Most people classed as being in poverty 'have job' (Dec 2013)

Its  o longer just the unemployed that are struggling with the money...Part time and 0 hours contract employees face the same as the unemployed

Reaching out to the Unemployed at your Job centre

Over the last few years I have regularly reached out to Unemployed people at my local Job centre.
This has led to interesting interaction and stories that were very real. Often people had clearly not been provided with the Key support they needed and were mis informed.A solution is

for volunteers to be equipped with tablets to provide Job seekers with the information that they need. You might ask why DWP havent done this themselves. Well, one day they might but in the meantime............
With current government cut backs the challenge for staff of being well informed and providing the key information as it is required limits the job seeker to what they may be told
An example would be information on national support available locally. Here I am providing a possible solution at low cost. Much of the information and support that claimant s need is already available on line and with a degree of knowledge of understanding as to its location can be found. Drastically reducing a number of the issues that Job seekers may have and reducing the work and time that charities put into meeting job seekers. A tablet can produce the internet access required and the links to the information that can save time and resource in a cost effective way reducing time wasting. and appointments.. So could this be a solution that local Church and Community groups could support. Maybe even sponsor.
From the Job benefit claim to the Tax credit information or other forms of guidance.

George Osbourne's Work Programme revamped

George Osborne extends 'work for benefit' for jobless

Continue reading the main s

The long-term unemployed will have to undertake work placements in return for their benefits, under tougher rules unveiled by Chancellor George Osborne.

Welfare must be "fair for those who need it and fair for those who pay for it", he told the Tory conference.

Cleaning up litter

By running a budget surplus in the good times, he would "fix the roof while the sun was shining".

Continue reading the main story

Analysis

Ross HawkinsPolitical correspondent

There is nothing new about making jobseekers work on pain of losing their benefits.

The government began what it called Mandatory Work Activity back in 2011.

Under the scheme, JobCentre advisers sent people on four-week placements on pain of losing their Jobseeker's allowance. It was down to private contractors to source the placements.

There is nothing new in the policy affecting many thousands of people.

Between May 2011 and February 2013, there were 146,810 referrals to Mandatory Work Activity placements.

Although government figures show there were only 53,720 occasions on which people actually started the placements.

Those who failed to begin may have got a job, decided not to claim the benefit or simply refused to take part.

And there is nothing new in putting some people on work placements once their time on the Work Programme has finished.

Plans to do that were announced in May. George Osborne is changing the system, though, by extending the placements from four weeks to six months.

Only about a third of the 200,000 Jobseekers Allowance claimants affected will be on the work placements.

The other two thirds will either have to attend a jobcentre every day or undergo programmes to address the reasons they cannot find work like illiteracy or mental health problems.

The new system will affect people completing the Work Programme without finding jobs from April 2014.

• Q&A: How 'Help to Work' works?

Labour said Mr Osborne could not be trusted to deliver a surplus, having had to backtrack on his earlier pledge to eliminate the structural deficit in 2015.

"By opposing the measures Labour announced last week to freeze energy prices and expand free childcare for working parents, the Tories have shown once again that they only ever stand up for a privileged few not for hard working families," shadow minister Rachel Reeves said.

On welfare, Mr Osborne said that while the government would not "abandon" the long-term unemployed, no-one would be able to get something for nothing.

Those who had not found work after two years on the existing Work Programme - where contractors are paid a fee to get people into a job - will face a new scheme called help-to-work.

To still qualify for jobseeker's allowance they will have three options - work placements, such as cleaning up litter; daily visits to a job centre; or taking part in compulsory training, for example, to improve their literacy.

People would have to remain on help-to-work until they found employment - unlike the current scheme which is limited to six months.

Those who breach the rules will lose four weeks' worth of benefits. Anyone who breaks the rules a second time faces losing three months' worth of benefits.

'Useful work'

Mr Osborne told the conference: "We are saying there is no option of doing nothing for your benefits, no something-for-nothing any more.

"They will do useful work to put something back into their community; making meals for the elderly, clearing up litter, working for a local charity.

"Others will be made to attend the job centre every working day.

"And for those with underlying problems, like drug addiction and illiteracy, there will be an intensive regime of support. No-one will be ignored or left without help. But no-one will get something for nothing."

A Department of Work and Pensions assessment of mandatory work activity - a similar compulsory work scheme introduced by ministers in 2011 - found it "had no impact on the likelihood of being employed". And on the work programme, DWP figures suggested one in 10 of those seen found a long-term job.

Unions said the help-to-work plan was an admission that existing schemes had failed.

And business groups said "warm words" on enterprise and wealth creation must be backed up by a "relentless focus" in the years ahead.

