Rant - Life on the dole must be luxury!

mippy

"Why on earth not? If he can't find work he 'wants', he should take work he can get."

I don't disagree, but many low-paid/low skill jobs aren't interested in someone with a degree as they presume you won't stay there. 'Overqualified'. I found some temp agencies wouldn't take my CV, or were very snotty (one gave me a lecture on how to dress for City offices - 'you must wear heels!' despite my having worked in offices for years and in possession of some common sense.)

I also found the Job Centre didn't know how to deal with unemployed professionals - one worker suggested I took a job at an Asian language radio station, despite me explaining to her that I didn't speak any south Asian languages (except for very rude words), because it was the only thing that vaguely fitted my CV.

jimbms

Let's see if I can make some sense of this.
Here in the Isle of Man unless you was born here or have lived and payed tax &NI here for 5 yrs you cannot claim any benifits and you will not get a work permit if a Manx worker is available, unemployment is 1.9% very few migrant workers because of the permit system, people who opt to live on benifits are virtual outcast by the fact that they equate to over 1.9% of the population able to work so unless you are disabled or genuinly cannot work there is no excuse. Tax is very low one reason because we don't have to pay out for scroungers, by the same token so is crime.
Over in the UK, plenty on benifits, lots of migrant workers doing jobs for less, plenty of various nationalities claiming benifits from day one of arrival, unemployment growing, crime on the increase, skilled workers deserting the sinking ship for better lifestyles meaning industry is collapsing.
Am I missing something here?

villabadger

You've got it about right. Sounds like your system is just about perfect.

We do need a system to help those who genuinely need the financial support. With the recession it is clear that the numbers who need support have increased and will probably continue to do so. I was unemployed for a short time in 91, so I know what it's like. I feel really sorry for today's school leavers as I struggle to see where their opportunities will come from. A comprehensive program of apprenticeships would be a good start with decent incentives for small businesses to take them on.

Mouschka

If this country is so terrible why are some of the people who run it down still here? I like what we have in the UK - its not perfect but I don't want to trip over corpses on my way to work thanks.
As for making people work - who exactly is going to actually do that? If you run a business do you want to be lumbered with people who have no interest in being there? People who rant on forums about some mythical force that can make lazy people work are ridiculous. There is no way I want my workplace morale lowered by having a constant battle with people who have no interest in our business. Things are difficult enough without that stress.
On the other hand if people who whinge and moan about those on benefits are willing to employ or mentor those people themselves then great - get on with it.

jimbms

villabadger wrote: »

You've got it about right. Sounds like your system is just about perfect.

It's far from perfect but it works and there is no national debt which to me is a big bonus. On the down side out nearest places for shopping on your adjacent isle are Liverpool and Lancaster

emmell

oldone wrote: »

What is worrying is the emergence of a sub-culture, whereby an unemployed couple have children who see never working as the norm.They then have children very young -after all you have plenty of time on your hands when you do not have to go to work.
These children see their parents and grandparents have never worked and take this for normal, and have children very young who........

You must have been to our village then. And the LHA along with the council have just built a load of new houses for all the teenage mums,three storey with garage underneath, downstairs cloaks and their own wooden shed in the garden. Just as no.1 child starts school no.2 arrives with another of the latest most expensive buggies to transport their babies to the nearest cafe till nursery kicks out.
It's about time the government stopped housing teenage mums and made their parents take responsibility for them.
ML.

victoriaplus4

My son is 17 he is at 6th form and has excellent gcse results, he has applied for loads of jobs form retail to waiting tables the ones that do reply are looking for experience,how is he going to get that if no one gives him a chance,my youngest is 16 and has just completed his gcse exams he has aspergers if the eldest is struggling to find a job how hard is it going to be for the youngest, i am very worried about the lack of jobs in our area,no apprenticeship's, and no employers willing to give either boys a chance,they are desperate for work,and would do anything to be earning minimum wage,and i don't believe the job situation will change any time soon,no wonder people loose confidence and get disheartened.

villabadger

Unfortunately, generally youngsters are given bad press but all they need are opportunities. i don't know what is available now but in the 80's we had the YTS and YOP schemes. Back then, lots of companies used these schemes as an excuse to get in cheap labour. However, the really good thing was that at least it gave young people a reason to get up in the morning and do something positive. If you were lucky you actually got placed with a company that gave you experience in something that could evolve into a career - it gave me a great grounding for my career path in engineering.

In my local village, a group of lads worked on a council backed scheme whereby they were mentored by retired or semi-retired tradesmen. Jobs were arranged in the area for the gang that would benefit the whole community - landscaping, building maintenance, pathway maintenance, small bridge building etc. Councils spend thousands of pounds on general maintenance contracts annually - surely some of this cash could be re-directed to give others a chance? I'm not saying replace the contractors as a lot of this work requires specific skills and machinery but there must be some possibilities here. Then again....I suppose the major problem with this now is that most of the councils outsource the work to independent contractors rather than employ a large workforce of skilled people, who the youngsters could work alongside!

Pee

My boyfriend is a builder and he and a lot of his friends are struggling. If you are living with someone else it is not worth claiming dole. One of his friends has a girlfriend who only works 20 hours a week due to ill health and because of that he could not claim when he was off work.

£500 - £700 a week would certainly have skilled men interested outside of London. Either you were very unlucky, or the work is picking up where you are - I do hope so - or there was something about the employment you were offering that meant people were put off.

Men from here are driving miles for work - the last minimum wage handyman job had ten applicants interviewed and the furthest had come 45 miles...

Smallfries

when i was on dole (8 years ago), i went to sign on every fortnight and joined the line, all the misfits in front of me sat down "applied for any jobs" "not seen any" "see you in two weeks then"

when i sat down it was same question and i said "i havent seen any" was told this wasnt good enough, if you dont find any by next time your JSA will be stopped" how does that work? was it because i had been to college and got a IT qualification and the others were just wasters??

then i found myself a job, went to sign off and they pulled out a red tin, gave me £80 and told me to go and buy some work shirts, trousers and shoes and bring back the receipt. i did, it was easy not to though.

when i got my first wage i went back in to give them the £80 back, they didnt want it.

i know there are real cases that need the benefits, but where i love a lot of people are just claiming cos they cant be fussed working and want a "free" house.