The Indignity of Unemployment

When you lose your job and a regular income is no longer coming in your savings get depleted.  You have to learn to live on the miserable sum you get from things like the jobseekers allowance which our government believes; you can live on sixty two pounds a week. There are other benefits you can claim but no one seems willing to let you know just what you are entitled to.  One of the questions I would like answering are the DHSS staff told not to volunteer any information but to just leave it up to the individual to find out for themselves.

I ask this because recently due to the downturn of the economy I have lost my job in the motor industry and for the first time in many years have been unable to secure another position.  All my contacts made through the years have all said the same we are not hiring in fact may well be losing staff ourselves.  This I believe is across the board most industries are struggling and more layoffs seem inevitable.

So for the first time I have been forced to sign on for jobseekers it has certainly opened my eyes.  I had always believed the story that people were better off on the dole and everything came free that couldn’t be further from the truth at least in my experience.  You are treated like children having to write on a daily basis a little diary of things you have done to find work.  Then every two weeks you have to attend and explain why you are still one of the great unemployed before you can receive your princely sum of sixty two pounds a week.  Or in my case forty two pounds a week they deduct twenty pounds a week because I had the good fortune to get myself partially disabled whilst in her majesty’s services and receive twenty nine pounds a week war pension based on a twenty percent disability.

One of the lessons I have learned and I suspect many others will find to there cost ex servicemen and women if you get badly injured do not expect much help or recompense for your misfortune.  The latest indignity I experienced was at my three month review where I was told that I would be eligible for a scheme where local employers will take you on for two to four weeks with no guarantee of a job at the end of it.  You receive no extra money just travel expenses and a midday meal, what a great way to get cheap labour makes a mockery of the minimum wage they are so proud of I would like to see immigrants working for that wage I can tell you.  So why are we being sold such an empty and demeaning package?  I suppose for those few short weeks the jobless figures will go down and let’s face it they would not be lying for you are working albeit for nothing.

Well that’s my rant over I hope you do not fall into the same trap I have and try the citizens advice bureau they will tell you what you can claim for and even supply the relevant forms good luck to you all and my sincerest wish we get over this downturn as soon as possible.