Find that job: Lesson 93. The "sicknote" generation
More than half a million of young adults, people under 35, are living on state benefits in Britain because they say they are too ill to work. This group now outnumbers people of the same age who are registered as unemployed looking for work.
The so-called 'sicknote' benefits are popular among the unemployed because they pay more than benefits such as Jobseeker's Allowance which go to those who are looking for work. For example, someone aged between 18 and 24 can get around L46 a week from Jobseeker's Allowance but around L61 from the lowest rate of Incapacity Benefit.
Claimants include many people capable of work, who choose not to work. The government wants to introduce medical tests to weed out the less disabled claimants, but they would probably push only a small number of people back to work. A recent study has revealed that the majority are claiming Incapacity Benefit for 'mental and behavioural disorder' - a category of benefit that includes claims of stress.
The government, say the critics, has spent billions on welfare-to-work initiatives such as tax credits, to persuade the young unemployed to take jobs, and has achieved virtually nothing. They claim that a whole generation is being lost to Britain's 'sicknote' culture.
a SŁOWNIK
sick note - zwolnienie lekarskie
sicknote - (pisane razem, w formie przymiotnikowej)
generation - pokolenie
state benefit - zasiłki państwowe
to outnumber - przewyższać liczebnie
unemployed - bezrobotny
to pay - płacić
Jobseeker's Allowance - zasiłek dla bezrobotnych (którzy zarejestrowali się jako osoby poszukujące pracy = job seekers)
Incapacity Benefit - zasiłek chorobowy (wypłacany z powodu niezdolności do pracy)
claimant - osoba ubiegająca się/pobierająca zasiłek
capable of - zdolny do (czegoś)
to weed out - wyrugować, odsiać, wyeliminować
disabled - niepełnosprawny
study - sondaż, badanie
to reveal - ujawnić
to claim - wystąpić o, pobierać (np. zasiłek)
mental disorder - zaburzenia psychiczne
behavioural disorder - zaburzenia zachowania
claim - roszczenie
welfare-to-work - bodźce finansowe zachęcające do podjęcia pracy
[working] tax credits - kredyty podatkowe (płatność wyrównująca zarobki dla osób o niskich dochodach i pracujących nie mniej niż 16 godzin tygodniowo)
to achieve - osiągać
virtually - prawie
to lose - tracić
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