unemployment trap

"I want to show that it is possible to escape this unemployment trap," he said.

I believe that we must avoid unemployment traps which clearly have a negative impact on our situation.

If benefits are targeted at those most in need as assessed by a means test, then the poverty and unemployment traps may be encountered.

This has led a number of commentators to argue that the unemployment trap is now of little importance to the real world.

The unemployment trap has been substantially eased and the simplification of social security has had major effects.

This is likely to be particularly serious if either the poverty trap or the unemployment trap is encountered.

Poverty and unemployment traps.

So could her friends Michelle, Lenny, Tony, Sue a whole line of people caught in the unemployment trap.

Similarly, the unemployment trap exists when an unemployed worker, receiving benefit, may be less well off, or only marginally better off, in low-paid employment.

The 'unemployment trap' occurs when people find they are no better off when the breadwinner is in employment than when out of employment.

Reducing the standard rate of tax to between 12p and 15p in the pound would have an important impact on both the poverty and the unemployment traps.

Despite the reassuring noises made by the Government, the poverty and unemployment traps play an all too real and oppressive role in the lives of those on low incomes.

Both poverty and unemployment traps may provide a disincentive to work as those caught within them find it difficult, or even impossible, to improve their position through their own efforts.

The aims of the reform were: simplification, improved targeting of benefits and a reduction in the impact of both the unemployment trap and the poverty trap.

Similarly, because of the loss of full housing benefit once a person moves off income support, a large number of unemployed families face what has been called an unemployment trap.

While the poverty trap affects very large numbers of workers -including some who are part of the underclass - the unemployment trap is one that particularly operates against this group, especially those at its margin.

The welfare trap is also known as the unemployment trap or poverty trap in the UK, with both terms frequently being used interchangeably as they often go hand-in-hand, though there are subtle differences.

Similarly, for those workers moving off unemployment pay and into work, the effects of tax, loss of income support, plus the additional cost of going to work, have given rise to what is called the 'unemployment trap'.

It was hoped that people would not be made worse off by taking a job (the unemployment trap), nor would they lose money when their gross pay rose (the poverty trap), due to the loss of means-tested benefits in each case.

In terms of effects on the supply of work effort, a case against the current system of direct taxes and in favour of a switch towards indirect taxes might be made in the specific cases of poverty and unemployment traps.

They also claim that poverty is not alleviated by providing ever-increasing welfare benefits, but rather by providing an appropriate economic and social environment, in which individuals have the incentive and the ability to raise themselves out of poverty, without encountering the poverty or unemployment traps.

In some cases, the unemployment trap may function as a perverse incentive to remain dependent on welfare payments, as returning to work would not significantly increase household earnings as welfare benefits are withdrawn, and the associated costs and stressors would outweigh any benefits.

It is against this background - of the growing importance that the Government attaches to means-tested assistance - seen both in its rising share of public expenditure, and the significant rise in the numbers claiming such assistance, that we need to consider the operation of the poverty and unemployment traps.

But they will be quick to point out to ministers that 'helping the poorest' can often lead to poverty and unemployment traps, as any state benefit aimed just at low-income households will discourage them from earning more or getting a job if it is withdrawn as soon as they do so.