Poorhouse Blues

 Poorhouse Blues

Now that I have some free time again and got back my interest in current affairs amongst other topics I stumbled across an article by Frances Ryan of the Guardian, a paper I rarely read that was really very interesting and thought provoking.

Do poor people deserve leisure?

Having been unemployed and ill for nearly a year I've struggled dreadfully with money, relying mostly on the grudging charity of the Government and family. This has kept me in a cycle of poor life decisions leading to more resentment from family and struggling to make appointments with the Job Centre when I know myself that if I find myself in a position when I don't need to worry about where the next pack of fags is coming from for even a few weeks I very quickly start to feel better and take some really quite big steps towards total recovery and a return to work.

If you've never lived totally on benefits try imagining those who genuinely do have to choose between eating and heating the home in winter on around £360 a month whilst being expected to spend 35 hours a week looking for a job, any job and then have the added burden of paying fares to travel there for up to 3 hours before you get your first months pay. Would you bother even trying under these conditions if you couldn't even afford to get to work in the first place?

Would you just give up in despair and stay indoors depressed permanently?

Surely there must be a better and more socially desirable way to help people lead fulfilling, productive and successful lives?

For a start, make sure that unemployment benefit is easily sufficient to enable anyone to live modestly but well. 

If you raised this to eg. £700 a month it would still only give you an income quite a ways less than that of the minimum wage. There would still be an incentive to look for work but you wouldn't be forced to live in abject poverty.

And then why not some leisure time? If this was done sensibly it may even be cheap enough to allow an unemployed person a couple of weeks away on holiday at low cost to the taxpayer.

Why not an agreement between the State and private enterprise to provide services to those on benefits at marginal cost?

How much does it cost a Leisure Centre to leave rowing machines idle rather than earning? Or filter a swimming pool's water if there is one more person swimming for an hour? 

What other services might think being paid even £1 to fill an empty seat on public transport or at showtime wasn't worthwhile?

Copyright ©️ Romford Rob Jackson