Deadbeats and Unintended Consequences

Unemployment insurance is a key safety net for workers facing volatile, depressed job markets. There are some, however, who might seek to abuse the system. What is your reaction to a person who is collecting unemployment benefits who is offered a job for which they are qualified, which pays the same or more than their last job, but turns it down and seeks to continue collecting benefits? If you're like me, your reaction is along the lines of, "Screw 'em. Cut off the benefits. There are too many people out there who really want to work."

What if that person happens to be your sister, or your mother, or your wife or girlfriend? "Well, I'm going to give her a good talking to. There's no excuse for this."

Fair enough. But what if the job that was offered was as a prostitute?

Ouch. Unless you're talking about my ex-wife, that changes the situation entirely, doesn't it? It becomes completely outrageous. (Or possibly in the case of my sister, where it .... well, let's not go there.) "But," you might well argue, "that's a hypothetical case that wouldn't happen."

Sadly not true. It's already happening in Germany.

A 25-year-old waitress who turned down a job providing "sexual services'' at a brothel in Berlin faces possible cuts to her unemployment benefit under laws introduced this year.

Prostitution was legalised in Germany just over two years ago and brothel owners – who must pay tax and employee health insurance – were granted access to official databases of jobseekers.

The waitress, an unemployed information technology professional, had said that she was willing to work in a bar at night and had worked in a cafe.

She received a letter from the job centre telling her that an employer was interested in her "profile'' and that she should ring them. Only on doing so did the woman, who has not been identified for legal reasons, realise that she was calling a brothel.

Under Germany's welfare reforms, any woman under 55 who has been out of work for more than a year can be forced to take an available job – including in the sex industry – or lose her unemployment benefit. Last month German unemployment rose for the 11th consecutive month to 4.5 million, taking the number out of work to its highest since reunification in 1990.

I have long been a proponent of legalizing prostitution. I understand that there are valid arguments on both sides of the issue, but I think that the negatives are heavily outweighed by the possible gains. Eliminating the world's oldest occupation is about as likely as eliminating teenage sex. A lot of the problems facing women who engage in this activity are brought about by the fact that it is illegal. In a legalized system, health concerns could be more thoroughly addressed, taxes could be collected, benefits provided for, and abuse could be reported to the law without fear of consequences.

This story, however, brings up the "unintended consequences" portion of the question. If you turn prostitution into "just another job" then it seems that it will have to fall in line with all of our normal rules of employment, leading to situations like the one above. That will never fly, though, so what's the answer?

I believe that we already have an answer. There are already positions which may be available but people don't have to take. If you are a younger, unemployed man in decent physical shape and no obvious disabilities, it could be fairly said that the military has a large number of openings for you right now. However, denying benefits to somebody who doesn't enlist in the military doesn't happen. That is work that you must "volunteer" for. There's no reason that prostitution couldn't be treated the same way. Something needs to be done about that situation in Germany, though, or they're going to have a riot on their hands.