Two thirds of public favour support over strict job-seeking requirements for people on benefits

The majority of the public are in favour of prioritising positive support over strict job-seeking rules for people on out-of-work benefits, according to polling released today by the New Economics Foundation (NEF).

Almost 70% of people thought it was more important to support unemployed people into quality jobs than pushing them into any job as soon as possible. Polling also found that the public significantly underestimate the scale of job-seeking requirements for people receiving out-of-work benefits.

The polling was accompanied by research which found that, rather than helping to cut the benefits bill, the strict conditions that people on benefits have to meet are backfiring.

Workshops with people receiving out-of-work benefits and discussions with professionals providing employment support both suggested that the Department for Work and Pension’s focus on compliance was driving people into poor quality jobs that they are unlikely to stay in long term or driving them away from engaging with the Jobcentre altogether.

Tom Pollard, head of social policy at the New Economics Foundation, said:

“Politicians tend to assume that the public want the strictest regime around out-of-work benefits possible.

“Successive governments have tried to push people back to work through poverty-rate benefits and the threat of sanctions.

“We now know that this approach is making it less likely that people will get into good jobs that they can thrive in and is pushing many to feel unable to engage with Jobcentre support in the first place. All of this is leading to a higher a greater cost to the public purse.

“The public is ready for our benefits system to shift from a focus on compliance to positively supporting people into good jobs, and our new government should listen.”

The polling found that the public both underestimate the strictness of current conditions placed on benefits, and preferred a focus on good outcomes over strictly policing rules and pushing people off benefits:

• 69% favoured trying to support people into secure, fairly paid jobs with opportunities for progression over getting people into any job as soon as possible.

• 62% thought Jobcentres should prioritise offering a positive service to those who want support over enforcing sanctions against those who don’t follow the rules.

• On average those polled underestimated the amount of time a week people are expected to seek work by almost two-thirds (13 hours vs the actual 35 hours).

• Those polled also underestimated the amount of time someone can seek work in a preferred field before they must accept any job, estimating three months on average, compared to one month in reality.

The new Labour government has said it wants to support more people into better jobs and address the growing numbers out of work due to disabilities and poor health, in order to tackle a growing benefits bill.

Today’s research suggests both that this will require a more flexible and supportive relationship between Jobcentres and people on benefits, and that the public is willing to support such a shift.

NEF recommends scrapping the requirements for people on benefits to search for work for 35 hours a week and accept any job recommended by a work coach, as well as trialling a new approach in Jobcentres which prioritises voluntary engagement over conditions and sanctions.

Presented with a proposal for such an approach 63% of the public thought it would be more likely to lead to people engaging positively with support than the current Jobcentre model and 61% thought it would be more likely to lead to people moving into a suitable job.

Contact

James Rush – james.rush@neweconomics.org

Notes

The full report, Terms of Engagement: Rethinking conditionality to support more people into better jobs, can be found here

The polling was conducted by Opinium Research, who carried out an online survey of 2,041 UK adults aged 18+ from 1st to 3rd May 2024. Results have been weighted to be politically and nationally representative. Results are weighted by: gender age and education interlocked, region, working status, ethnicity, 2019 past vote, 2016 EU referendum vote, and political attention level.

The New Economics Foundation is a charitable think tank. We are wholly independent of political parties and committed to being transparent about how we are funded.