Jobseekers allowance

Young unemployed people in London will be forced to do three months of unpaid full-time work or face having their benefits cut, under a new pilot scheme. The plan was unveiled in a joint announcement by the government and the Mayor of London.

Under the pilot, those aged 18–24 who had spent less than six months in employment since leaving education would have to work unpaid in order to qualify for their jobseeker’s allowance. They would do work experience placements in charities or social organisations such as care homes for 30 hours per week over a 13-week period. They would also have to spend 10 hours per week searching for a job.

The government said the purpose of the scheme is to help young Londoners to ‘improve their career prospects’ and ‘enable them to contribute to their communities’. The Mayor added that early intervention will reduce the ‘risks of benefit dependency’.

Unemployment benefit conditions in the UK are ‘relatively tight’ compared with other EU countries, according to researchers in Germany.

The researchers propose a methodology for benchmarking EU unemployment benefits systems, to help assess how well they achieve their objectives.

A new report has highlighted the position of 124,000 lone parents with young children who are being forced onto jobseeker’s allowance with only eight weeks’ notice.

From 21 May 2012 single parents who are not in paid employment and whose youngest child is 5 or 6 will no longer be entitled to claim income support. Instead they will need to claim jobseeker’s allowance or another benefit. This is one of the first provisions in the Welfare Reform Act 2012 to come into force.

Gingerbread, which campaigns on behalf of lone parents, says the move will push people into a labour market with few job opportunities, and even fewer family-friendly jobs – 17 months before support for childcare costs in ‘mini-jobs’ becomes available under the new universal credit arrangements. It calls for: