Sunday 16 August 2009

Overview

The politics of unemployment


This is not a diary-type blog

As I explain in a separate blog titled Blog setup, my Blogger blogs are really a series of websites within the blog framework. As such, I update pages with new information as I would if they were set up as part of a standard website, so the information is more up to date than the page dates suggest. When I need to insert lots of new pages, it requires a major reorganization, as I did to this blog in October 2008 and again, less dramatically, in August 2009.

Although you can navigate this blog in any way you choose, there is a lot of cross-linking between pages, as well as a multitude of links to external websites and blogs, so I recommend that on the first time through, you read it like a book, ignoring all the links except the Next page links until you reach the end (thus ensuring that you don't miss anything), then (if you wish) go back and explore whichever un-visited links interest you.

Why I set up this blog

My primary motivation in setting up this blog in January 2008 was to highlight the folly that was the New Deal scheme, but I also covered other issues such as housing and finance. Different and apparently unrelated policies of local councils, banks and the government can combine in the most pernicious way to make life much harder for people on low incomes, including those with jobs as well as unemployed people, than need be the case. Frank Field's proposal to scrap New Deal was well meaning but, based on that article, even he doesn't really understand the full extent of the problem. Only those who have actually suffered truly understand.

New Deal was replaced by Flexible New Deal, which in turn was replaced by the Work Programme. While some of the details are different, the fundamental problems are the same. All these schemes make it look as if something is being done to help the unemployed, but don't succeed in actually doing that. I haven't seen much need to update this blog to reflect on those differences because nothing has really changed for me.

The government

Let me make it clear that when I refer to the government, it can refer to either the Labour administration that was voted out in 2010 or the coalition that replaced it. Politicians of all parties have a certain contempt for the unemployed and while their policies on welfare issues may differ in some respects, their basic attitude towards unemployed people means that the differences are sometimes hard to discern. Yes, there are disagreements about some issues, but while, for example, there may be a big argument about capping certain benefits, I think the arguments are more about the level of the caps rather than the principle. Actually, I think caps on some benefits may be a good idea, but only if the limits are set sensibly. There will, of course, be other issues on which both the government and opposition basically agree a policy in the main detail, but which I cannot endorse in any circumstances.

July 2008 proposals

The proposals that the government outlined in July 2008 designed to replace New Deal generated a lot of debate, which caused me to re-assess this blog. I decided that it was necessary to cover a lot of issues that I'd previously not included, culminating in my October 2008 blog reorganization. Also in October 2008, I created a separate blog titled The nineties job quest that focuses exclusively on my first long period of unemployment, removing all the detailed information about that period from within this blog and my related Career blog while inserting links to them from this blog.

How I got into this mess

The nineties job quest lasted from February 1990 to June 1998. I lived off my former wealth for most of that period, only signing on for jobseeker's allowance, housing benefit and council tax benefit when I was heavily in debt (no scrounging there) in May 1996. Note also that the mere fact that I actually found work again after that length of time shows how hard I was trying.

I became redundant again in December 2002, having learned no major new skills that would have made it easy to get another job, so I was into my second long period of unemployment, which has been a very different experience from The nineties job quest. At around the end of April 2011 it equalled that quest in terms of duration. It will end on March 6th, 2013, if I don't find work before then, because on that dat I qualify for pension credits and will no longer count as unemployed. I could still look for work after that, but I won't be forced to.

The period since my last redundancy has been just as eventful as The nineties job quest, perhaps more so. I haven't moved to a different home (though I had an eviction order served on me, later retracted), but I have been through a Bankruptcy and had problems with Housing benefits and government policies (especially New Deal) that are supposed to help unemployed people back to work but which in practice have severely hampered my efforts in that direction.

My career

My related Career blog, which covers the time that I spent working in great detail, looks at possible options for an alternative career and explains why some are completely unsuitable for me and why it is too late at my age (I was born in 1951) to consider some careers that I might be suited to. Some people see my analysis as a list of excuses for not getting back to work, but they don't understand. I'd love to return to paid work, but employers just aren't interested in me. If I apply for jobs within my traditional area, I fail because my skills are obsolete. If I apply for other types of job, I fail because other people have more experience in those areas or because they are young and seen as better trainee prospects. This blog explores those issues in detail.

My certificates

My Certificates blog contains pictures of my GCE, CSE and other certificates for any employer who may require proof that I really did pass those exams.

My blog too depressing?

Some people see this blog in particular as depressing, but that is the nature of it. It is impossible to write about problems of any kind without sounding depressing, but I have put in a few lighter touches here and there. I didn't want to overdo this aspect in case any employer thought I was being frivolous, but having learned that even employers find this blog too depressing, I'll keep on the lookout for other ways in which to lighten the gloom. This won't be easy to do while remaining focused on the points that I'm trying to make, so it will be a gradual process.

