Right now the state is paying people to produce the criminals of tomorrow. That is a fact.
The Princes Trust has just published a report about the high level of NEETS (young people not in education, employment or training) in the United Kingdom which compares unfavourably with other European countries where unemployment is apparently higher. One of the focuses of the report is crime. Think about these statistics and you can see clearly the cycle being created;
Compared with the general population, prisoners are;
* 13 times as likely to have been in care as a child
* 10 times as likely to be a regular truant
* 13 times as likely to be unemployed
* 2.5 times as likely to have had a family member convicted of a criminal offence
* 6 times as likely to have been a young father
England and Wales have the highest imprisonment rate out of 15 European countries. New Zealand's is higher still.
Until we deal with the first item on that list, people having children they cannot or will not care for, children who inevitably end up in fostercare or CYF homes, the whole problem of crime and over-stretched courts and prisons will continue to escalate.
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2 comments:
Right now the state is paying people to produce the criminals of tomorrow. That is a fact.
The state isn't paying these people TO produce criminals.
The state is paying these people for another reason, Lindsay- but (by the usual process of mixing good intentions with the initiation of force) that aid is corrupted anew by its recipients.
Semantics, people.
Rick
Rick, The combined agents of the state,ie., Police, CYF social workers, Work and Income case workers, and health workers know of families that will almost certainly turn out more criminals (in the way that prison authorities know half of released prisoners will commit more crime).
Is there a new policy not to pay these people additional benefits when they add to their families? No. The state knowingly encourages the birth of new babies by putting a price tag on them.
It has gone well beyond good intentions.
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