UK Unemployment

I'm a little confused as to whether you understand the question posed, in no way does the idea involve slavery or survival, however it does raise the issue of whether it is reasonable to expect someone in receipt of state aid during a period of unemployment to meet requirements and conditions in order for them to receive the money. Are you saying that there should be none for reasons of conditional privilege or survival you mentioned in Round 1? If your answer is yes then you are already out of step with current rules and conditions laid down on an individual receiving Job Seekers Allowance (JSA). Current rules dictate that and individual in receipt of JSA must be actively seeking work and be able to show evidence that they have been doing so, therefore showing enough evidence that they meet criteria to receive the benefit. The question asked regarding this debate is should we go further than that and expect recipients to do volunteer work that benefits them and their local community. You have to recognise and accept that there is no such thing as a free lunch, or something for nothing. JSA costs money which comes from taxes collected by Government and paid by the people of the Country who are working. It is therefore right that the people of the Country expect something back for giving the assistance. Is asking a JSA recipient to do voluntary work nothing more than slavery, no, indeed doing some voluntary work would mean that there is a reciprocal arrangement that benefits both the individual and the Community. I am not suggesting that individuals should be given degrading activities to do, on the contrary, many charities and not for profit organisations need volunteers and would fold without them, and I am suggesting that a JSA recipient do x amount of hours helping such organisations which means they will also be supporting their local community. I mentioned in an earlier paragraph reciprocal arrangement, meaning that the individual would benefit too, how? 1. Having regular meaningful activity and a reason to get out of bed 2. Valuable Work experience 3. Learn new skills 4. Being better placed in the Jobs market, as prospective employers are far more likely to employ an unemployed person who has been actively doing things to make themselves more employable, than some that has done nothing but stay in bed watching daytime TV. 5. May even get employed by the very organisation he/she is volunteering with. I can speak first hand on that, as this is how I got back to work following a spell of long term unemployment. 6. Giving support to the local community can lead to better self esteem and purpose. 7. Its also good for physical and mental well-being. None of the above reasons for doing voluntary work amount to slavery, quiet the opposite in fact. In conclusion the notion that it is simply slavery, conditional privilege or survival to have such expectations is flawed. There is no such thing as something for nothing and we already have rules and conditions set out for recipients of JSA and I can see no reason why we should not take it one step further by requiring individuals to do some sort of voluntary work while they are receiving government aid especially as its a win win scenario, both parties benefit from the arrangement. I would therefore support such requirements if our government was to bring them in.