A Casual Killing: How Government And Business Make More Money By Ripping Off Yours
This excellent article from "New Matilda" outlines a situation that I'm sure would apply everywhere in the developed world:
"An increase in unemployment does not necessarily lead to a corresponding rise in casual work. According to the early advocates of the welfare state, the casualisation of the labour force can be avoided through the provision of an adequate social security system. To ensure unemployed workers were not pressured to accept insecure work, proponents of the welfare state argued that adequate government unemployment entitlements were essential.
"As noted by one of the most celebrated architects of the welfare state, William Beveridge, the social security system was in part designed to tackle the growing casualisation of the labour force in the pre-war period. So strong was Beveridge’s commitment to ‘decasualise’ the labour force, he was even prepared to let unemployment increase if it meant more full-time positions.
“In making work more regular for some…it throws others out altogether,” said Lord Beveridge. “The avowed object of decasualisation is to replace every thousand half-employed men with five hundred fully employed men”.
"For Beveridge, providing adequate income support for those forced out of work was a crucial part of decasualising the labour force."
https://newmatilda.com/2016/09/13/a-casual-killing-how-government-and-business-keep-costs-low-through-your-wages/
I confess I viewed the cuts to the unemployment benefits far more simplisticly, and this excellent article has given me a new perspective.
A must-read for all who are concerned about the increasing casualisation of the workforce.
