I think sometimes we over simplify the discussion.
A lot of skilled professionals who have been let go aren't automatically rushing to do minimum wage jobs because they know they don't have the experience, they know they'll be more expensive to pay than a teenager, they know the companies know it'll be essentially a short term stop gap and then they'll need to rehire and it doesn't fit with a cv.
The other aspect of this is many mw jobs involve shifts and many adults have responsibilities of some type that make shift work impossible for some extremely difficult for others. As a lone parent to a toddler with limited childcare support I can't do shift work any more and had to change career in order to get out of it even though i was highly skilled in the sector i was working in.
Many, many people on benefits are working. I get benefits and work full time. It covers half of my childcare bill which is what enables me to go to work in the first place.
I previously worked with people who were NEET and the issues around why people are on long term benefits are usually really complex even when on the surface it looks like laziness. It's usually tied up in issues with confidence, not seeing people in their area succeeding and therefore low aspirations and total disillusionment, lots of negative experiences in the work place etc or generational trauma. In rural areas especially work is not easy to come by and in many areas the infrastructure isn't there for people to actually get to the nearest town for work for 9am unless they drive and with car prices and insurance so high now especially for first time buyers that's out of reach unless you're earning well.
The pp who mentioned about how bad the UK is at preventative work is absolutely right on the money. And these conversations often feed into that. People feel squeezed and are struggling so they start to look around and judge others rather than looking to their government and criticising the policies and spending that's caused the issues in the first place. And the government encourage this through careful use of media.
What we actually need is caps on hmos and multiple properties, a better childcare package that supports families, a home office that enables asylum seeking people to work while they wait on their application being processed and a better commitment to the community voluntary sector which is the sector that helps people who are struggling and takes pressure off all other core services.
What we don't need is a further rise in poverty (which is inevitably what a further cut in benefits access would mean) and all of the generational problems that come with that. If you want to live in a nice functioning society then you have to look after the people who are the most vulnerable and least able to care for themselves. I think people really forget that when they pay taxes and it goes towards benefits, that is what they're actually paying for and it does actually benefit them. It's just not an obvious, visible benefit as it's a preventative measure that we know statistically reduces crime, asb, improves health outcomes, and prevents intergenerational trauma and the social legacy that comes with that.