Could be wrong but I think Denmark does something similar to this, only it's significantly more generous. 90% for three years, with some pretty good incentives to train up along the way.
Even if you're one of those 'we don't want to become a nation of freeloaders' you can surely appreciate that removing the terrifying consequences of not being employed would make an awful lot of shitty businesses book their ideas up.
Remove their biggest bit of leverage and suddenly they'd have to treat their workers with a modicum of respect and dignity.