Web links for 13th June 2012

13 Jun 2012, by ToUChstone blog in Web links

• “DWP analysis shows mandatory work activity is largely ineffective. Government is therefore extending it.”
  Jonathan Portes notes that the Government announced a massive extension of Mandatory Work Activity on the same day on the same day they published an assessment whose key conclusions were “that MWA had a small and transitory impact on benefit receipt, and no impact on employment.”In fact, its worse than this – as Jonathan notes: “13 weeks after referral, those referred were 3 percentage points more likely to be on ESA. Not to put too fine a point on it, this is a complete policy disaster. ESA claimants are both more expensive and more difficult to get off benefit than JSA claimants. Indeed, the main thrust of welfare-to-work policy under both this government and the previous one has been to try to move ESA claimants closer to the labour market. MWA appears to achieve precisely the opposite.”