Tebbit advice to Merthyr unemployed 'move to get jobs'‏

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-12526733

Same Tories, softer spin

A rotten sort of recovery | John Harris

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/17/rotten-recovery-low-pay-job-insecurity

In amongst all the lefty outrage is one nugget that I think could be really important in years to come: "What that means is obvious enough: for millions, the same deepening insecurity they experienced under the last government, and then some."

I think people are right to fear the lost generation of which I fear I may be a part, and a deepening inequality in terms of security. More and more people are going to have job insecurity, which when added to increasing financial pressure could well be a recipe for social disquiet. I'm certainly not advocating it, but that's what happens when you come down too strongly on the side of private sector employers and harsh supply side reforms.

"week's inflation figures showed prices rising twice as fast as average pay." This can only continue for so long
"To everyone I speak to, the combination of stagnating pay and rising cost of living seems cruel and increasingly unmanageable." Quite.


"the workforce is made anxious by ever-increasing numbers of agency workers, employed on inferior terms, who come and go at speed"
It's not nice being one, I tell thee that

I do wonder if all this will see a re-rise of union membership. It would certainly seem a logical solution to poor pay and job insecurity.

UK unemployment inches below 2.5m

I now believe unemployment to be an issue of the highest importance. It's a personal tragedy to be unemployed and government, for me, should do all it can to try to ensure people are in jobs.
It is by having people in work that the economy will be strong, in addition to any things about personal development or stuff like that. money in the pocket, stability and security flow from having a job and for that it is vital.

Also, it shows how badly the Tories botched up our economy in the 80s with 3 million out of work. The population is higher now yet we have less people out of work than we did then
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/jan/19/uk-unemployment-claimant-count-drops-ons

George Osborne - UK will help Ireland through debt crisis

* Osborne visiting Ireland in 2006:

"A generation ago, the very idea that a British politician would go to Ireland to see how to run an economy would have been laughable... Today things are different. Ireland stands as a shining example of the art of the possible in long-term economic policymaking, and that is why I am in Dublin: to listen and to learn.
In Britain, the Left have us stuck debating a false choice. They suggest you have to choose between lower taxes and public services. Yet in Ireland they have doubled spending on public services in the past decade while reducing taxes and shrinking the State's share of national income."
http://www.leftfootforward.org/2010/11/george-osborne-ireland-shining-example/


ozzy is lucky that most people don't know that he was praising Ireland a few years back, because he got that very, very wrong.
the thing is, this is no academic excercise. there are lots of people out of work, and i'm in a shit job well below what i'm capable of so i hope the economy picks up. it's just that, sadly, i don't think it will. taking demand out of the economy at a time like this goes against what i believe to be the best way forward, so i'm not hopeful

UK unemployment falls unexpectedly

While this is encouraging news, underemployment is the other great problem. One that I am feeling very keenly right now.
Let's hope that the Tory economic miracle does come to pass and things improve. That way I might even get a decent job

David Cameron refuses to back down over housing benefit

"Cameron insisted there was "no reason" why anyone should be made homeless as a result of the changes, and said there were plenty of jobs for those out of work for more than 12 months in high-rent areas such as London."

Typical bloody Tories

today's benefit reforms

i agree that people should be better off in work than on benefits.
however, AxeMan Osborne does not give me any confidence he will do anything other than attack the poor and vulnerable.
anyone who thinks his measures are not ideological are mental. they must be pretty grateful for the Lib Dems to take much of the fire for them from both sides.

ideally, wages should be of a level that means people are decently off in work, but there's in work poverty as well as benefit affluence.


Update: "A government source has just told Nick Robinson that the chancellor's benefits cap is more a "symbol" than a policy whose implications have been fully worked out and will produce real savings. "
oh there's a surprise

job search

as if being unemployed wasn't bad enough, looking for a job is horrible. One of the problems with this country is the amount of jobs in the recruitment and sales fields.
Those bastards add very little, if anything, to the economy other than to contribute to the financial bubble that burst all over our faces a couple of years ago.
If we had more proper jobs that made and or did something useful, and lots less recruitment and sales jobs our country would be a far better place and, i'm sure, better off economically

Change

i'm getting sick of the promise of 'change'.
Obama went on about change, has he changed the world? No. It's rubbish, and it's pissing me off. It's not change we need, it's jobs. Jobs, Jobs, Jobs. That's all it's about

UK unemployment falls for second month in a row‏

"But long-term unemployment, covering those out of work for more than a year, rose by 37,000 to 663,000, the highest figure since 1997. "
Ouch. Not great

Recession

"who is affected most by these trends? Confounding early predictions of a 'white collar recession', the statistics show that it is the same people who were hit by previous recessions who are most exposed this time round – the 14.3 million low-paid, low-skilled workers"
There's a surprise.

My solutions:
Keep people in work.
Support the low paid through the direct taxation system to save on admin and the costs of admin.
Government subsidised internships.
Even the smallest bit of compassion in the benefits system.
More equality of income and wealth.

Possible solutions from the article:
"As well as measures to improve responsible lending, more low-cost, out-of-court remedies, like the Debt Relief Orders are also needed to support those people in unsustainable debt or for whom repossession is the only remaining option.

Safety nets are vital, but work is nearly always the best route to maintaining economic independence for any household. This is particularly true for low earners, who are more dependent on their earned income than other groups due to their lack of savings and their lack of eligibility for many means-tested benefits. Expanding the eligibility criteria for working tax credit to include training as well as paid employment,would make it easier for people to access training while in work thereby insulating them against the risk of redundancy.

For those people who do lose their jobs, the focus must be on maintaining their proximity to the labour market and it is this measure that should be used to evaluate the effectiveness of government schemes such as the Future Jobs Fund and the Work for Your Benefit pilots. Enhancing the existing 'light touch' skills assessment that takes place at 13 weeks after someone has lost their job, and defining 'sustainable' employment as 12 months rather than 13 weeks could also make a real difference to low earners who find themselves out of work."

Employment figures

I'm stuck in the 16-24 group that are suffering the worst, and i'm on the dole too so I feel it.
But we've got to the stage where a smaller-than-expected rise in jobless is good news, so let's enjoy it while we can.
Oh, that's it.
Oh well, joy over.
Gissa job

Are MPs' interns being exploited?

Are interns exploited?
It's not just MP's interns!
I'm doing an internship because otherwise I'd be doing nothing, so it's good from that point of view.
BUT,
a recruitment agency thinks I could get £10/hour. Right now i'd take minimum wage for a job.
Another agency has offered me an interview to be a recruitment consultant on £20k per year plus bonuses of nearly another £15k. But i wouldn't get it coz i don't want it.
Maybe that's me being greedy, because I don't want that job and i'm not really in a position to refuse.
But my point is that in the face of this i'm actually working on £2/day travel expenses.
Are interns exploited? Yes

Job. Ish

Got myself an internship with the Social Market Foundation.
I'd prefer something paid, but a Think Tank is pretty tasty.

Job

Bearded Socialists needs a new job.
Any offers?

Jobs and Gordy

Kevin Maguire on his usual good form.
He ties Labour's success at the polls to their ability to keep people in work, and promotes the idea of a German-style job subsidy.
As with a previous post, i'm with him on this as I think keeping people in work, by almost any means necessary, is a good and key part of getting a recovery going.