To think the able bodied / mind/ non carer/ non low wage s worker on benefits, benefit population that claim benefits should contribute somehow to the community/ get the money for WORK .

[Crikeymaccrikey]

Yes this may be costly to set up such as enhanced dbs checks etc.

I feel that this would both give a purpose and a contribution. And lead to jobs possibly/ develop cv / show work ethic.

In addition , it may stop the resentment and the benefit bashing if the claimants are seen to be contributing to society.

This is not necessarily a tory notion.
Karl Marxs idea about each to ones own ability... encompasses this idea of people working together for the whole of society accordi ng to ability. A quick google implies this is actually a socilaist idea of all doing what they can . This is what i am suggesting.

And before anyone says they would be pushed into things.. maybe there could be a choice of ways to contribute ,like on a data base.

Also, I am a cleaner myself. I literally clean poo off loos. I do not feel less worthy than others . I do the job because I can no longer work in my profession , as I get older, ( burnt out nhs) and see nothing but value in my ( ? Seen as some,lowly work). It gives me structure, a decent wage, and I contribute. All good. No shame in doing a good job , whatever that job if it is in my ability.

How can this idea, properly managed be other than reasonable. ?

Don’t the majority on benefits actually work, even part time?

Do you mean workfare? Been done already.

Makes sense to me. That said, most people on benefits do work to some extent. Realistically, you'd probably be hard pressed to find 'able' people who aren't already doing some kind of work... it's work for the less able that is hard to come by and also many need a lot of support to do so - who is going to support?

In my post I had hoped to make it clear that i was only talking about
Claimants that do not work,and claim .
I was also only applying this to those who are fit in body.and mind and have no carer responsibilities.etc

Agreed OP

Yes , and i did mean a system to support and recognised that whilst this may cost it may be worthwhile for all.

If there's a job that needs doing then pay a living wage.

Why should people work for under the nmw and take jobs from other people?

Good idea in theory but what jobs do you propose these people do for benefits? Unless you know of hundreds of thousands of currently unfiled suitable positions then surely you would be just taking a job away from someone else.

I don’t think there are many, if any, such people. Under pension age able bodied etc I think are pretty much only eligible for job seekers allowance, and that is subject to pretty stringent rules about actually applying for jobs and attending interviews.

I think it is mostly a myth that people who really can work are lying around getting paid to do nothing.

I feel there can be a huge loss of confidence and social skills when not working.
In addition it may help break generational claimants , encorage the idea that work is good / normal not benefits and no work , no structure.

With the staggering number of people who don’t work due to I’ll health, i wonder why we don’t have a whole area of the NHS specifically looking at addressing these health problems and getting people back into work. It would more than pay for itself. Hi

Lilithslove where i live there are many many unfilled positions. On my facebook each and every week employers are asking for staff. The current staff are exhausted .. covering too many shifts.

I do agree op, and those with disabilities should be offered appropriate opportunities wherever possible even when it costs more in support costs than they contribute - I've worked with several young people with disabilities who would like to work but employers don't want them.

Speakintoabrickwall did not say they wd be expected to work for below min wage.

I think we have a huge mental health crisis which makes it worse as we cannot see why some seemingly able bodied people are unable to work

There are a huge number of people in our country who are unable to work due to mental health and a chunk of it is preventable. I don't mean by themselves - we should be asking ourselves why our society is leading so many people to be unable to cope. We are getting something badly wrong in the way we live and support people.

this

What about the mega rich contributing to society by paying higher taxes - as you say Marx said "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs". Or do you think it should only apply to poor people, not rich?

If there is suitable work available, people should be paid a full wage for it. They shouldn’t be doing a job and just getting ‘benefits’ instead of a salary. It’s not prison.

Beat me to it.

If there's work there people should be paid a living wage to do it.

Tesco among others did nicely out of workfare.

So actually what you mean is no job seekers payments (because these are the people with no job who are considered fit to work) - if they want money they can be helped into work but they'll have to take what there is

Benefits as wages top up, DLA, carers etc would continue.

People who don't work and are on a single person claim with no disabilities, no caring responsibilities, no children are entitled to £77 per week. I wouldn't have thought there are many people out there who can work that are chosing to live off of £77.

If people are made to work for their benefits they should be paid, at least, the minimum wage.

gogohmm agree.. my relative is a wheelchair user . There are barriers which it wd also be great to
address. For able and less able bodied. Mental health.support

.etc.

How many of these sorts of threads have we had this week already?

If there's a job an unemployed person can do, then it's a job full stop. And they should be paid a living wage.

Perhaps what we should be doing is reducing the stigma of being on benefits - people who have worked all their lives (and yes, OP, contributed for decades) have enough on their plate without being judged.

Oh and most people on benefits are in work anyway.

alibongo5 i absolutelty think the rich should be taxed fairly, as should we all. Please dont presume otherwise. Dh was a 40% tax payer. As i say, each according to ability.

How many people exactly fall into that category, and how much are they claiming in benefits? How much of a drain to society are they really? And how many of those are not already performing an unpaid essential social role such as caring for a relative etc. How many are actively seeking work already? How many of these available roles are people qualified for or capable of? Let's have some hard facts about the real cost to society of these people before we go about deciding their fate.