During a discussion with a friend on the subject of welfare, I thought of an approach that might (or might not) be worth trying. My idea is to make the dole conditional on a very simple requirement: If you want the money, you have to sit in a chair for eight hours. At the end of the time, you are given the cash in hand and are free to leave. Next day the same.

Of course there would be exceptions for those with legitimate reasons to not be able to meet this requirement, but able-bodied, work-capable people under pension age would have to if they wanted their money. There would be no other demands on them and they would get toilet and lunch breaks, but any unauthorised absences from the chair would result in their money for that day being withdrawn. Any phones or other devices would be locked away and returned at the end of the day. The dole recipients would have to arrive on time, no excuses, and spend the full eight hours in the chair to receive their money. They could sleep if they wanted to, but they would have to sleep sitting up in a straight-backed chair. 

In front of the chair would be a video screen advertising available jobs and specialised training courses, as well as presenting motivational talks. There would also be resource people available to act as guides and help with personal issues. There would be no pressure to respond to any of this, but they would display opportunities for alternatives to sitting in the chair. Anyone could choose at any point to leave the chair for work or training opportunities, but any failure to meet obligations would mean immediate cessation of payments, with the only option being a return to the chair. Of course adequate supervision would be needed to ensure compliance and discipline, especially at first. The success of something like this depends entirely on full and consistent enforcement of the rules.

Who knows? It might be worth a try!