Last updated at 11:42, Thursday, 19 April 2012

MORE than 1,100 long-term unemployed people across North and West Cumbria should be given a job in local government or the voluntary sector on the minimum wage – or have their benefits cut.

That is the finding of the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) whose report said long-term unemployment is the “hidden crisis of the slowest economic recovery” and the government should guarantee the work for anyone out of work for more than a year.

It would mean that 365 in Copeland who have claimed out of work benefits for more than a year would get employment, along with 285 people in Carlisle, 405 in Allerdale and 50 in Eden.

IPPR chief economist Tony Dolphin said: “Being out of work for more than a year can make it harder to get a job as well as having a negative impact on health and well-being.

“The government should guarantee those unemployed for more than a year a job at the minimum wage in local government or the voluntary sector. But with that right should come the responsibility to take that job or risk losing their benefits.”

The number claiming out of work benefits is 1,720 in Copeland, 2,401 in Carlisle, and 2,150 in Allerdale.

First published at 11:10, Thursday, 19 April 2012
Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk