The tough life of the 'hardened unemployed'

R

RMCF

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Before I start this rant, I have to say that by 'hardened unemployed' I mean the career unemployed, not those who may have lost their jobs on recent hard times and who desperately want to work.

I mean those that have no interest in working - basically the dolites.

I was working today indoors in the beautiful sunshine, and many of us at work were saying how great it would be to be out.

I went home at 5pm and gave a relative a lift to his girls house, on a social housing estate. Here I was met with about 5 groups of families, including both parents and some grown children from each family. They had been drinking in the sun since 1pm, all lying in the front garden (of their free house I may add). One of the folk there was a new mother of 22yrs old, who has never worked a day in her life, yet recently was given a new house as she is a single mum. Tough times.

And tomorrow in the sunshine I will be back at work, paying taxes to support them. You can guess where they will be.

Who's the mug, eh?
 
If you want to be unemployed?

If you want to lay down in the sun all day?

If you want to live in a "social housing estate?

If you want to drink from 1pm?

If you want a free house?

You could always join them if you envy their lives so much...

No point in feeling like a mug all your life. Or was that just today?

I guess someone else would be happy to go to work sun rain or shine,regardless of how others have to live.
 
Tempting as it is, .
Much rather be home by five, and view them from my car window.

As I drive back to my private home, where there wont be loads of family's sunning themselves and drinking all day.

And OH MY GOD,22 yr old single parents with free houses.

Release the hounds.
 
I dont think your a mug,I think you earn a wage and should feel proud of that.

It gives you a lot more options,emotionaly,physically and mentally.

I find it very hard to believe that a 22 yr old who recently became a single mother would get a free house so easily.

And I think that education is the answer for the type of people who have no inclination to work.

Usually they are uneducated or have very little education, poor, have restricted their own choices in life,suffer from lack of confidence etc..

Who would want to choose that type of lifestyle.

I don't envy them, I think there lives are quite difficult, behind it all.
 
I'm guessing the OP thinks they should make some effort to ease their burden on the state, not glory in it.

Or perhaps the State should "incentivise" those that need "encouragement" - for instance would it be unreasonable that people do a bit of civic minded work around the community in return for their effective wage. Obviously those caring for dependents would need to be exempt, but wouldnt it be something for others to do.
 
Never forget hearing two teenage girls talking on a bus before. One of them was moaning how her mother was 'wrecking her head'. The other girls advice was to do what she did and get herself preganant and the council will give her somewhere to live. I don't think she was joking.....

Unfortunately there are people in every society who are scroungers (a relative of mine is one that comes to mind) just as there are many genuine vunerable people who need a helping hand.
 
I would imagine that a very comprehensive programme of change would be in order .

As if they are not inclined to work,it would be very difficult to get the mindset to do civic minded chores.

I think there will always ,as was shown when we had full employment, be some who for whatever reason are unemployable.Sadly this can be passed on to the next generation.

Which is why intervention is required.

Sometimes we have a tendency to look at a scene and superimpose our view of what we think it is.
 
I am going to say what others think!

There will always be the LAZY SLOBS who will take, take, take and give nothing back. Thats life.

But i for one am delighted I am not slobbing there with them.
 
Sunny; This is where early intervention would be great,that the kids could see that there is a different way to live,that getting pregnant is not the answer and just traps them into this cycle even more.

If that teenage could see that it wouldn't be her mother wrecking her head,but possibly her baby, her lack of opportunity,her lack of money, etc..

I think its sad,that they don't realise how instead of getting away from a problem they are going to end up having more problems.

If you watch Teens in the wild,it would , I think, give an insight into how intervention can really help.
 
thedaras said:
Who would want to choose that type of lifestyle.

I don't envy them, I think there lives are quite difficult, behind it all.
Click to expand...

I think this sounds a little bit naive if you don't mind me saying.

Plenty of people make a conscious decision to spend their entire lives like this. Like Sunny, a couple of relatives spring to mind.

