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David Jewson's avatar

Another point of view is that to deal with adversity in life you need the knowledge, skills and relationship network to do so. You personally learn these things at school and from the people around you. You could call this 'happy life' knowledge and skills. For example, a person who knows how to deal with failure and has a network of family and friends to help them to do so will be happier than someone who doesn't. We can all make a difference by passing these skills and knowledge to those around us and encouraging relationship networks. The importance of these skills for all of us often seems to be missed and problems are instead given a financial explanation (not denying the importance of money if you don't have any). People who are able to live good happy lives will together make a better society with better employers who will create better jobs where people feel appreciated and valued. Perhaps the problem is that many of us are loosing those very skills we need in a world that needs relationships but gives us materialism instead.

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Tony Warren's avatar

I remember that in the 1950’s and early 60s, there was almost no male unemployment or underemployment. There was a seemingly endless supply of factory jobs for men, many of them highly repetitive but pretty secure and able to support a family reasonably by the standards of the time. Very few men were so sick or disabled that they couldn’t find steady, full-time employment.

Of course the figures only included paid employment. Unpaid caring, domestic and similar work was usually done by women. Some of the unpaid caring etc work that was done by women now appears in the figures as economic activity because it is paid. Still, a huge amount remains as unpaid or voluntary and therefore counts as economically inactive.

Nowadays there is far less repetitive manual employment available. Even low-paid jobs require team working and interpersonal skills, in some cases (e.g. health and care) at a very high level. Unskilled employment scarcely exists.

For a whole range of reasons, disability, sickness or innate capacity, a substantial number of people are never going to get steady paid employment, regardless of benefit cuts and jobcentre nagging.

The strengthening of employees’ rights by the Government is welcome. However, we also need to broaden our perspective on what is socially useful activity. Unpaid caring can be. Voluntary work can be. This should be respected for the social contribution it makes, not demonised as scrounging. It should be encouraged by the benefits system.

Unfortunately, the government seems to prefer to play to the right-wing media gallery on benefit cuts rather than think more deeply about the way society is developing.

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