Free money for the Yoof!

[woohoo]

I must be going soft in my old age, but I like the idea of the Welsh giving out free money. I don't mean that sarcastically.

Welsh Government slammed over £20million basic income pilot scheme handing teenagers £1,600-a-MONTH | Daily Mail Online

The comments section in the DM is a fun read, I mean that sarcastically.

[jamesbrown]

PC will first in line after adjusting his passport.

[SueEllen]

FFS They need support not just more money.

[vetran]

Good job we aren't paying for it and we don't have more important things to spend it on!

[WTFH]

Next they'll be getting free university education, and free milk at school...

[d000hg]

UBI is gaining quite a bit of support. The arguments made are quite interesting, certainly more so than the derisory "communists giving everyone free money why would they ever work" line you'll see a lot.
I'm not in favour but I'm open to rethinking that if trials show good results. At the very least, anything which could put an end to the misery of the JobCentre, punitive benefits sanctions and a system which assumes everyone on benefits is lying has to be given a chance to say its piece.

[vetran]

UBI is gaining quite a bit of support. The arguments made are quite interesting, certainly more so than the derisory "communists giving everyone free money why would they ever work" line you'll see a lot.
I'm not in favour but I'm open to rethinking that if trials show good results. At the very least, anything which could put an end to the misery of the JobCentre, punitive benefits sanctions and a system which assumes everyone on benefits is lying has to be given a chance to say its piece.

The misery of the job centre can be easily solved by getting a job. I know plenty of employers wanting to hire staff.

I agree punitive sanctions should be managed it is a bullies charter.

Some people don't actually want to work this clearly documented. I would make those claiming benefits attend daily training after 3-6 months.
Very possible now with zoom & teams.

[WTFH]

The misery of the job centre can be easily solved by getting a job. I know plenty of employers wanting to hire staff.

But are they prepared to pay their staff a living wage appropriate for the location?

Some people don't actually want to work this clearly documented. I would make those claiming benefits attend daily training after 3-6 months.
Very possible now with zoom & teams.

Exactly how high is unemployment these days? It's not the 12% levels of the 1980s, it's around 4%.

If you look at how many people claiming JSA, it's 137,000, a far cry from the 3.3million unemployed in 1984.

[vetran]

But are they prepared to pay their staff a living wage appropriate for the location?



Exactly how high is unemployment these days? It's not the 12% levels of the 1980s, it's around 4%.

If you look at how many people claiming JSA, it's 137,000, a far cry from the 3.3million unemployed in 1984.

Well now we aren't undercutting the locals with eastern Europeans then yes which is why the employers are bleating like NLUK down the docks on a Friday night!

https://www.gov.uk/government/statis...-february-2021

JSA=340,000.

By the way plenty moved from JSA to disability under all governments.

[d000hg]

The misery of the job centre can be easily solved by getting a job. I know plenty of employers wanting to hire staff.

And they'll take anyone who applies will they? Even by your standards this is condescending. Are you really so detached from reality in your professional middle-class bubble, or just trolling?

Some people don't actually want to work this clearly documented. I would make those claiming benefits attend daily training after 3-6 months.
Very possible now with zoom & teams.

If the cost of forcing a minority who don't want to work through all these hoops to get their benefits was more than the cost of just giving them the benefits, would you still say so? i.e. are you arguing for economic reasons, or you just feel "it's not fair" that people get a pittance for doing nothing.
This is a central argument of UBI, that it simplifies everything and can end up saving money. I also morally feel that people should be encouraged to work which makes me instinctively dislike UBI but that is partly just my bias from a right-wing upbringing hearing about "scroungers" - should pragmatism win over idealism? Are those who put so much effort into not working best allowed to opt out?