Illegal immigrants

[servodude]

signing off, then signing on again, leads to several weeks before the new claim (signing on) is agreed and paid albeit in arrears at that moment. Thus once signed on that money earned just previously now has to last all that time to pay rent, energy, food etc etc etc. So the system actually discourages anybody signing off for such short term work.

Universal Credit TRIES to fix that. The same system is used for out-of-work and in-work benefits. So it should be possible for people to work short term or flexible hours and their income simply being topped up at the end of the week without submitting a new claim. UC isn’t perfect, but it is a huge improvement over the previous system, which DID exhibit the total disincentive to work that you describe. Labour have committed to scrap UC, though they haven’t said whether they’ll revert to the (even more) useless system we had before, or take decades to invent something even more complicated.

Gryff

perhaps ChatGPT, and its ilk, will help coalesce the minds of the chattering around some radical overhaul?

I've seen some UBI schemes mooted that do seem to try and address marginal rates in a way that is simple and transparent;
replace benefits and thresholds with one payment and tax all personal income (for those that can find some way of getting employment or income)

probably a bit OT for this thread tho
-sd

[didds]

Not uncommon to have "board" provided in fruit picking, minimum wage (or cash in hand) seasonal labouring jobs.

If a government were to want to utilise the efforts of those they've deemed illegal, or idolent, or not otherwise contributing to their idea of a society, there's nothing stopping them setting up accommodation for them where needed.
I'm pretty sure that they could sell the idea of work camps quite easily - which would just leave them looking for a solution for what to do with the human resource (or whatever you call people who are employed without remuneration these days) once the picking season were over.

-sd

I was responding to the suggestion that the UK benefits recipients should/could do this fruit picking .

As for those awaiting asylum processing, all of which you suggest are within the remit etc of the UK government, and i agree with the general concepts.

So the bottom line is why doesn't the UK govt in 2023 enact such a policy?

didds

[servodude]

Not uncommon to have "board" provided in fruit picking, minimum wage (or cash in hand) seasonal labouring jobs.

If a government were to want to utilise the efforts of those they've deemed illegal, or idolent, or not otherwise contributing to their idea of a society, there's nothing stopping them setting up accommodation for them where needed.
I'm pretty sure that they could sell the idea of work camps quite easily - which would just leave them looking for a solution for what to do with the human resource (or whatever you call people who are employed without remuneration these days) once the picking season were over.

-sd

I was responding to the suggestion that the UK benefits recipients should/could do this fruit picking .

As for those awaiting asylum processing, all of which you suggest are within the remit etc of the UK government, and i agree with the general concepts.

So the bottom line is why doesn't the UK govt in 2023 enact such a policy?

didds

I can't think of a reason that wouldn't run foul of Godwin's law