Food banks

[Kendhni]

Good point Ray. I have often said that there needs to be a more symbiotic relationship between education and industry. While many companies take on interns there should be legislation whereby any company, bigger than a certain size, should offer bursaries to help students through higher-level education, with the students then spending much of their non-education time employed by the company 'learning the trade'.

I have also suggested that there should be no path from education to benefits until a person was at least 21 (preferably higher) ... by that point most would have had to have had some kind of employment and a degree of ambition instilled into them, rather than expecting to lie in bed waiting for their 'entitlement'. Children should remain the responsibility of the parent until they have contributed to society.

[Stephen]

Apprenticeships are the way to go in my view. Learn a skill while being paid with weekly day release at the local college as I did.

Everyone wants to go to university these days and allot come out with a degree that they can’t use because as Ken mentioned they have no experience and end up in some dead end job.

I remember many years ago we had allot of fencing replaced and the young chap who was the main installer had a degree in something or other but couldn’t get a job so took up with the fencing company temporarily, and ended up being with them for several years. He made a nice job of the fencing to.

[Kendhni]

I laughed when I read your post Stephen.
The chap who comes around and cleans our bins on a weekly basis was a chef up until COVID.
Our window cleaner used to be a manager in the NHS (he took early retirement about 8 years ago and wanted something to give him exercise)

[Onelife]

You won't achieve any of the above without providing affordable accommodation/housing that allows those embarking on apprenticeships to live/move to where their skills will be required.

[Stephen]

You won't achieve any of the above without providing affordable accommodation/housing that allows those embarking on apprenticeships to live/move to where their skills will be required.

Then they’ll have to do what I did and go knocking on business doors locally and see what’s available.

I get fed with hearing about how hard life is for the young today, as if we had it easy when we were starting out. The problem with allot of the young these days is they can’t be bothered to get off their ar*e, they want it all laid on, usually by mum and dad. Half of them don’t know what a hard days graft is, instead they prefer pushing buttons all day for some dreamt up poncy job title.


Argh….that feels better

[oldbluefox]

I'm with you on this one Stephen.
As a young lad I did paper rounds and moved on as a student doing anything to earn money because I literally had none. Labouring on building sites, shovelling sh*t out of poultry sheds, working summer holidays seven days a week in beer cellars, Christmas Post just to make ends meet.
My family's children have just gone through 'uni' and not one has seen it necessary to do any work of any nature. For them it's all about holidays and having a good time.
My wife's hairdresser was tearing her hair out a couple of weeks ago when her 18 year old assistant rang in to say she wasn't coming back because working full time was affecting her mental health.
Perhaps it's time we stopped making excuses for the younger generation and added a bit of realism to their lives.

[Kendhni]

My wife's hairdresser was tearing her hair out a couple of weeks ago

At least she was in the right place

[oldbluefox]

True!
She'd only been working for her for a couple of weeks.
Up here there are dozens of posters in shops, restaurants and hotels looking for staff. There should be no need for anybody who is able-bodied to be out of work. It may not be their first choice but it gets them used to getting up and providing for themselves.

[Onelife]

Getting a job that pays the minimum wage is pretty easy (depending on where you live) getting a job that supports anything more than a basic standard of living is far more difficult. The whole structure of employment is far different from that which it was years ago. I think today the companies that complain that they can’t get workers are the companies that generally don’t value their workers, whether that be in their skill levels, wages or in working conditions. I agree that the unemployed should take jobs that are available but I also think jobs should be a stepping stone to a better standard of living which in many cases they are not…it’s no wonder we have food banks popping up here there and everywhere.

I personally think we judge far too easily without taking into account personal circumstances e.g., areas where job availability is limited, travel costs and accommodation to where work is available and last but not least the mind sets of those who have been left behind by successive Governments lack of investment in the poorer areas of our country.

[oldbluefox]

LATEST: Hairdresser got another 18 year old who rang her at 2.00 this morning to say she wouldn't be coming in today or any more !!
I agree with OL that these lower paid jobs should be a stepping stone but I get the impression some of our younger generation want big wages but neither have the experience or the work ethic to justify them.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Years ago my daughter had a sales assistant job in a shoe shop and a lazy workshy boyfriend. She got him a job in the shop. He lasted two days. He was furious that he was put to work in the stockroom, clearing up and making tea for other staff. Despite having zero experience he couldn't understand why, as the only man working there, he wasn't immediately put in charge on the shop floor.

I agree 100% about the workshy. It's always been my view no-one should be allowed to claim benefits if they hadn't paid in for a certain period, maybe 2 years. It would have solved the issue of EU migrants arriving and immediately claiming too.

But the tricky one for me is the genuinely poor and genuinely unable to work. I know examples of them as well as the workshy. How do we differentiate and penalise one without the other?

[david63]

How do we differentiate and penalise one without the other?

I think that with the way some are able to manipulate the system that is almost impossible.

But I come back to the point I made earlier - why are we not not looking at these problems from the other end? We (as in Governments) come up with ways to help people rather than finding, and tackling, the reasons why some people are in these situations in the first place.

I too have thought for some time now that benefits should be pain based on what you have paid into the system, and by benefits I mean all - right up to pension. My idea would be that you only get 100% of a benefit if you have been in employment for the total time that you have been able to be in work. So if you have been out of education for 10 years and been working all of that time you would get 100% - if, on the other hand you have only been in employment for five of those years then you would only get 50% of the benefits.

[oldbluefox]

I can't see the ne'er do wells buying into that. Can you imagine the outcry from the left wing tree huggers?
When we talk about benefits we should really know how many benefits some of these people are on. Some of them know the system inside out and every trick in the book. Sadly those in genuine need don't have that guile or expertise.

[Manoverboard]

I blame the parents ... three days after I left school my old Dad opened the back door and said don't come back until you've got a job. I got back, with a job interview lined up, in time for dinner.