Unemployment insurance is a pre-paid vacation for freeloaders. Ronald Reagan
A man who has no office to go to – I don’t care who he is – is a trial of which you can have no conception. George Bernard Shaw
Unemployment, of course, sends the economy into a recession, creating more unemployment. Ironically, unemployment hurts women more than men. Feminists argue that’s because of sex discrimination: women are the last to be hired and the first to be fired. Correct on the outcome; wrong on the reason. We hire first what we need most, and we fire first what we need least. That’s why you hire the garbage collector first, and fire him last. Men may be hired first and fired last because more men are willing to do society’s dirty work and hazardous work for a lower price. Warren Farrell, Why Men Earn More 2005
Visible wealth was increasing in striking contrast to the stagnation of the surrounding Arab countries. Less visible, however, was the steady rise in unemployment as investors directed their capital into industries with low labour requirements. Misha Glenny, McMafia
Most of them were artisans and labourers out of employment and evidently in no hurry to go home. Some of them had neither tea nor fire to go to, and stayed away from home as long as possible so as not to be compelled to look upon the misery of those who were waiting for them there. Others hung about hoping against all probability that they might even yet – although it was so late – hear of some job to be started somewhere or other. Robert Tressell, The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist
In one sense being unemployed is the hardest job of all, in that it’s relentless … Unemployment impregnates you with an infectious sense of worthlessness that spreads through your whole body to leave a numb vacant slouch, because you can spend all day in a sleeping bag and no one’s going to complain, or even notice. Mark Steel, Reasons to be Cheerful
Amount of Government Subsidy given to Employers on the New Deal Employment Scheme every ten seconds – £600. Mark Thomas Comedy Product s2e6: New Deal, Channel 4 1988
New Deal: if you don’t take the job, you get your benefit cut. ibid.
That’s the whole thing, isn’t it: it’s the fear of unemployment. John Pilger & World in Action, Conversations with a Working Man, Jack’s friend, ITV 1971
This week the government will announce a £150 million programme to help relieve youth unemployment … More than a third of them will still be looking for a job in three months’ time. World in Action: Starting on the Dole, ITV 1977
No real improvement can be expected in the next few years. ibid.
More than 60,000 artificial jobs which have been created with government money. ibid.
These officers are the spearhead of the government’s new drive against claimants suspected of defrauding social security, known as scroungers. World in Action: Claimant, Scrounger, Snooper, Spy, ITV 1980
Last week a high court judge said that social security fiddling was rife from one end of the British Isles to the other. ibid.
19,000 people were prosecuted for fraud last year out of 5,000,000 who receive supplementary benefit. ibid.
‘I think the level of welfare benefits is slightly too high at the present time.’ World in Action: Matthew Parris, Nottingham Tory lady at luncheon, ITV 1984
You know some of the people who say they are unemployed …’ ibid.
Matthew Parris: He’s a strong supporter of Tory policy towards the unemployed. ibid.
Social security benefits in Britain are lower than 15 Western countries. ibid.
World in Action challenged the member of parliament … [to survive] for one week: £26.80. ibid.
Children in the streets of Birkenhead. For them the prospects are bleak. Last year six out of seven school-leavers couldn’t get a job. Many have turned to heroin as an escape. For others young and old coping with unemployment means living off what the rest of us throw away. They are among the 13,000 out of work in Birkenhead. World in Action: On the Scrap Heap, ITV 1984
For four years Andrew has been on the dole and he can’t afford the ring. Earlier this month, with two friends from their native Middlesborough, Andrew and Lorraine travelled 250 miles to the prosperous south in search of a new life … Migrant workers face opportunity but also heartache when they follow government advice to ‘get on yer bike’. World in Action: On Yer Bike, ITV 1986
Mr Parris heard some of the despair of men who have been out of work for years … Matthew Parris and Harry Morgan are swapping roles again – this time Harry will live the life of a Conservative member of parliament. World in Action: The Honourable Minister for the Unemployed, ITV 1986
It’s a tough new government policy for the unemployed: get a job or we’ll cut your benefits. The government says life shouldn’t be easy on state handouts. Thousands of families have had their housing benefit cut to fifty pence a week. Parents who’ve not worked for years are having their lives turned upside down. So can the benefit cap force people back to work? Panorama: The Benefits Cap: Is it Working? BBC 2017
The benefit cap is changing lives but is it working? ibid.
