Looking for Work

The unemployment rate has been redefined countless times in recent years. Usually to make it look better. Currently, the government publishes the rate of JobSeekers Allowance claimants. But many others who are unemployed are not entitled and therefore won't show in the statistics, and the same applies to many who are underemployed and in part time jobs. That said, the JSA rate for Speke and Garston in 2013 was 7.4%, and the "worklessness" rate was a massive 26%. The latter includes lone parents and claimants of disability benefits.

A friend of ours who manages a Welfare Rights Agency in the north end of the city is taking part in the "CEO Sleepout UK Liverpool" at Goodison Park tonight. 50 CEOs from the city will be raising funds for "Everton in the Community" and the Church Urban Fund. An opportunity for someone unemployed to bunk in? I wonder what their JobCentre Plus would say? Would it give them a gold star for initiative, or a sanction for not being immediately available for work?