Austerity Isn't Working

Appropriate that unemployment should increase on the say of the funeral of Margaret Thatcher, the high priestess of unemployment.

It now lies at 2.56 million, 7.9% of the working age population.
900,000 have been out of work for more than a year.
979,000 16-24 year olds are out of work.

The Resolution Foundation finds that the jobs gap - the number of jobs being created related to the number in the population needing jobs - is increasing. It is true that the number of people in employment has increased, but the number needing employment has increased even more. The UK is 800,000 jobs short of restoring employment to pre-2009 rates.

Unemployment is bad for people. It causes physical and mental ill health, it damages families and communities. It causes poverty and minor crime.

Unemployment is also totally unnecessary. There are millions of good, constructive jobs crying out to be done, jobs that help society and environment.

It is irrational to pay people benefits on condition that they do no work, when they could be paid more to do this work.

The key to getting this good work done, and to getting back to full employment, is simply to allow people to retain their benefits when they move into good work.

Here are the details of how to do this. It's called the Green Wage Subsidy.