More than 67,000 households have been capped so far. Of those, 11% have had their housing benefit cut to fifty pence a week. ibid.
I’m sorry. I don’t speak unemployed. The New Statesman s3e1: Labour of Love, B’stard being mugged, ITV 1991
Tony, you’ve been unemployed for twenty-odd years now … What we gonna do with ya? Tony 2009 starring Peter Ferdinando & Greg Kam & Ricky Grover & Kerryann White & Eddie Johnson & Mike Johnson & Frank Boyce & Sam Kempster & George Russo & Francis Pope & Neil Large et al, director Gerard Johnson, bloke in doll office
Good morning, Mr Blake, my name’s Amanda. I’ve got a couple of questions here for you today to establish your eligibility for employment support allowance. It won’t take up much of your time. I, Daniel Blake ***** 2016 starring Davd Johns & Hayley Squires & Dylan McKiernan & Briana Shann & Kate Rutter & Kema Sikazwe & Steven Richens & Gavin Webster et al, director Ken Loach, opening commentary
We’re digital by default. ibid. benefits bloke
What’s wrong with you people? ibid. Daniel
I spoke to the landlord about it. Because I complained he kicked me out. ibid. Katie
Dan, they will fuck you around. I’m warning you. Make you as miserable. No accident. That’s the plan. I know dozens who have given up. ibid. friend
When you lose your self respect you’re done for. ibid. Daniel
The State drove him to an early grave. ibid. Katie
Everyone knows something is wrong. That it’s been wrong for a while now. But the powers that shouldn’t be keep telling us that everything is going to be just fine. Obsolete, Truthstream, Youtube 49.48, 2016
The economy isn’t just down, it’s imaginary. The middle class isn’t just shrinking, it’s dying. The wealth gap is astronomical and growing … Wages everywhere except at the executive level are stagnating … ibid.
When did freedom get replaced by freedom of choice? ibid.
More and more people are losing their jobs to what has slovenly been termed ‘technological unemployment’. ibid.
A system poised for collapse. ibid.
Davos 2016: ‘World without work.’ ibid.
Folks don’t have jobs. There are 60,000 unemployed people in Washington. It’s a disaster. And it’s a disgrace here in the nation’s capital. So this morning with the president’s urging I am declaring a state of emergency in the District of Columbia. And I am formally requesting $3 billion from FEMA’s disaster relief fund to put people back to work. House of Cards US s3e5: Chapter 31, Washington’s mayor, Netflix 2015
My profession is managing a football club, and at the moment I’m not doing that so obviously I’m out of work. The Frost Interview: Brian Clough, post-Leeds appointment, 1974
‘The first container ship arrived in this country in the early 1960s. And that was the beginning of the end. And very fast about 35,000 people lost their jobs on the docks and then all the ancillary workers, and it was catastrophic.’ Sophie Campbell, historian, cited The River Thames: Then & Now, Channel 5 2020
The pandemic has caused an economic crisis in the United States. Over 40 million Americans have lost their jobs. The effects of the virus has been felt all over the country. Covid 19: World in Danger, Discovery 2020
In late March the Indian government ordered a nationwide lockdown forcing everyone to stay at home. As a result in April alone, about 122 millions lost their jobs … The poorest Indians were beaten and forced to do humiliating exercises as punishment for ignoring the restrictions. Daily wage workers suffered the most severe consequences … ibid.
In one year the conditions were so reversed that the era of prosperity ended, and a depression set in, to such an extent that the streets of the colonies were filled with unemployment. Benjamin Franklin
When Iceland’s banks collapsed at the end of 2008 unemployment tripled in six months. When Iceland’s banks collapsed at the end of 2008 unemployment tripled in six months. Charles H Ferguson, Inside Job, 2010
Linda Wootton, 49, was on 10 medications a day after a double lung and heart transplant. She was weak and suffered regular blackouts. She was nevertheless put through the Atos Work Capability Assessment, and as she was lay in hospital dying, she received confirmation she was fit to work. She died just nine days later. Lucy Woods tweet 18th Mary 2023