By Aaron Barbour
With all too frequent shootings in east London, not to mention the overseas wars we’re involved in, we were all gobsmacked at the latest Department for Work and Pensions ‘target’ campaign (posters can be found all around Newham – and maybe near you?). The ad’s ‘aim’ is to hunt down more benefit ‘thieves’ (have a good look at the photo). This particularly offensive campaign seems to have reached a new low in an ever decreasing trend by DWP to criminalise people on benefits. These campaigns associate anyone on benefits as a scroungers, cheats and thieves, and now they appear as fair game to be bagged by the authorities.
If DWP focused their efforts away from catching the eye of the voters and towards supporting people off benefits and into work, then maybe, just maybe more people legally entitled to benefits would trust them and work in a spirit of co-operation, rather than holding the ‘them’ against ‘us’ attitude that is all too prevalent.
If DWP and HM Treasury paid out benefits at rates that were above the poverty line (defined as when a family has an average of £10 or less per person per day to live on, or £8 for a person on Jobseekers Allowance ), then maybe, just maybe, people would worry less about where their next meal was coming from and start addressing other aspects of their lives, like finding a job.
If DWP ensured that people claimed all that they are entitled too (£4.8bn unclaimed benefits, and a further £5bn unclaimed tax credits) and reduced official and customer error (£1.9bn) rather than concentrating on fraud (only £800m), then maybe, just maybe with rising unemployment they’d get their priorities right.
If DWP developed a benefit system that reflected they way people live their lives today and was responsive (and realistic) to modern labour market conditions (increasingly part time, short term and temporary work) then maybe, just maybe, more people would be able to work, become less reliant on benefits, and do the jobs that aren’t currently being done because benefit rules actively stop people getting involved in their local communities. Check out ‘CREATE: a Community Allowance’
If DWP extended their support to people once they were in-work for at least a year, then maybe, just maybe we would help people develop and progress in-work, rather than contribute to the huge ‘churn’ rates, as people move in and out of work, from one low paid job to another.
If all these things were in place… then maybe, just maybe, there would be targets we could all aim to achieve.
What do you think? Leave a comment and see our previous blog entries.
[...] Their latest campaign focuses on knowing your rights as an agency worker. They’re getting the tone right in their posters (see left) and leaflets. This contrasts to the agressive and puntative tone taken by DWP over recent years – see previous blog post. [...]
[...] the long term; where anyone on benefits is tarred with the same brush (through DWP advertising – see previous blog posts) of being a benefit thief, a scrounger, ’undeserving’ of what is a legal [...]