby ?

Yes, it gets better than that: not needing to be paid for your hobby.

In fact, once you get paid its no longer a hobby but a profession you might still enjoy. It depends of course, how good you are how likely this is to happen at all.


edit: I thought of another job: animatore! I loved that, it was like performing with none of the stress!

ninky_2

carolt wrote: »

Shop assistant, filing, bar work, cleaning, baby sitting.

Plus too much studying.

At Oxford in my day, we actually weren't allowed to work during term-time/short hols - were supposed to get tutor's permission for this. The idea being there was just too much studying to be done.

I'm sure that's changed now, though, for obvious economic reasons.

i'm not sure it has changed now. i doubt the likes of cameron and osborne ever had to do low paid jobs to subsidise their studies. that's why i just don't believe they truly understand the problems facing many people in this country.

lostinrates

ninky wrote: »

i'm not sure it has changed now. i doubt the likes of cameron and osborne ever had to do low paid jobs to subsidise their studies. that's why i just don't believe they truly understand the problems facing many people in this country.

wow, and what about all the non-rich people who go to Oxford?


FWIW I know people who worked through holidays from Oxford.

treliac

ninky wrote: »

i'm not sure it has changed now. i doubt the likes of cameron and osborne ever had to do low paid jobs to subsidise their studies. that's why i just don't believe they truly understand the problems facing many people in this country.

It would be interesting to know how many of our politicians did have to, wouldn't it. Aren't a good number of the Labour party ex-public school types too?

nickmason

Cleaver wrote: »

Just out of interest, what jobs did everone do between the ages of about 15 to 21? I did:

Paper-round
Washing up in the canteen of a shower factory
Night work unloading and loading lorries at a distribution warehouse
Cocktail barman (I was sh*t at that, kept dropping everything)
Worked behind the bar in a traditional pub
Worked for the council teaching kids to play football and took them on trips (that was ace)
Door to door cold calling and selling double glazing (quit after a day, it was awful)
Night porter in a large hotel
Waiter
Did a few weeks labouring for a gypsy family who did drives. Which was interesting.

Paper round
Farm hand
Magician's assistant
Magician
Making Scotch-eggs in a factory
Filling neutradol air-fresheners in a factory
Pub kitchen hand
Barback
Barman
Cocktail barman
Spent two months mapping London's accommodation addresses for a cable company
Sailing instructor
Running the world's largest computer networking demonstration suite at IBM
Analysing heights and weights of foals in the race-horse world
Porter at Christies (the auction house)
Paper pusher for British Gas (never quite sure why the paper had to move around in triplicate as it did).
Telesales - selling advertising space.
Running the forecasting models for Rothschild Asset Management.

treliac

nickmason wrote: »

Paper round
Farm hand
Magician's assistant
Magician
Making Scotch-eggs in a factory
Filling neutradol air-fresheners in a factory
Pub kitchen hand
Barback
Barman
Cocktail barman
Spent two months mapping London's accommodation addresses for a cable company
Sailing instructor
Running the world's largest computer networking demonstration suite at IBM
Analysing heights and weights of foals in the race-horse world
Porter at Christies (the auction house)
Paper pusher for British Gas (never quite sure why the paper had to move around in triplicate as it did).
Telesales - selling advertising space.
Running the forecasting models for Rothschild Asset Management.

Crikey!!! How did you fit in a 'proper' job?

ninky_2

lostinrates wrote: »

wow, and what about all the non-rich people who go to Oxford?


FWIW I know people who worked through holidays from Oxford.

you miss my point lir which was to say that i think working rather than studying is still frowned on at oxford.

of course non rich people go to oxford and find ways and means. and many will have (frowned on) jobs. but i don't think we can class cameron and osborne as non-rich people.