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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think it won't be long before we have workhouses again?

333 replies

MrsTawdry · 02/02/2015 22:11

I really know very little about politics but I know that there's a proportion of people who love benefits bashing and love abusing those who receive housing benefit etc.

It occurred to me recently that one "answer" to the housing crisis might be a sort of "Housing Centre" ....basic blocks of flats sort of thing...where occupants lose a portion of their JSA in return for a roof...and from there it's a step to being given food vouchers as part of benefits and working on a voluntary basis....litter picking etc.

Could this happen? Could a government legislate and make this happen?

OP posts:
Ifyourawizardwhydouwearglasses · 02/02/2015 22:12

Why shouldn't people work for what they get?

FarFromAnyRoad · 02/02/2015 22:12

I think you've strayed into the realms of fantasy with this one. Which party do you think would be either dumb enough or rich enough to implement this?
Hmm

meandjulio · 02/02/2015 22:13

Are human beings valid and worthwhile as individuals even if they don't do paid work?

EatShitDerek · 02/02/2015 22:14

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

FreudiansSlipper · 02/02/2015 22:14

I think encouraging people to do some form of voluntary work is good for long term unemployed

workhouses were awful awful places and no we will not go back to that

TheFecklessFairy · 02/02/2015 22:14

It's not a 'voluntary basis'. They are working for the money the state gives them to exist.

Scholes34 · 02/02/2015 22:15

You do something similar for politicians so they don't have to go to the expense of a second home.

Original poster
MrsTawdry · 02/02/2015 22:15

I am just asking...I do think people should work but some people don't because they're sick or have suffered abuse. And some because they aren't brought up to work...they see their parents not work and know no different.

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EatShitDerek · 02/02/2015 22:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
MrsTawdry · 02/02/2015 22:16

Feckless but what about the jobs which would have been available to others...for proper wages...? They'll be being done by people on benefits...so the companies or government will save money but there will be less work...

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Original poster
MrsTawdry · 02/02/2015 22:17

FarFrom it wouldn;t take money to begin such a scheme....it would begin with people already in social housing and on benefits.

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mypoosmellsofroses · 02/02/2015 22:18

I'd like to see a basic block of flats built for MPs, for their use when attending Parliament. Kind of a dorm system maybe, adequate for their needs but relatively inexpensive to maintain. Should free up a few quid in expense claims....
Could a government make your idea happen? Probably. JSA isn't intended to cover housing costs though, that is what HB is for, so not sure why they would have to forgo a portion of JSA.
Should it ever happen? No, being out of work is shit enough without any further stigma/humiliation/singling out.

Original poster
MrsTawdry · 02/02/2015 22:19

Derek I don't mean voluntary which is VOLUNTARY but being told that you have to go and work in a certain place for a certain amount of time per day to pay for your home/rent/food vouchers.

I don't think it's that far fetched.

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Original poster
MrsTawdry · 02/02/2015 22:20

Roses I don't want this to happen btw! I'm just expressing a fear. I'm not on benefits either...but I have a social conscience.

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ScrambledEggAndToast · 02/02/2015 22:20

But where would their Housing Benefit come into this? Because isn't that was most people claiming JSA are using to pay for their housing anyway (at least a proportion of it anyway). By giving HB, the LA are paying all or part of their rent anyway so there's no need to reduce any further, surely. Possibly the voluntary work could be an idea but it would have to not be so much that it got in the way of searching for paid work. Can't see it ever happening though.

Ifyourawizardwhydouwearglasses · 02/02/2015 22:20

Again....why SHOULDNT people work if someone else is paying their rent etc? I know I'd want to.

RJnomore · 02/02/2015 22:20

Sadly, I don't think you are far wrong.

And some of the responses on this thread show that people are already well along the road to being conditioned into thinking that is a good thing.

It won't be calle d workhouse though, but the principle will be similar.

And as a country, we sit back and watch this happen.

RJnomore · 02/02/2015 22:21

Oh and it will be run by tesco most likely. It will certainly produce a profit for a private company.

EatShitDerek · 02/02/2015 22:21

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
MrsTawdry · 02/02/2015 22:21

Poo I know JSA is't intended for housing costs...and that's what HB is for. But I could JUST imagine the government saying "Yes but we want to discourage a welfare lifestyle so we're removing most of the cash aspect...the unemployed will still get accommodation and food...just fuck all else"

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HowCanIMissYouIfYouWontGoAway · 02/02/2015 22:23

Well, of course it could happen. Could is not the same as would but if the question is theoretically could it? Then the answer has to be yes, it could. It would be quite simple actually if a party actually wanted to do it.

if you wanted to bring back the workhouses, how would you go about it?

well, you'd begin with a campaign that would serve to dehumanise the group you were targeting. In this day and age that is best served by heavily edited tv programmes that appear to show them as despicable people leeching off the Hard Working Man. Add stories about people with 20 kids claiming thousands in benefits and finish off with lots of stories of faking disabilities and flat screen tvs and you have a population that views a segment of society as a problem to deal with

Then you get yourself a set of policies to 'help' them. Maybe you want to get them back into work, so you start work experience for them, where they go work for, for example, tesco or something, for their benefits.

Then you'd change that from voluntary to compulsory, all in the name of helping them back into work. If they didn't want to do it, then they'd have their benefits stopped.

Next, you'd want to get them into the housing so you'd run voluntary residential programmes for long term unemployed, where they'd live in at a centre for a period, learning vital job skills with the aim of helping them back into employment.

Then you'd add the compulsory work placements or lose your benefits to the residential scheme and you'd have - live in this place and learn these skills or lose your benefits.

Then you'd convince the rest of the population that it was in these people's best interests to live in, because you're helping them. Plus they aren't on the streets and isn't it nicer.

Then you'd have a subtle shift in policy that meant they were not allowed to leave until or unless they had a job. You'd say it was for their benefit and you are only trying to help them. The rest of the population would have watched enough programmes to know what a problem they are and be right behind you.

That's how it could be done.

Whether it would be done is another matter and everyone has their own view on that.

DirtyDancing · 02/02/2015 22:23

Jesus did we not learn anything when the last UK workhouse was closed in 1930. Horrific places that served to essentiallay deprive people of all dignity. God forbid we ever go back to having such horrific places

Original poster
MrsTawdry · 02/02/2015 22:23

RJ Oh no...it would be called "A Housing Centre" or something.

Derek yes but Work Fare gone even worse...people who work and recieve HB would probably be able to carry on but lose a portion of their HB.

I hope you realise Derek that I don't WANT this to happen. It's my wakign nightmare.

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DancingDinosaur · 02/02/2015 22:24

Yep that sounds like work fare.

betweenmarchandmay · 02/02/2015 22:24

Workhouses got a bit of a bad press due to dickens, on the whole. They were the embryonic stages of societal reform. Before them, there was absolutely no provision for the elderly, ill or those unable to work.

No, we won't go back to workhouses. Things go forward, not back.