But if work pays significantly more than benefits the system will shoot itself in the arse with housing; landlords will want the rents workers can pay and many people will be forced into the LA system- right now a great many rent privately. There is,admittedly through the neglect of successive Governments, not enough housing to go around; that will negatively impact on the 'deserving' claimants, both those like myself or the bulk of the recently redundant JSA keeps me going until I can find work crowd.
It will alsopenalise claimants who most people would agree need support- most of those famillies do claim some JSA / IS etc becuase things like CA and IB are so paltry in com-arison to actual need (CA is £53.10 a week) and I cannot see that it is right to make those people suffer. I'm a lucky one; eventually I will be back at work and hopefully by then i will have an MA and be very well qualified in an area of expanding need. Many long term claimants cannot look to such a positive outcome.
There is also another aspect: povrty takes on many forms, and in many famillies passes down through the generations. Why?Poverty of hope,poverty of opportunity, poverty of self esteem- all things compounded by being devalued by society.
I am a great believer in over hauling the system, but in a positive rather than negative fashion. Make a (small) top up avilable to those who volunteer (much of which can be done from homes so compatible with kids) for a registered charity (bringing self esteem, contacts, experience). Competely review funding for FE (at the moment mature students receive very little apart from a letter stating 'sorry you are not available for work'- yet isn't a qualification as a TA, childcarer or plumber as valuable as a degree for the right person?). Give people the means to change their lives and you'd be surprised how many do: even if its just a free college nursery palce with no loss of IS. When I did my Access DH was earning minimum wage, and I was saving the CB to cover the few hours childcare we couldn't juggle with his shifts, bloody nightmare of a time that almost cost us our marriage from the stress.
And the otehr thing we need is a long term focus. For those whose asses we cannot sshift, focus on their children: cahnge waht you can. The University here ran a mentor scheme into the valleys (until- guess what- funding was pulled) and it made changes in peoples lives. Sometimes you grow up thinking there's no chances- then somebody says but hang on, you're great at so even if your GCSE's aren'tt hat great, what about a more direct route such as BTEC first / ND / HND....I remember doing that for a girl with SPLD and you could see the world opening in her eyes. She got the palces, too.
Punitive measures won't work, we'll punish the wrong people (dependancts) and exaccerbate the problems long term. You have to deal with the causes.
bearing in mind as well that other great effect of poverty and increased lack of cash redicted by many in the recession: an increase in crime rates. better to motivate people (mostly in rather cost effective ways) than to write off the next generation, push people towards crime and have to fund both the remefdies and the prisons.