US state abolishes the dole?
May 21 2007 18:29
Can anyone shed further light on this?
I was listening to the radio the other day and the discussion topic was Should we get rid of the dole?, pretty much all the guests and callers were in agreement that Job Seekers Allowance, or more generally welfare benefits for the unemployed, were out of date, tantamount to theft and should be abolished, one of the callers was so enlightened that she proclaimed that as the dole had been around for over 200 years its clearly too old and ill adapted to an economy that can employ anyone who can be arsed to get up off their behind. Anyway the catalyst for the discussion was the example of an american state that had recently abolished welfare for the unemployed and employment had subsequently risen by 80% (fuck knows what it was before hand) however i cant find any articles to back this claim up, any ideas?
Yeah i have an idea OOTH from what i read on this subject some time ago but like you can't source any articles atm..iirc it was not a total removal of benefits across the boards, it was a strictly adhered to three strikes and you are out scheme..i.e. you were able to turn down up to two crap jobs/interviews then if you didn't take a crap job/attend interview your benefits were removed. Kinda short sharp shock ruthlessly applied . Obv therefore this WOULD reduce the benefit figures and cause a temp. rise of employment but as this does not - of course! - solve any of the complex proper problems of employment and unemployment - it is therefore purely a figure-fiddling and PR exercise for the US newly confident Right. This was a pilot and has not afaik been adopted across the boards and i hope will not. I doubt it.
Love
LW X