Craiglxviii
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The flip side of somewhat made up jobs is that at least they are being made to do something for their dole money.
Trouble is, it's not something tangible one can point at and say, "Those dole wallahs built that today!"
For example. The US in the Great Depression instituted the WPA- Works Projects Administration. Government funded, it built most of the great hydro electric dams, most of Middle America's small-town squares, most local public libraries, it was involved in everything from women sewing up patchwork quilts to be distributed to the needy (from clothing scraps donated by the public) to Federal and State Highways. The WPA paid a living wage, gave 3 square meals a day and employed for no more than 3 days straight without having to reapply. It is what built the American infrastructure that allowed them to springboard up in the 40s and 50s.
Now, imagine that on a limited scale here. Potholes too costly to fix? Employ a WPA crew. Hell employ 20. They're already being paid for, this gives them something to do.
The point with WPA was that almost everyone was found some sort of gainful employment... and it was all productive, even if the production was just ("just"...) running mobile kitchens for the road resurfacing crews.
Be honest, who here can't think of 3 or 4 unskilled or semi skilled labour element jobs around their local area that would improve things no end, if the labour resource was just available?
The plus side is that in addition to the infrastructure improvements (M1 between Rugby & Northampton eh?) the extra living wage paid to such benefits claimants would all get rolled back into the local economies anyway, giving greater stimulus.