Workfare
Tesco’s unpaid labour shows the flaw at the heart of workfare
Alex Hern examines the kerfuffle around Tesco's adverts for unpaid work, and finds it to be kerfuffle-worthy indeed
Boris Johnson’s words show he doesn’t care about young people
Val Shawcross attacks Boris Johnson over his astonishingly heartless comments about the job prospects for young people.
Five reasons Clegg can’t stand on his social mobility record
Alex Hern runs through the government’s record on social mobility, and argues Nick Clegg’s minor success today doesn’t undo the damage he’s caused so far.
2012: The year ahead for young people
Alex Hern looks at what we can expect for the under-25s in 2012. Youth unemployment will remain the number one problem, and some campaigns to deal with it are better than others
Cameron and Osborne want the unemployed to work for £1.78 an hour
Alex Hern reports on David Cameron and George Osborne’s savage undermining of the minimum wage.
Why workfare won’t work
The Government yesterday announced its plans to make benefit claimants work for their benefits. Under this US-style Workfare, people who have been claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance for 12 months or more will be required to do community work for 30 hours a week for four months. This could be cleaning the streets, picking up litter or painting walls.