Monday, 30 October 2006

Personal

Hello P45

I lost my job on the 19th, and became just one more face in the unemployed crowd.

The benefits system seems to have improved a bit since I last had to sign on, almost six years ago. At that time, The Dole had just mutated into the slightly patronising Jobseekers Allowance (I note with some lack of surprise that the value of the weekly single person claim has gone up by about a pound in the last six years) and there was a huge booklet to fill in, seemingly in triplicate before you could start. Now, thankfully, most of the initial stages are done over the phone. Having to actually sign on doesn't get any better though, and I'm still surprised that I'm thinking of myself as one of them, the 1.7 million unwaged outsiders.

Posted by em at 20:11 | Comments will be back later in the year. Please email me instead!