The government wish to introduce a 'Work for the dole' scheme that will see all unemployed people under 60 being required to do community based work at some point. Details can be found in news reports.
The policy is a supply-side measure. There are several arguments for it.
* There is an increased incentive to the unemployed people to take a job, any job, as they no longer get as much leisure time while out of work.
* The unemployed maintain a 'working routine' and therefore their skills and habits don't decline as quickly making them more attractive to employers despite their period of inactivity.
* The cost to the state of unemployment is not as great as something of value is recovered in return for benefits.
The argument really revolves around the idea that the unemployed are voluntarily unemployed to some extent. Some don't want jobs and others are waiting for the 'right job'. By making unemployment more costly (this includes falls in the value of benefits announced in the budget) by demanding more effort then those out of work are more likely to accept a job offered to them. This effectively shortens the period of unemployment and helps match people to vacancies more willingly.
The problem is that the economic research on this issue says that it does not work. The Saturday Paper reviews this topic below.
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