"Breaking government addiction to debt and achieving a surplus in public finances is the most important ambition any administration can have," the Institute of Directors said

The Reality in the areas of high Unemployment

The classic challenge has been with us for years. The challenge is that the Programme thus far has not been set fit for the needs of industry. often the training has lacked as has the opportunities in the respective areas.

many of the jobs taken up are part time or 0 hours which then leads to an immediate suspension of support. Because of the set up many are left in an area if income generation without the needed support. This Blog has already featured posts indicating the issues.How the Work Programme has failed

Having claiments attending the Job Centre Daily means the Job centre has to have the capacity to meet that need. Reality is it hasn't.thus more fall through the system

Minimum wage and Poverty. True stories from documentaries

Finding the work is tough in the Birmingham area
Breadline Britain shows the changes in our current situation

conditions are clearly not good for many of the houses.
1.8 million are living in poverty

REDCAR
1 in 10 men are out of work in Redcar. Redcar is a seaside location in the North East
1/3 are under 24
 For every 12 people on Job seekers allowance there is one vacancy.
30 million people in the UK are financially insecure
2.1 million people who are in work supporting a family are in poverty
David Rooks family is an example..Both parents work..Part time. which , is often the only option for many. They admit they would be financially better off split up. Yet they stay together.

All work and low pay
Minimum wage or not....Living wage

 Mathew Parkes situation is not unique because of his work experience.
The 0 hour contracts also means that holidays and sick pay are also less accesible to many.

Food Banks in the West Midlands

Not the effect of the Sanctions and that many would like to work.

11 September produced the unemployment figures

Here are the stats for September

The political debate rages on


The different views on PM question time today as the results came out
The discussion of the cost of living is included


There is also the idea of the 90 mins signing on idea being floated

 
The striking figure is the number of males taking part time work that are keen to take on full time work
This proves that there is an enthusiasm to do any work rather than no work but.....Can we have enough hours please..In recent days there has also been discussion about the 0 hours contract..This tends to benefit only the Employer
What are your views?

Working on line..is it an area you have considered to help you earn money?

I read this article on the BBC web site and reflected in the issue that there are many who are stuck at home feeling they have little in the way of opportunity.

Sat at home due to a disability unable to work. Could this be a solution. Do you need help finding the right source of reliable work.

Onthedole.com has unique support in this respect with members like yourself. 

You may have faced challenges having got into trouble in the past yet..wanting to make a fresh start. 

Maybe as a single parent you are have to put your family first and need the flexibility.

The online opportunity is certainly a direction that if you do your research can open new doors of opportunity if you are keen to earn the money. you can even study and learn online for free.

so have a read of the article and come online and have a chat

"Crowdworking is growing fast. Companies can now call on workers from all over the world to collaborate on huge tasks while simply sitting at their home computer. So how much money can you make at your keyboard?

I'm not averse to a bit of hard graft, so I decided to sign up to some sites to try micro-working through the internet.

I've decided on two rules. Any cash earned goes to charity. And I don't want to be paid for anything I wouldn't be happy doing on daytime television.

In order to preserve the BBC's reputation, I warned my social media network that I was conducting an experiment and they should expect some strange status updates.

Day 1: Surveys and Videos

First up, InboxPounds, a site providing surveys and odd jobs to casual clickers.

That's my first 20p under my belt

I've been given a £1 bonus for signing up.

Answering a 15-minute survey about an advert gets me 25p.

I watched a video for 1p, and "liked" a certain brand of mobile phone on Facebook for 1p.

Yes, you heard right, I got paid for a "like" - I'm not proud.

Seems promising, but no cash in hand till I earn £20.

Total amount earned - £3.06.

Day 2: Games

Swagbucks is a site offering points, which eventually add up to money that is paid either through Paypal or as vouchers.

I watched a selection of videos, played casual games and earned - though the amount was negligible.

A day's casual gaming and video-watching earns 102 swag bucks - roughly working out to 50p, depending on the offer used to convert them.

Payout is at £5.

Total amount earned - £0.50.

Day 3: Transcription

Next up, CastingWords.

I've joined an army of transcribers, listening to audio and typing out the words.

Sounds simple enough for a fast typist - so I unwisely jumped straight in with a transcription challenge.

It wasn't easy - just one assignment took me nearly an hour - and my promised pay was docked heavily for not fitting house style.

I was demoted, and can now only review other people's work for a few cents apiece until my score improves.

Payout is at $1.

Total amount earned: $0.58 (37p).

Day 4: Microworking

Microworking sites, such as Amazon's Mechanical Turk, pay for so-called human intelligence tasks (Hits).

These can be for creative writing, coding, or more.

Sadly my registration did not come through in my assigned work week.

Amazon said: "Mechanical Turk works on an invitation-only registration process for workers.

"Workers are asked to start the registration process and then receive an email invitation in order to complete the registration process.

"This process is in effect for all workers, regardless of country.

"Invitations are extended to new workers based on a number of factors including the demand within each country."

Here's my work on mail-order catalogues

I was able to sign up to an alternative site,Clickworker.

First I passed an English test and a creative-writing test.

Thanks to my 100% score I have landed a plum assignment - creative writing for mail-order catalogue entries - for tennis clothing, based on translated German text.

It is a comparatively lucrative 1.25 euros (£1.05) for just over 100 words, although you're at the mercy of whoever marks your assignment.

