Dodgy DWP statistics again

In the DWP press release about the plans for “boot camps” for young people, it states that:

“More than 70% of Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) claimants said they would be more likely to follow the rules if they knew that their benefits were going to be reduced or stopped.”

Orly?

Paul, the stats come from the 2013 Jobcentre Plus Offer: Final evaluation report and are liberally thrown around by ministers and DWP press officers whenever the subject of sanctions come up https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-jobcentre-plus-offer-final-evaluation-report

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Page 157

Thanks Billy.

Must have slipped their mind to include the enormous caveat to these statistics at the end of the offending section…..

“However, there was no evidence from the survey that knowledge of JSA conditions led to actual movement into work. Respondents who said they were more likely to look for work because of their knowledge of JSA conditions were no more likely than other respondents to have moved into work when they left JSA.”

Funnily enough this bit never gets quoted either:

A view that both the conditionality rules and the consequences of not adhering to them had become stricter over time was pertinent among claimants suffering from health conditions. Such claimants felt that Jobcentre Plus did not provide them with an adviser who was sympathetic to their condition when drawing up their JSAg or Action Plan. Added to this was the view that they were not work ready and believed that the conditionality requirements of JSA exacerbated their condition. Many of these claimants had previously received ESA and felt that their adviser was cynical towards any continuing health condition that they might suffer from.

‘After I passed that [Work Capability] Assessment I had to go back to the jobcentre to look for jobs. She said to me “you should look for jobs” … I said “yeah I will apply for jobs that I can do with my leg like this otherwise it’s a waste of time me applying to it”. I couldn’t find very much and they stopped my money. It wasn’t until my leg gave way and I fell in the jobcentre that she believed me that I couldn’t stack shelves or be a waitress.’