They are utterly guilt free, reasonably intellingent and not lacking in education as such. They have simply realised that with a little sacrifice, they don't need to work - so they don't.

Of course I realise that there are also many also caught in a poverty and welfare cycle that they want to escape from.
 
It is a pain though to be indoors on days like this and I think the OP is right to feel a little ****ed off at the thought of funding others to laze in the sun. You can have pride in having a job yadda yadda, but most of us wouldn't mind relaxing in the sunshine rather than completing the daily grind.
 
MrMan said:
....but most of us wouldn't mind relaxing in the sunshine rather than completing the daily grind.
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But the price of that relaxation is never having an opportunity to better yourself economically. Never to own your own property, never to live in a nice area, never to be responsible for yourself, always waiting on the next handout. If you are happy to live that lifestyle, fine. But I wouldnt be happy to live like that, Id prefer my grind.
 
MrMan; My point is that you could do just that if you want. But you choose not to ,for a reason.

Caveat; It depends on the mindset. If they think a little sacrifice,is living on the dole,living in social housing, bringing kids into this milieu,living a life of nothing to aim for nothing to do.

Then I believe they are not educated enough to make the leap. Its trying to help them understand that this is not what is called a good life.

The fact that you say they don't need to work and make a conscious decision to spend their lives like this and are utterly guilt free,speaks volumes as to how their mindset is.

truthseeker; I couldnt agree with you more.
 
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thedaras said:
as was shown when we had full employment, be some who for whatever reason are unemployable.Sadly this can be passed on to the next generation.
Click to expand...
thedaras said:
Which is why intervention is required.
Click to expand...

Sterilisation comes to mind, when I read the above.

In the early 90's a friend of my parents while working for the EEC, had to do survey of the Irish state benefits and calculation of the salary required to have the same standard of living. I believe as figure in the low £40k's was the result!
 
To be made aware that there is another way.
To help them understand the need to break the cycle.
To give them the confidence to escape what is considered the norm in their environment.
 
thedaras said:
To be made aware that there is another way.
To help them understand the need to break the cycle.
To give them the confidence to escape what is considered the norm in their environment.
Click to expand...

The vast majority of them know that but choose to stay the way they are.
The biggest causes of poverty are social, not economic.
 
thedaras said:
Its trying to help them understand that this is not what is called a good life.
Click to expand...

This reminds me of the tale of the old mediteranean fisherman, he lay on the beach, took a few tourists out on his boat, did a little fishing, caught a few fish, went home in the evening, drank some wine, made love to his wife.

One day he met a tourist who said 'you should work more hours, catch more fish, sell the excess, get a little money together, buy another boat, and keep going til you have a fleet of boats'.

'Why?' asked the fisherman?

'Well, when you have built up an empire you can sell it and retire young'.

'And what would I do if I retired young?'.

'Well you could lie on the beach, take a few tourists out on your boat, do a little fishing, catch a few fish, go home in the evening, drink some wine, and make love to your wife'.

The moral of the story is - you cant tell people what is a good life, they have to decide that for themselves.
 
BTW, the classic examples aside, life on the dole is not necessarily all sprawling grim estates and bad diets with multiple child allowances and bleak futures.

You can rent a perfectly fine flat in a reasonable area. If you don't have kids to support, a couple of nixers, a bit of wheeling and dealing and you could easily net over €400 pw - for what - a couple of hours 'work'?

Don't forget rent allowance and other benefits too.

I know people like this.

If you are unambitiuous, it's a handy enough life TBH.

Having said that, it's not for me - but it suits plenty.
 
I worked with family's many moons ago,who were just as the OP described.

Success was to get them to open their blinds/curtains before one in the day.
A lot of them were just very ignorant to another way of life.

Intervention definitely helps ,not them necessarily but hopefully their children.

For example their homes were void of any kind of books.
The kids had little or no positive feedback from the parents.
School was way down on the list,plus homework,so every one suffers.
The parents were ignorant as to how to improve the childs life.
 
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