[DanaC]

I hear what you're saying. But this sort of thing is rarely as simple as it appears at first glance.

For example: a lot of those unskilled jobs are done by people from eastern Europe because they are not eligible to claim benefits. Now, you could say that this is an argument for removing benefits from Uk citizens in order to force them to take these jobs on. But...the wages paid for a lot of these jobs are so terribly low that the only reason anybody would take them is out of sheer desperation. The reason employers are able to pay such low wages is because there is a pool of very desperate people.

To me it seems wrong to force people into work that is deeply exploitative. Nobody in this country in this century should have to work for wages that wouldn't be out of place in the third world.

I am currently looking for a part time job to help get through the final year of my phd. Some of the jobs I have seen advertised are terribly badly paid. In particular the wages that young people are expected to work for are appalling. 'Apprentice telesales' at £2 an hour.

The problem isn't that we are a nation of workshy layabouts, it's that we have very little protection for workers. The weight of power is entirely towards the employers. They have no need to offer better wages, because there is always somebody desperate enough that they will work for peanuts. All we do by reducing benefits and making it harder to claim is increase that pool of desperate people and increase the number of employers offering appalling wages. There is no incentive for employers to increase the amount they pay.

Eventhe 'minimum wage' is ridiculously insufficient. Which is why large numbers of people who are in work also have to claim benefits. It's a ridiculous situation that leads to the state effectively subsidising the cost of employing workers.