GERMANY: Germany's Federal Labour Office plans to place 50,000 unemployed people in jobs around the community paying at most €1.50 an hour.
This sum would be paid in addition to unemployment benefits, although these are due to be reduced next year for many of the long-term unemployed.
The money contrasts with the €33.08 an hour earned last year by the average German auto worker, according to statistics of the German carmakers association, VDA.
The Federal Labour Office is proposing that the jobless people work for local authorities, churches or charities, and that some begin doing so as early as October, according to an internal memo from the office.
In the initial stage, unemployed people would be able to turn down any such low-paid job offered. From January 1st, 2005, they would in theory have to accept or risk having their benefits cut.
The plans to cut benefits for many long-term unemployed have brought thousands of protesters on to the streets, notably in eastern Germany, where unemployment of 18 per cent is double the level in the west of the country.
The changes aim to encourage people to take any kind of work and to speed up job placements.