Spend 35 hours a week in hunt for work, jobless told

Unemployed people who have paid National Insurance in the past should also be entitled to higher benefits than those who have never contributed to create a “something for something” culture, according to the Policy Exchange think-tank.

And the report states those who have paid nothing into the system should not be able to turn down work for the first 12 weeks, as they are allowed under current rules.

The report’s authors admit its recommendations will spark controversy, but a poll it also commissioned claims more than three-quarters of people think long-term claimants should have to do community work in return for their benefits in a “workfare” scheme adopted by other countries.

Just over half – 51 per cent – of voters said people should not get any benefits unless they have paid into the system through national insurance or tax, and 69 per cent said jobseekers should lose benefits if they turn down job offers.

“Some of the areas of reform we suggest will not be popular with some groups,” says the report. “They would increase links between contribution history and benefit receipt; require claimants to do more in order to be eligible for benefit; and place tougher sanctions on those claimants that choose not to comply with the requirements placed on them.

“However, while they will be unpopular with some, evidence from two polls commissioned by Policy Exchange shows that the approach is strongly supported by the British public. In particular, the public are supportive of increased requirements on jobseekers.”

In opposition, Policy Exchange was seen as one of David Cameron’s favoured think-tanks, and its recommendations chime with the Government’s drive to end people making a life off benefits.

The report criticises the fact that jobseekers currently spend less than an hour a day searching for work on average, and says the “ambition” should be that “job search becomes more like the typical 35 hour week of those in employment”. It also calls for tougher sanctions, so those who fail to fulfil conditions lose their benefits or have money paid through smart cards than limit the type of goods they can buy.

The report’s co-author Matt Oakley, Policy Exchange’s head of economics and social policy, said: “Spending just seven hours a week looking for work, less time than the average person spends at work each day, is not enough. There are limits on Government’s ability to coax people into work with higher tax credits or welfare payments. With nearly 5.5 million adults now living in households where no-one is in work, the Government needs to put in place much stricter conditions so that life on benefits is not an option.”

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said: “We are reforming the welfare system to make sure that work pays and that those who can work get all the help they need to find a job and stay there.”