Myself and my wife were discussing all these unemployment benefit issues that the government keep moaning about but failing to solve, and to us the solution seems quite simple. So I thought I would blog it and see what others think.
Specifically we were discussing the issues where people are just abusing the benefits, such as benefit fraud, lazy slackers who cannot be bothered to get a job and are happy to just live on benefits, and people wasting their benefits on drugs and alcohol. The last one could equally apply to those who have legitimate reason to be on benefits, as much as it does to the slackers, such as those who lost their jobs and are sinking into depression or students who are at college etc. Many many years ago when I was at college and claiming benefits my lifestyle was prob the same as most people, I would get my money each fortnight and pretty much spend most of it on beer and cigarettes, so I do know how it works.
Most of the problems stem from from the fact that people get cash in the hand, which they are then free to blow on whatever they wish, or simply pocket in the case of the fraudsters.
This is where we think the solution is actually quite simple, all you really need to survive food in your cupboards and your bills paid, so instead of paying out cash each week/fortnight, give out vouchers which can be redeemed in all the supermarkets, with energy suppliers, at the post office, whsmiths, bus and train stations etc, this covers all the bases. You can buy food, pay your bills and generally survive, you can buy stamps, paper etc for sending out resumes and applying for jobs and travel to interviews.
Or alternately, a benefits credit card, which gets topped up each fortnight and which you can use in approved stores like a normal debit/credit card.
The trick is then to then have restrictions on what these vouchers or cards can be used for in the shops. So you cannot buy cigarettes or alcohol, cannot exchange them for cash, and clearly wont be able to buy any drugs. Suddenly being on benefits is not the easy life anymore as you can no longer do whatever you like.
Sure we all know the real hard-core criminals will find a way to profit from this, but for the average Lazy Joe, being on benefits just got a whole lot less appealing, the low end fraudsters who are signing on in 5 different names are no longer making any cash out of it, and the rest of the legitimately unemployed will no longer to able to give in to temptation or depression and waste their money on booze and cigs and may just find the incentive to get out of their rut.
Also consider those unworthy parents who choose to buy cigs, drugs and booze over food and nappies for their babies, they would no longer have this option, thus improving the lives of those poor children and reducing the chances of some horrible fate befalling them, such as being beaten to death by a drunken parent, starving to death or being left for days in dirty nappies to get horrible painful infections.
If I was in that position I would be far more likely to be responsible go and get even a crappy part time job that I wasn’t prepared to do before, just so I can have some actual cash in my pocket.
Clearly there is some cost involved to implement such a solution, but we think the savings would outweigh the cost in no-time, and lets be honest, the govt waste money on stupid freaking ideas all the time.
Feb 27, 2013 at 4:24 PM It won't work because the lefty media establishment would throw a hissy fit.
Next thing you'll be be suggesting UKIP get fair coverage on the BBC.
Feb 27, 2013 at 7:22 PM But the media do that regardless
Feb 28, 2013 at 12:04 PM Problem with vouchers is . . . black market. While some people on welfare here in US do use their benefits properly, there are too many who abuse it. Food stamps can and do get sold. Distributing these as EBT cards make it a bit easier to cut down on fraud but people will find ways around that. Just recently I heard about this:
"A traveling friend sent me an item clipped from a Georgia newspaper that reads, in its entirety:
A woman said she noticed her purse missing from her car just before 5 P.M. Sunday. The car was parked at her residence on Hornet Drive. The woman said the car had been locked, and the purse was in the back seat.
The purse was valued at $400, her wallet was valued at $200, and she said there was $800 cash in the purse, according to the police report. Also missing were the woman’s food stamp cards."
Now . . . why is this woman getting food stamps if she is carrying around such expensive purses? Sure - she may have had the purse and wallet before losing her job or whatever, but cases like this really make you question as to how well-managed the food stamp program is.
Feb 28, 2013 at 12:26 PM There will never be any solution that is perfect or that cannot be abused in some way, and I did say that, it is all about looking at the big picture and the things that do work rather than picking holes in the things that don't
We certainly feel this solution is much better than what we have now and would stop so much abuse of the system and save a lot of money.