The Front Line

I watched a few minutes of the RTE programme The Front Line last night. They were talking about unemployment when I watched. I must admit that I had been thinking that many of the people on the dole were having it easy, but this woman certainly was not. Both her and her husband had lost their jobs (a not uncommon event in Ireland over the last couple of years). They had 2 children and she described her experiences with the dole office. In some ways I don't think the dole should be a pleasant place to visit, but then again how you think it should operate all comes down to whether or not you think people are genuine claimants or skivers. I think our focus on the people who don't try, care, train themselves or generally take responsibility is overshadowing the much more serious problem of those to whom that description does not apply, but who find themselves unable to get a job.
The problem is probably more intractable in rural areas where people may have relied on a key area. In urban areas there is so much activity (albeit with so many people who can potentially fill the jobs) that it can be hard to see how someone cannot find any job. However the problem is that just any job will not meet the needs for many families. Large mortgages, taken out at a time when this was considered 'normal' have to be serviced and this puts pressure on everything else that they do. Going from one or even 2 well paying jobs and a big mortgage to no jobs, social welfare and still the big mortgage must be a nightmare.
I suppose what we need to do find a balance between helping those who need the help and cutting off funding to those who don't. For their part families that find themselves on social welfare need to radically adjust their expectations. The lady last night described how hard it was to constantly say now to your children. There are worse things than having to deny your children money for the shops. Social welfare should not be fun to live on. Getting a job and getting out of it should be the priority.