Taking responsibility

When it suits their case, politicians like to say that people should take responsibility for their own actions. As I make clear in the remainder of this blog, I am frequently prevented from doing things that will give me the best chance of finding work by being forced to do things that won't help me. This effectively transfers responsibility to the government, since I am limited in my ability to decide my own actions and the agencies that I deal with are doing what the government tells them. Any attempt to tell people in authority that their policies are wrong only serves to reinforce their suspicions that unemployed people are no good.

One of the interesting things about The nineties job quest is that I was left to my own devices and therefore able to decide for myself how to go about finding work. How things have changed since those days.

The obstacle course

Now, it may be that I'm not a typical unemployed person and that these policies work for some people. They may even work for a lot of people, as the government claims, but they definitely work against me. Even if they work for a lot of people (and let's see the evidence), it is necessary to allow some flexibility in the system to ensure that all unemployed people have the best possible chance of getting back to work, including myself.

I hoped that the 2008 banking crisis would presage greater flexibility, as many more graduates, office workers and managers joined the ranks of the unemployed, but I have seen no evidence of this as yet, at least partly due to employers and employees agreeing to protect jobs by making them part time. Meanwhile, the shortage of money caused by the 2008 banking crisis has caused the government to cut back severely on welfare spending of all types. In any case, any change will be too little and too late to make much difference to my situation. I'll never give up, but my prospects are bleak.

Sometimes, I sense that people think that as I'm out of work, I am obviously clueless and shouldn't argue with them when they tell me what to do. They don't know about my past and don't allow me time to explain, although even if they gave me the time, they probably wouldn't understand anyway.

I wanted to build on the experience gained from successfully returning to work at the end of The nineties job quest, but I was never able to carry out my plans. I wish that I could have had some genuine help in identifying a new career or re-establishing my old one. In the absence of such help, I wish that I could have just been left to do things my way. I'll never know if either of these strategies would have worked, but the one I've been forced to go along with definitely hasn't worked.

A question of confidence

Even in my bleakest moments during The nineties job quest, I always felt that I was going to get back to work again. Although it fluctuated, my confidence generally increased as time went on. As 1998 began, I just knew that it was going to be my year because the momentum seemed unstoppable.

This time around, I still felt confident up to the summer of 2005. After that, political interference accelerated and my confidence gradually ebbed away. A curious paradox of the policies espoused by both the Conservatives and Labour parties is that these policies serve only to undermine the confidence of people like myself, who genuinely want to work, yet politicians are always quick to proclaim that self-confidence is an essential requirement for getting back to work after being unemployed for any length of time.

While I won't give up looking for work, I don't feel confident about finding a job by conventional methods. That's another reason for expending so much effort on this blog. My Amazon reviews occasionally arouse the interest of the News media, although journalists' preconceptions about unemployed people mean that they are not interested in my experiences of being out of work; that was evident in the way that most of them treated me before. Maybe I can somehow arouse the interest of employers or, if not, raise awareness of the issues in other ways.

Employers and others notice my internet presence

Occasionally, an employer sees something that I've done on the internet and contacts me, but so far these offers have not been suitable for a variety of reasons. Nevertheless, I appreciate the interest and it shows what is possible. An employer who approaches me in this way has clearly seen something positive, whereas an employer who sees a CV hasn't.

I was invited to participate in the How's my feedback? research project, and presented a slide show, for which I provide background and supporting information in Slide show notes. I met a lot of high-powered people there, but none of them were able to provide a way for me to get back to work although several thought that there should be a job for me somewhere.

What are we?

Organised religion calls us sinners. Employers call us human resources. (Just occasionally, I still see the word personnel, which was once standard but is now extremely rare.) Government calls us taxpayers. Business calls us consumers. We are therefore of value in this life only to the degree that we grovel, work, pay taxes and buy stuff.

An emotive subject

If you doubt the strength of public hostility towards benefit scroungers, just do a Google search for benefit scroungers. The McFadden family case and others like it fuel public hostility, but the vast majority of unemployed people are hostile to the McFadden family too. Typical of the attitude by those who don't understand the issues is this comment that I found on Indymedia UK.

There is an easy solution to your dilemna, stop accepting the benefits and you will be free to do what you like. I, too, am trapped here for 40 - 48 hours a week. I can't do what I want. I have to wear clothes to fit in, but at the end of the day I get paid so I put up with it. And what's more, 40% of what I earn is paid to you.

