Can you refuse job applications that the jobseekers set you up for?

langsmith

RacyRed wrote: »

But that is the point, it doesn't keep you going.

If you have made provision for the bad times then you have insurance to cover some of your expenses, mortgage etc. These are based on your having had a certain level of income.

Say for instance someone has been earning £35,000 before being made redundant. When first unemployed they have some savings, a pension pot, maybe an old endowment policy which they hope will give them a decent cash sum when they are nearing retirement.

You are made redundant. You claim JSA. No housing benefit, no council tax reduction, nothing else is available because you saved for a rainy day. You cut your cloth and thank god you have MPP so at least your home is safe, even if you are having to really struggle to survive on JSA.

Soon you realise the only work available is at or around NMW so you are looking at a salary of around £12,500 per year, £20,000 less than your usual lifestyle is based on. What happens if you accept such a job? Your MPP stops, you cannot afford to pay your mortgage any longer so your home is at risk. You find yourself cashing in endowments and pensions to help make ends meet. But you can't. Very quickly you face either trying to sell your home in a dead property market or have it repossessed. Your entire life is turned upside down. Everything you tried to achieve is gone. A year or so later the economy starts to recover and your old skills are in demand again. This time when you go for interviews employers look at your CV and ask why you have been doing completely unrelated work for a while, ask what you have done to maintain your skills. With all of the turmoil going on it would have been hard to expand your skills to make yourself attractive to those employers.

Then you think, if only I had been helped to survive as I was, living on basic JSA, I'd still have my home, my pension would still be there when I retire. I would have been able to spend time training to expand my skill base in a relevant way or doing a bit of charity work to keep my work ethic going and I'd be able to compete properly for the jobs becoming available.

The cost of that to the state? about £3,500 per year. Is that really too much to pay to keep skilled people afloat during this recession? Or are we really so vindictive that we are going to make hard working people sacrifice everything rather than pay that small amount?

You look around and see people who have lived on benefits all of their lives. Nothing has changed for them. They even have a better standard of living that you have now because they never owned anything that put their benefits at risk.

I know that this is a very simplified example, but the basis of it is as it is. Lets ask ourselves what kind of message we send out to hard working, self motivated people if we tell them it was all for nothing because we are unwilling to provide a life belt when they really need it.

So ask yourselves again. Should people really be forced to accept any job that comes along? Or is that a very short sighted and detrimental attitude for our society to take.

Very well said, I could not agree more. The Gov. has never been able to plan for the future, let alone today - strategy... what's that? !

I really feel for the kids that have gone to college and stand no chance of employment. Graduates are having serious employment issues, so what about the unskilled, will they have a job? Not likely as the Grads will be in them first. The the burden will remain on the state. Madness.

Stew68

RacyRed,

One of the best well thought out posts i've read for a while.

All very true.

Thanks for posting it.