Sharpe’s Opinion

Unemployment: Not As Fun As It Sounds

Harry Blackwood, a 52-year-old man who lost his job, couldn’t find a new one and tried signing on for the dole, has written of his exeriences with JobCentre Plus in the Daily Mail. I found his account particularly interesting, because I went through the same system back when I hadn’t found a job out of University. The phone interviews and subsequent trips to the Job Centre are every bit as unpleasant as he makes them sound.

Maybe I’m just a cynic, but I wasn’t even slightly expecting to be treated well by the Job Centre (and my expectations sank even further when I saw a sign on the wall reminding people that they had to dress appropriately – men must wear shirts). Unlike Mr Blackwood, I actually signed on and took three weeks of dole payments (sorry, Income Based Jobseekers Allowance Payments) – though it was nearly four weeks (a week after I started my new job, in fact) before any money made it into my bank account.

Hat Tip Iain Dale