Originally Posted by scoobydoo

It's a great idea to make it worth going to work rather than living on benefits but it isn't enough to say benefits will be cut if someone doesn't take a job offer. There are already sanctions for these people but if hardship is shown, they just get a lower amount paid and it doesn't seem to matter to them. I'd say quite a lot of them are already working as well as claiming benefits!

I can't remember where I saw the estimate, but something like 35% of people claiming unemployment benefit have a cash income from work they do 'on the side'. The trouble is that facts like that would appear to get swept under the carpet whenever there's talk of modifying the tax or benefits system, so there's no real official incentive to make the sort of changes which are needed.

The raising of tax thresholds is a start for people who work but who are on low incomes, but I think they need to go up to at least £15k, perhaps even higher, to make it really worthwhile, but of course that's not really possible at the moment with our finances in such a mess. Another major step forward would be the introduction of a mandatory work programme for people who've been unemployed for a given period of time. The time period could be automatically adjusted to allow for changes in economic conditions; the more jobs there are available, the shorter the time that people will receive benefits before they either have to joint the work programme or lose their benefits altogether.

Beside's the governemnt here in the U.S that would prohibit now any negativity
for the welfare system I think people should earn the benefits they receive. That
means from their hard work and ability of performance with dtermination.

If not, then we have encouraged a society from an early age not to worry of
setting any kind of future except for how long to get their paycheck every month.
This therfore generates a society of dependancy who never leave the nest.

Getting a career in life that you wish to pursue applies on to the American Dream.
But it is no doubt that because of the Left within our government and media, that
dream is slowing falling apart thread by thread.

Originally Posted by The Silver Eagle

Beside's the governemnt here in the U.S that would prohibit now any negativity for the welfare system I think people should earn the benefits they receive. That means from their hard work and ability of performance with dtermination.

If not, then we have encouraged a society from an early age not to worry of setting any kind of future except for how long to get their paycheck every month.
This therfore generates a society of dependancy who never leave the nest.

Getting a career in life that you wish to pursue applies on to the American Dream.
But it is no doubt that because of the Left within our government and media, that dream is slowing falling apart thread by thread.

A problem we've had here for many years now thanks to socialist attempts to 'level' society What we need more than anything until there can be long term changes in the whole benefits structure is a form of workfare introduced, whereby people who are unemployed can both feel at least they're doing something and earning a bit of self-respect by working, and realise that they're no longer going to get an extended something for nothing from the government.

Education does play a large part in this; if kids grow up in a culture of dependency and have the desire to win and to achieve for themselves removed at an early age, they will, metaphorically perhaps, simply sit around waiting for others to do something for them rather than go out and do it for themselves.

Not so sure about your 'American Dream' though; for many these days it's an 'American Nightmare', with the culture you've developed there being viewed by huge numbers of people outside the US, right wing as well as left, as being little more than an every man for himself and to hell with the consequences society I'm far from a leftie myself, but you can only bully, trample, push and bribe your way to the top, completely ignoring those 'under' you, for so long before the chickens come home to roost, and that's something that we're already starting to see happening in the US.