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  3. In order to "change lives for the better" and reduce "dependency," George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, introduced the "

In order to "change lives for the better" and reduce "dependency," George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, introduced the "

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问题    In order to "change lives for the better" and reduce "dependency," George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, introduced the "upfront work search" scheme. Only if the jobless arrive at the jobcentre with a CV, register for online job search, and start looking for work will they be eligible for benefit — and then they should report weekly rather than fortnightly. What could be more reasonable?
   More apparent reasonableness followed. There will now be a seven-day wait for the jobseeker’s allowance. "Those first few days should be spent looking for work, not looking to sign on," he claimed. "We’re doing these things because we know they help people stay off benefits and help those on benefits get into work faster." Help? Really? On first hearing, this was the socially concerned chancellor, trying to change lives for the better, complete with "reforms" to an obviously indulgent system that demands too little effort from the newly unemployed to find work, and subsidises laziness. What motivated him, we were to understand, was his zeal for "fundamental fairness" — protecting the taxpayer, controlling spending and ensuring that only the most deserving claimants received their benefits.
   Losing a job is hurting: you don’t skip down to the jobcentre with a song in your heart, delighted at the prospect of doubling your income from the generous state. It is financially terrifying, psychologically embarrassing and you know that support is minimal and extraordinarily hard to get. You are now not wanted; you are now excluded from the work environment that offers purpose and structure in your life. Worse, the crucial income to feed yourself and your family and pay the bills has disappeared. Ask anyone newly unemployed what they want and the answer is always: a job.
   But in Osborneland, your first instinct is to fall into dependency — permanent dependency if you can get it — supported by a state only too ready to indulge your falsehood. It is as though 20 years of ever-tougher reforms of the job search and benefit administration system never happened. The principle of British welfare is no longer that you can insure yourself against the risk of unemployment and receive unconditional payments if the disaster happens. Even the very phrase "jobseeker’s allowance" is about redefining the unemployed as a "jobseeker" who had no fundamental right to a benefit he or she has earned through making national insurance contributions. Instead, the claimant receives a time-limited "allowance," conditional on actively seeking a job; no entitlement and no insurance, at ￡71.70 a week, one of the least generous in the EU.
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答案 为了“改善民生”并减少“依赖”，英国财政大臣乔治-奥斯本推出了一项名为“预求职”的计划。只有当失业者带着简历来到就业服务中心，在网上注册了求职信息并开始找工作，他们才有资格领取失业救济金。此后他们需要每周都汇报求职进展而非以往的每两周汇报一次。还有比这更合理的措施吗? 以下是更明显的合理之处。现在失业者要等待7天才能领取失业补贴。“最初几天应该用来找工作，而不是想着去登记领取失业救济金，”他说道。“我们实行这样的计划是因为我们知道这有助于让人们远离救济金。并帮助那些依靠救济金生活的人尽快就业。”帮助?真的吗?乍一听，奥斯本是一位关注民生的财政大臣。试图改善民生，希望对过于纵容的社会福利体系进行改革。现有的社会福利体系对刚失业者施加的再就业压力太少，滋长了他们的惰性。该财政大臣实施此计划的动力，就我们所理解的而言，是他对“基本社会公平”理念的热忱，即维护纳税人的利益，控制财政支出，并确保只有最应当领取救济金的人得到失业救济金。 失业本就伤人。你不可能一路蹦蹦跳跳，心里哼着歌去就业中心，欣喜地认为有可能从慷慨的政府那领到相当于2倍收入的救济金。失业会给你带来经济上的恐惧以及心理上的窘迫，并且你明白政府的救助是微乎其微且极难获得的。失业后，你就是被社会遗弃的人；你被排除在赋予你人生意义和规划的职场之外。更糟糕的是，你失去了用以养家糊口和支付账单的重要收入。你问任何一个刚失业的人他需要什么，他的回答一定是：一份工作。 但在奥斯本看来，失业后你的第一反应就是依赖国家提供的福利——如果有幸得到这将是终身福利。而这个国家却太愿意纵容失业者这种错误的想法，好像20多年日益维艰的就业和救助管理体制改革从未进行过一样。英国社会福利体制的原则不再是在你面临失业风险时可以得到保障，而当你真的失业时你能无条件地获得补偿。甚至就连“求职者补贴”这个短语也重新把失业者定义为“求职者”——丧失基本权利，不能享受自己通过缴纳国民保险而获得好处的“求职者”。取而代之的是，领取人领取的是有时间限制的“补贴”，该“补贴”以积极找工作为条件，没有应得的权益和保险，每周只有71．7英镑，是欧盟成员国里最少的。
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