Some people like to use extreme cases to support their views.
Those who do not like unemployment insurance say that it will encourage people to be lazy and to abuse the system.
This may be true for some people, but may not be true for the majority.
A German once told me that in her home town, many people become unemployed as the shipping building industry could not compete with Asian countries. The workers wanted to work, but had to take unemployment insurance as a last resort.
They felt ashamed to be rely on this type of welfare and actively looked for alternative jobs. The unemployment benefit was helpful to tide them over a period of adjustment.
In any system, there will always be some abuse, but it should not detract from the help that is being provided to the majority. Any abuse can be managed by requiring the benefit recipient to show that they are making the effort to find alternative jobs.
Many countries are aware of the pros and cons of unemployment insurance, and have decided to introduce this system, in spite of the potential abuse.
Singapore should now examine the need for this system, rather than be close minded and deterred by the potential abuse.
Tan Kin Lian
Those who do not like unemployment insurance say that it will encourage people to be lazy and to abuse the system.
This may be true for some people, but may not be true for the majority.
A German once told me that in her home town, many people become unemployed as the shipping building industry could not compete with Asian countries. The workers wanted to work, but had to take unemployment insurance as a last resort.
They felt ashamed to be rely on this type of welfare and actively looked for alternative jobs. The unemployment benefit was helpful to tide them over a period of adjustment.
In any system, there will always be some abuse, but it should not detract from the help that is being provided to the majority. Any abuse can be managed by requiring the benefit recipient to show that they are making the effort to find alternative jobs.
Many countries are aware of the pros and cons of unemployment insurance, and have decided to introduce this system, in spite of the potential abuse.
Singapore should now examine the need for this system, rather than be close minded and deterred by the potential abuse.
Tan Kin Lian
3 comments:
I think many companies in SG are going through restructuring nowadays to cut costs. As a result more & more SG workers lost their jobs due to retrenchment or layoff. Companies cannot employ cheap F.T workers once they hit the quota so in order to cut labour cost they layoff SG workers after making their jobs redundant. So in my opinion, the unemployment insurance scheme is a good idea especially for SG workers who are breadwinners & with families to support.
In China, there was/is an Englishman who sold his company and use the money to provide free meals for the homeless. A reporter ask him, "Aren't you afraid of people cheating you for the free meals?" He replied, "Most of the people who approach me for the food genuinely needs help. Those who cheat/cheated me are in the minority, we shouldn't stop helping those who need help because of the minority."
I think this is something that policy makers should consider when they make any policy.
Unemployment benefits help workers as in they aren't scared when loss of jobs & then need to retrain.
It aids in flexibility rather than being stuck in a sunset industry.
It is like driving a car with brakes. Without brakes, even travelling at 35km/hr could be dangerous.
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