Why benefits sanctions are all smoke and mirrors

This week, SCVO responded to the Department for Work and Pensions’s review of Jobseekers’ Allowance Sanctions – which take money away from those who don’t have any, sometimes for up to three years at a time. Whilst academic studies show that sanctions do ‘work’ in terms of getting people off the unemployment register, they also show that those affected by sanctions are likely to end up on various short-term contracts and earn less than they would have done had they not received sanctions. Clearly, people quickly take any job just to escape the sanctions system. This might some suit employers, who have guaranteed access to workers happy to accept poor terms and conditions in exchange for any job.  It may also suit the DWP, who will pay out less in unemployment benefits.  But it is hardly the way to create a sustainable economy of decent jobs and decent pay.  Nor will it increase the numbers of people in jobs who genuinely want to be there, doing that job.   And it is unlikely that the Treasury will be pleased with its reduced tax take as low-paid, short-term jobs become increasingly the norm. Of course, one of the problems at the moment is that in many areas, jobs just aren’t available.  If you are unlucky enough to live in a region where there are insufficient jobs for the number of people looking, then should you really have your benefit cut if you fail to get one? Finally, there are the examples of things going so wrong it’s unbelievable.  Here’s the worst example I’ve seen recently:  a man was given a job, beginning a fortnight later, and was sanctioned by the Job Centre for not seeking work in the intervening 14 days.  Yep, really. No surprise, I suppose, when some Job Centre staff are given sanctioning targets to meet. As we said in our submission, along with many of our members, SCVO believes that the exponential growth in the application of sanctions undermines the very fabric of our society.  We have little confidence in this “review” since welfare reform to date has been driven by ideology rather than a genuine attempt to improve public services.   This sanctioning of claimants drives greater inequality, in no way empowering people to improve their lives.  The system has to change.