Let's see how that critic manages if he ends up on the unemployment scrapheap. Given that he is currently on a high rate of income tax, he would find it tougher than most of us, unless he can get another job quickly. Of course, his comment is wildly exaggerated. His 40% tax contributes to spending on a whole range of public services, not just welfare. Furthermore, most of the welfare budget is used up in the overheads. Yes, the cost of running the services to pay out benefits is greater than the amount paid out in benefits.

Look at this survey of the UK's top 100 most annoying things. I console myself with the knowledge, confirmed by the BBC debate Should benefits be linked to community service? (often mentioned in this blog but sadly no longer available online), that most people who despise benefit scroungers don't know enough about the subject to form a balanced opinion. Even more interesting is the contrast with a more recent poll. I guess this proves that it all depends on timing. Whatever irritation is in the news tops the poll. On that later poll, benefit scroungers don't even make the top 100.

Just a delusion

I suspect that the public and politicians alike start from the point of view that if people are not doing anything to earn their benefits, they might as well be doing something. Unfortunately, the public and politicians don't appreciate the cost of administration of schemes to make unemployed people do something to earn their benefits. Furthermore, the extra administrators employed are rarely drawn from the ranks of the unemployed.

Some workers appear to be jealous of the unemployed, but if they had to live off benefits, they would realise that it's not a life of luxury, though my Amazon reviews make it appear that I have a better lifestyle than I actually do. The idea that unemployed people don't do anything useful with their time (based on the visibility of those who hang around street corners) make the idea of forcing unemployed people to do something seem appealing to those who have always found employment, though my Amazon reviews and my other internet activities show that I, at least, have found ways to make use of whatever time I have available. Ideally, I would like to have spent much more time on training that would have improved my chances of finding work.

Lack of re-training

So why have I been out of work for so long despite actively seeking work? Apart from prejudice against unemployed people based on the usual Stereotypes, as well as ageism in my own case, the short answer is that I need re-training, whether that be for a different career or to obtain some computer programming skills relevant to the current marketplace.

Government policies do not help me. Indeed, some of their policies including New Deal actually make life more difficult for me. I have been told that having been out of work since December 2002, there's been plenty of time outside of New Deal when I could have got re-trained. Well, I have had some re-training, but nothing like as much as I would have liked due to various factors that I'll explain in detail later. At my age, any re-training I now do is unlikely to make much difference. It's really quite a long story and that's why this blog is so necessary.

The placement agencies

Note that the placement agency links now point to Intraining, but it took over the offices and staff of Carter and Carter, who went into administration early in 2008. Carter and Carter had themselves taken over Fern in a more conventional manner a few years earlier, I have been assigned to all three at different times, as well as Working Links, but I have not been impressed by any of them. After all, they'll also carry out the government's policies just as before. So far, Intraining have not put me on a placement. They tried but couldn't find one. Now they seem to have given up, as they no longer arrange appointments for me at their offices, but tell me when they will phone me. They clearly want to focus on people who they think are more likely to get a job.

Most people find work quickly

The reality is that most people who are made redundant manage to find work again quickly, as I did on the first two occasions that I suffered that fate in 1981 and 1988 (and in the second case, I didn't even bother signing on for jobseeker's allowance, housing benefit and council tax benefit), but those that don't find work quickly find it extremely hard however much they want it. With the help of acute staff shortages caused by Y2K, I performed a miracle once before as The nineties job quest illustrates, but things are very different for me now.

With jobs now almost as elusive as Lord Lucan became following the murder of Sandra Rivett, even those who have become unemployed recently are finding things tough. My chances seem to be more remote than ever, although I came close to securing a part-time job in July 2009.

I offer possible solutions

Sometimes, I offer possible solutions to the problems I highlight. I know that no government is likely to go back to the hands-off approach that prevailed in the last millennium any time soon, though that may happen eventually if politicians realise that intervention isn't cost-effective. They and the bureaucrats don't always know what's best for individuals. Punish the lazy people if you must, but please offer constructive help to those who want to return to work while allowing them to choose their own way forward within reason.

I don't claim to have all the answers, but through my experience of two long periods out of work, I have seen a lot of things and I hope that somebody will take my ideas and opinions seriously. Even if it's too late for me (and I hope it isn't), lessons learned may help other people. In particular, I think that politicians should look closely at Employer attitudes. Without overcoming their reluctance to take on long-term unemployed people, it's difficult for such people to find a way back to work.

Selected links

For convenience, I set up a list of selected links so that you can, if you wish, follow these without the need to be continually distracted by the multitude of links to external websites.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...
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Justine said...

Really like this blog, taking my time to get a good look, as you have been on for a while.