If they're not impressed, they give you nothing.

This happened on my last three tasks - so much for my 100% score.

Paid weekly.

Total amount earned - 5.85 euros (£4.95).

Day 5: Creative microworking

Finally I turned to Fiverr, a site where the crowd advertises services as "gigs" for $5 (£3.20).

Some services are frankly mystifying, for example - $5 to find something in a watermelon, or $5 to draw and roast a picture of a chicken.

Encouraged by this, I used my existing musical and writing skills to offer paying customers poetry, music composing, and bad pun headline writing.

The inevitable witty Facebook friend asked me for something virtually impossible - 30 seconds of a Miles-Davis styled piano theme.

For $5 - in 4 days.

Oh well, his money is as good as anyone else's.

I found the horror of the countdown on my seller's page combined with the promise of $5 to be good motivation.

Although these assignments took the longest to complete, I found this approach by far the most fun and enterprising.

Job done - but Fiverr takes a healthy 20% cut. Leaving me with - $4 (£2.57).

And the payment process is positively glacial, it takes 14 days.

Total amount earned - $16 (£10.28).

Conclusion

So, working week over, how did I do?

Total amount earned - £19.16.

Total hours worked - 37 hours.

Clearly not as much as I was hoping.

Much of my working week was spent researching which websites paid the best- if at all.

Many sites I tried to earn money through turned out not to be worth the time or effort.

I learned to beware of scam websites thanks to searching the company name for worker reviews before signing up to a site.

Out of the many tasks available, I thought the low-paying ones seemed the least efficient.

Like the offline world, specific abilities like touch typing, fast creative writing, or something unique, such as composing, gave a better return on time spent.

Anyone thinking of quitting their offline job might like to bear the following in mind - with what I have learned this week, the potential over time to earn a reasonable wage requires a lot of effort.

Serious crowdworkers understand which tasks fit them, they work long hours for a number of weeks and are prepared to wait a while to get paid.

So, yes, there is some money in crowdworking - but for now it looks like I'll be at my Click day job for a while longer.

All the money raised will be donated towards the BBC's Children in Need appeal."

Universal Credit-thought through

Has the concept of Universal Credit been thought through by the Government?
Yesterday I posted articles by a number of sources indicated some of the arguments featured in the media.
Today I thought some observations might be relevant.

The all in one system
The Government has mixed the workers with the non workers.Those on Job seekers allowance and those on Tax Credits. Politically this means they cannot say that all those on Universal Credit are "work shy" as this will potentially alianate many millions. Add this to the interesting challenge that they are taking this to a monthly payment instead of the weekly payment this assumes that all those on this benefit can live month by month.
The Credit will also apply to those self employed and on 0 hours contracts. In other words those with the most fluctuating benefit.
The CAB is stating that the benefit allowance is going to be assessed monthly instead of on an annual basis. Over the years many including myself have seen the issue with the annual mistake with Working Family Tax Credit. A letter saying an over payment has been made that they will not take through reduced payments but simply by the setting up of a direct debit, standing order or payment.THEY HAVE MADE THE MISTAKE.


The all in one system is already providing issues for CAB and other relevant bodies on top of the bed room tax.
It is clearly a way of losing votes during a general election.

Computer Training
To expect claiments to use new application processes to apply for relevant benefits you have to provide support. Looking on line through Youtube and other sources where the public will tend to look for information it is clear to see the lack of advice and guidance. INDEED, the majority of material talking you through any of the changes have been created by councils. Very little though the department itself that will be administering the changes.
Indications are that the training for staff at relevant departments is not as good as it might be. There is a strong indication that there may be many grounds for appeal to Upper tier tribunals where Universal Credit has been initially turned down and where decision makers decisions are questioned. Within the legal frame work of  the Welfare Act this is likely to increase the pressures.
One does wonder what the back up plans are for computer failure and other software issues. Yesterdays political statements were not reassuring in the sence that Ian Duncan Smith admitted to having to under take reviews and we are currently not yet at the end of the pilot scheme in the North West.
It should be remembered that the North East and Birmingham areas are the areas that are where training and support will be key as this is where the unemployment figures are at their worst and it could be argued that this is where there literacy and I.T competence for not just Universal Credit but also Universal Job Match may be needed the most. You can as a jsa claiment be sanctioned for failing to tick the box asking allowing the adviser to see your account.....dpa not considered.
Opportunities
There is without a shadow of doubt a market for online training and support that may be filled and met by training providers. There is a way here that claiments can be saved time and energy by on line training and support where the claiment has access to a computer at home.
Conclusion
There is a General election coming up before the final role out of this process. Are we likely to see a re branding of the concept..Yes.
If this becomes a disaster we are likely to see this as a vote loser. It doesnt just affect the non workers.But, it affects the millions of low income earners with savings of less than £16.000.
The computer access will clearly be key and its infrustructure does have to be accesible and fit for purpose.
WATCH THIS SPACE COMES TO MIND