Half a million Universal Credit claimants will soon be forced to apply for jobs from every sector or risk being sanctioned.
Government ministers are today announcing a new scheme to supposedly get more people into work under the pretence of helping claimants and their families. Apparently this will supposedly ‘help’ them cope with the cost of living crisis.
Government ministers are also announcing major plans today to change job searching rules to toughen up the already harsh rules about searching for work. They say it will supposedly help more people secure jobs.
“Under our new plans, jobseekers will be supported to find any job in any sector within weeks not months, putting them on the path to better jobs and progression in a career.”
This will be soul destroying for people having worked hard to gain their qualifications and work experience.
It appears that whilst the government is announcing their new job searching scheme they’ve forgotten that we are still living in a pandemic which is leaving people open to infection regardless of being vaccinated which can then put their families at risk.
Universal Credit claimants, working and not working and disabled people are already being hit the hardest with the rising cost of energy bills and taxes that are going to be introduced in April. Indeed, energy costs have already risen leaving many with having to make the terrible choice of heating or eating or neither.
It comes as no surprise that this could be the reason why the government has lowered the quarantine regulations. In their eyes everyone should be working regardless of their ability do do so.
The government also announced ‘We’re using the strength of our jobs market to tackle supply challenges and get employers the people they and the economy need’.
This will be done regardless of a persons needs therefore once again putting their ‘friends’ in business first without a thought for claimants.
Ministers are also planning more intensive face-to-face meetings for claimants which will undoubtably cause distress for claimants and will also take time away from actual job searching.
As I’ve already said in previous blog posts, finding a job isn’t as easy as the government would like you to believe.
Not everyone can apply for every job for various reasons and employers often won’t employ everyone either. There are various reasons for this ranging from the ability to undertake the work and being overqualified for the job. Not everyone has access to the internet either.
However as part of the DWPs new plans claimants will be told to look for and find a job within weeks not months. If they fail to find employment they will face being sanctioned.
There is no way that a minimum wage or zero hour job will cover the costs of living. The price of food, energy and housing is increasing every day which leaves the poorest paying the highest cost for this.
I can envision that these new rules will cause a whole new level of suffering, forcing claimants to undergo more compliance and burdening them with more pressure to find work that’s suitable for them.
Instead of challenging the minimum wage and abolishing zero hour contracts there is no way on this earth that it will benefit anyone. Instead the government and the DWP have seen the pandemic as an excuse to punish the poorest and this is unforgivable.
How am I? Stressed as per usual. Financially I’m really struggling, this blog being my main source of income. To say that I’m struggling is an understatement.
I’m worried about the health of everyone forced to undergo this new regime and the effects of it.
So many people are already stressed, forced to live on the bare minimum but the increased threat of being sanctioned for not finding work in weeks will cause an immense amount of mental distress.
I will be there to help people as will many others, and I will continue to do this however hard it is for me.
If you would like to get some support and solidarity I can’t recommend Disabled People Against the Cuts enough. If you live in the Greater Manchester area you can find them here at https:\\manchesterdpac.com
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A huge thank you to everyone that has and does support my work. I really couldn’t do it without you.
The poor side of life 
Universal Credit: Why work search at four weeks is a lose-lose policy
February 14, 2022
Mary-Alice Doyle
https://policyinpractice.co.uk/universal-credit-why-work-search-at-four-weeks-is-a-lose-lose-policy/
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Commission calls for ‘transformational’ change to social security system
https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/commission-calls-for-transformational-change-to-social-security-system/
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“The UK Statistics Authority have written to Downing St to advise them that the Prime Minister’s claim that there are more people in work now than at the start of the pandemic is wrong. He has now made this claim 7 times but knows it is wrong! When will he correct the record?!”
https://mobile.twitter.com/justinmadders/status/1488934866913841162
Boris Johnson Makes Incorrect Claims on Jobs
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/60245483
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Thanks for this Trev! I doubt they’ll ever tell the truth
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I’ve just been rejected for a job that the JCP Adviser told me about. The online application form was simple and straightforward, after entering your details (name, address etc) you uploaded your CV then answered just 2 questions, the first asked why you think you’re suitable for this job, and the second asked what age group you belong to, which I’m sure is illegal but it was a required field so couldn’t be skipped. The closing date for applications was the 25th January, I applied on the 18th and received a rejection email on the 20th. The company is obviously using age to filter applicants. It was a private company that is contracted to recycle waste for my local Council. The recycling plant is a 10 to 15 min. walk from my house. It was 45 hours a week over 4 days, paying a weekly wage of £520.
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I went through 52 interview before I finally got a (temporary part time) job at the end of 2020. The employers who gave me feedback told me that I “interviewed well” but they had given the job to somebody who had done exactly that work very recently. I can demonstrate that I have the transferable skills to do a few types of job, but employers only want people they can drop straight into a job with only 5 minutes training. They simply will not invest in training staff. If that’s generally the case, telling people they must look for any job after one month’s unemployment will not make a huffing bit of difference. The politicians or civil servants who make up these rules clearly have not a clue how the real job market works.
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Oh gawd you’re exactly right. Employers won’t employ people unqualified or with no experience will they.
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Each vacancy attracts dozens if not hundreds of applicants, so an employer can take their pick. They will naturally choose a worker with recent direct experience over someone with little or none, and someone under 50.
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Absolutely.
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And…
DWP: Unemployment benefits ‘will hit lowest real value in three DECADES’ this April
The Resolution Foundation said unemployment benefits have fallen far behind the growth of child or housing benefits since WW2, with people who aren’t eligible for top-ups pushed ‘near to destitution’
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/dwp-unemployment-benefits-will-hit-25982874
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Thanks Trev it’s awful.
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Here’s an interesting article :
“Britain’s cost of living crisis means that for some, ‘getting by’ will become a luxury”
“A different Tory leader will not save a failing social security system. We need a new welfare state from the bottom up”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jan/26/cost-of-living-crisis-failing-social-security-system
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Thank you 😊😊
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I was just reading about this on the BBC news website. According to the Resolution Foundation the real problem is that people are not looking for work at all. How they can say that, and how the DWP can increase Sanctions, when post-pandemic employment has increased by 60% I don’t know. Meanwhile, Labour are singularly obsessed with no. 10 office parties at the expense of everything else. Increasing Benefit Sanctions now in the middle of a cost of living crisis is not only irresponsible it’s purely evil. Yet another example of the Class War being waged against us by the rich upper class Tory toffs.
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Spot on Trev!! Thank you so much for your comment!!!!
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P. S.
We are STILL waiting for a decision from the Judge on the legacy Benefits “Uplift” case, the missing £20 per week owed to about 2. 5 Million people at a total of £1500 each. They are deliberately dragging this on and are obviously reluctant to announce the right decision even though the inequality is indefensible. The Court case was about 2 months ago, why are we waiting? They’re probably delaying it for as long as possible to save money because they know the longer it takes then less of us will still be alive.
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Absolutely that’s exactly their plan.
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