>In Germany we have a welfare system that requires you to take on pretty much any job if you become unemployed. If you only qualify for low-income jobs this can mean you end up taking on a job that pays you below welfare and welfare actually has to bridge the gap and pay you the difference.
For as much as people say that the US "far to the right" social programs compared Europe, something like this would be a political nonstarter in the US.
To be fair, you merely have to prove that you keep applying for jobs and go to interviews arranged by the agency if you couldn't find anything. Also, these reforms are relatively new (historically speaking) and were justified with economical arguments (because the economy is always a good justification if you can't think of anything).
But I have heard about postgraduates having to take on so-called "1 euro jobs" (i.e. busy work like collecting trash in parks) in order to maintain unemployment benefits while working on their theses.
For as much as people say that the US "far to the right" social programs compared Europe, something like this would be a political nonstarter in the US.