Considering the statistics she is using, it is hard to believe Liz Kendall’s claims about unemployed young people.
She is telling us that people aged 18-21 who refuse to work will have their benefits cut in the future, supporting herself with official figures saying nearly a million people between those ages were out of education, employment or training between July and September.
But this is hardly proof of an epidemic of laziness; for a start, higher education institutions are usually closed between July and September – as are training organisations, depending on what Kendall means by that. It is unreasonable to expect people to be attending those places at that time of year.
Furthermore, while it is common for young people to take jobs during the long summer break, This Writer is not convinced that many of them would willingly claim out-of-work benefits during that time, if they were going to go back to education afterwards; it simply would not be worth the aggravation.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
So it seems to me that any who are claiming benefits are probably in genuine need of them.
It occurs to me that Kendall [pictured] may be hoping to use an inflated July-September figure to falsely claim success for her “earn or learn” scheme – that probably doesn’t need the benefit of such a deception.
It occurs to me that, if offered an apprenticeship or a job instead of unemployment benefits, most young people who did not have higher education obligations would be happy to take either – so Kendall doesn’t need the crutch of a falsely-inflated unemployment figure to support any claims of success.
More concerning is the BBC article’s concentration on people claiming benefits due to ill-health.
That isn’t refusing to work, of course – such people simply can’t work at the moment – but the rhetoric used in the article suggests that they are work-shy, crying off it for the sake of it. That would be misleading.
If this new initiative is just another excuse to demonise people who are genuinely sick or disabled, then the media need to expose it as such – not support it as this BBC piece seems to.
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It is hard to believe Liz Kendall’s claims about unemployed young people
Considering the statistics she is using, it is hard to believe Liz Kendall’s claims about unemployed young people.
She is telling us that people aged 18-21 who refuse to work will have their benefits cut in the future, supporting herself with official figures saying nearly a million people between those ages were out of education, employment or training between July and September.
But this is hardly proof of an epidemic of laziness; for a start, higher education institutions are usually closed between July and September – as are training organisations, depending on what Kendall means by that. It is unreasonable to expect people to be attending those places at that time of year.
Furthermore, while it is common for young people to take jobs during the long summer break, This Writer is not convinced that many of them would willingly claim out-of-work benefits during that time, if they were going to go back to education afterwards; it simply would not be worth the aggravation.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
So it seems to me that any who are claiming benefits are probably in genuine need of them.
It occurs to me that Kendall [pictured] may be hoping to use an inflated July-September figure to falsely claim success for her “earn or learn” scheme – that probably doesn’t need the benefit of such a deception.
It occurs to me that, if offered an apprenticeship or a job instead of unemployment benefits, most young people who did not have higher education obligations would be happy to take either – so Kendall doesn’t need the crutch of a falsely-inflated unemployment figure to support any claims of success.
More concerning is the BBC article’s concentration on people claiming benefits due to ill-health.
That isn’t refusing to work, of course – such people simply can’t work at the moment – but the rhetoric used in the article suggests that they are work-shy, crying off it for the sake of it. That would be misleading.
If this new initiative is just another excuse to demonise people who are genuinely sick or disabled, then the media need to expose it as such – not support it as this BBC piece seems to.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Follow Vox Political writer Mike Sivier on BlueSky
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
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