Personality, sociability, appearance, reliabilty are all as important or more important as training.
Canadian economy loses 2,800 jobs in February
- Thread starter mentalfloss
- Start date
Agreed. I guess if a person really, really does not want to find a job, he can always find a reason. But I would guess that most would want to get off of welfare to get more money.
Majority of entry level jobs don't pay enough for someone to get off welfare. Could you afford day care for two kids on $10 an hour?
Not all people on social assistance have kids. But for those with kids, then maybe a daycare voucher per kid for them.
Then they are still on the dole and impoverished.
Work and be poor or do nothing and be poor. What would you choose?
Work and be poor or do nothing and be poor. What would you choose?
On welfare, the rent is paid, and so are the utilities, and healthcare is
covered beyond the basic coverage, including perscriptions and eye
exams and glasses and so on and so forth, etc....
The leap from welfare to being able to cover (financially) everything that
is covered by welfare would be full-time employment at about double or
more whatever the minimum wage might be, I'd assume. That isn't
found with "entry level" employment positions very often.
Work and be poor. While you are poor and lying on the couch you aren't learning much, you are not making contacts, you are not exhibiting your work skills that others notice. So the choice isn't quite what you suggest, the realistic choice might be work and be poor for a year or two or do nothing and be poor forever.
Maybe it's time to set up work camps for welfare people that are able to work for their welfare money this would give them motivation to find a job.
...a year or two....long term thinking, and getting off the dole, don't
always go hand in hand. Welfare is a trap that many don't ever get
off of.
Years ago, I was in the Rent-to-Own business (& the Cash-Stores
too, but that's a diffent story I guess), & I often dealt with two to three
generations of the same family, all on welfare. For many, it's all they
know, and the idea of "working" for someone, for less than they
currently receive, just doesn't make sence. If they want more money,
they have children (or more children).
Read the biographies of James Cash Penney and Milton S. Hershey.
Pretty defeatist way of thinking, isn't it?
Perhaps that might be required reading (three chapters a month
with a test before receiving the next cheque) for those not out in
the workforce when the demand for employee's is so high.
Me? I've seen that lifestyle up close for many years, while I was
working in employment that catered to that lifestyle....without
having to live it.
Seriously though, how many Rent-to-Own (Easyhome's now) places
are there where you live? Payday Loan business's (that'll lend you $$$
based on your employment of "Child Tax Refund" or "Social Services
Cheque" date for repayment? How many signs have you seen recently
that will "Buy Your Old Jewellery and Gold" which welfare recipients
don't have (of their own, generally)? How many Pawn Shops are in
the city or town that you live in? Who are these businesses aimed at?
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Only if the work is economically productive and that they are paid a fair wage. I and I think some others have proposed the idea of some kind of Peace Corps in the past.
To see harsh poverty and the working poor all you and I need to do is walk out the front door.
Pride and self respect (or lack there of) is also part of the mix. There are services in most communites where a guy can get clean clothes, a haircut and shave, and then maybe start out by volunteering, even if he's just picking up garbage along the street, someone might spot him and offer something more lucrative. The worst that can happen is he'd get some fresh air and exercise.
If you are on the dole, and don't vollenteer anywhere, your coffee
break is 24hrs/day...with your bills paid, and anything you can get
your hands on (under the table, cans, selling copper, etc...) is a
bonus.
Don't get me wrong, as this isn't the case with everyone receiving
assistance, as there are legit reasons for those utilizing the social
safety net, but for many it's just not warrented beyond it being all
that they know, or just a trap they've fallen into and don't have any
real desire to get out of.
Much to the unions dismay the western provinces have been working on a free labour movement where credentials are recognized in all provinces.
Then there was the small problem of tree planting contractors not being sure that they would be able to get enough planters in BC this year. Course you can't expect a city welfare bum to just pack up and go to a camp without his/her buds.