UK Gov to bring in compulsory work placements in exchange for Jobseekers' Allowance

I heard this yesterday, and I was quite amazed by the decision that the new coalition government in the UK has decided to do:

(Telegraph) In the most radical clampdown on the work-shy yet, Iain Duncan Smith will announce that the unemployed will be found compulsory 30 hour-a-week work placements and if they fail to turn up they will lose their Jobseekers' Allowance for at least three months.
[...]
But there will be harsh sanctions for those who refuse to co-operate. In one of the most controversial measures, the Government will bring in compulsory work placements, whereby unemployed people who are judged to be failing in their efforts to find work will be given an "extra push".

This is a very welcome development. I would have phrased it differently though. Basically they are turning the Jobseekers' Allowance into a real job paid by the government, but fail to explain it properly. Indeed, why not get people to do something for the money the government pays them? Instead of just sitting at home getting free money?

The best solution would be to just not have a Jobseekers' Allowance, and not have income tax neither. You are then incentivized to work, you are not expropriated from your property (money and labor) and you save for your own sake and rainy days.

Those forced to take up Work Activity Placements will be expected to spend 30 hours a week for four weeks at a time in a local business or project benefiting the community. If they do not attend or fail to complete the placement a "significant" financial sanction will be imposed, such as withholding Jobseeker's Allowance for at least 3 months, government insiders said.

One source close to the plans said: "We know there are still some jobseekers out there who need an extra push to get them into the mindset of being in the working environment. "This is all about getting them back into a working routine which in turn makes them a much more appealing prospect for an employer looking to fill a vacancy, and more confident when they enter the workplace.

"The goal is to break the habit of worklessness."Some five million people are currently claiming out of work benefits in the UK, with 1.4 million claiming for 9 out of the last 10 years.

What an irony...

Britain has one of the highest rates of workless households in Europe, with 1.9 million children living in homes where no one has a job.

This sounds like Italy or France to me...

There are 900,000 people who have spent at least 10 years claiming Incapacity Benefit, while the cost of IB alone since 2000 has been almost £135bn and the welfare budget as a whole has increased by 40% in real terms from £63bn in 1996/1997 to £87bn in 2009/2010.

 Same here, Italy...

As well as sanctions, Mr Duncan Smith will announce a reform of benefits payments designed to ensure work pays. He is expected to pledge that around 35p in every £1 people earn as they come off benefit will stay in their pocket to ensure there is an incentive to work.

Currently some families on benefits lose more than £1 of income for every £1 they earn because of the withdrawal of state subsidies and tax credits.

Same again. Italy, France, probably most European countries... People need incentive to work, or else, they'll just stay at home and cash in free benefits on the back of the fewer and fewer wealth producing and hard working people.

In an interview this weekend, Mr Duncan Smith said his reforms were "the biggest change since Beveridge introduced the welfare system".

Some charities opposed to the changes have warned that thousands of people could be pushed into poverty, in particular by reforms to incapacity benefit. Disability Alliance claims that up to a million people with long term sickness or disability could be affected.

 Of course, socialists will always come and complain. But no system is perfect. A system were almost a million people spend 10 years claiming incapacity benefit or two million children living in homes where nobody works. Imagine just a moment what part of the population actually does work and feed the rest of the people?

Despite this, there are signs that Labour could be close to supporting some of the measures. Douglas Alexander, the shadow work and pensions secretary, has said that Labour could support testing incapacity benefit claimants for their availability for work.

Under the plans, claimants face a new 12-month cap on their benefits, if ruled able to work. People who cannot work, for example the terminally ill, would be given support with no time limit.

Thank you Mr Duncan Smith. Let's hope that all other welfare and socialist countries in the west will follow.