Are All The Unemployed The Same?

Last night, one of the things that I watched was the Panorama programme about the latest Government initiatives to get people back into work.  I have to admit that it wasn't one of those programmes that grabbed my attention but a few interesting things did crop up.

The People On Screen Were Nothing Like Me
Don't get me wrong but the people on screen really didn't have a lot in common with me apart from being out of work.  The lives they lead and how they live.  What struck me was that the struggles that those out of work  are all so different so the Government's one size fits all approach to get people back into work is not going to cut it for so many different types of people.

The New Reassessments For Incapacity Benefit Should Happen But With Care
Ok some of the people on the programme I didn't have sympathy for as they just had no intention of working and had lost any drive (if they had any in the first place) to get a job.  But the other thing that I did notice was that we are also dealing with some extremely vulnerable people. If they are deemed not to be in too bad a state to receive the extra income that income capacity benefit gives them do at least make sure that there is some sort of safety net there to make sure that life doesn't get to much for them and they end up in a far worse predicament than many of us could imagine.

To Those In Work - Remember It Could Happen To You
One of the things that did stand out from the programme was an older gentleman who'd worked for 30 years + never had a day off sick etc.  He very much believed that there is plenty of work etc out there. All I hope is that one day he does not get really ill and end up having to rely on the state or lose his job due to the ongoing rollercoaster ride that is the current UK economy.  No job is for life and we all have to accept that the way world works is changing too through globalisation and interesting inventions such as the internet.  Just beware.

Goodbye 2009, Bring on 2010

Well 2009 was one of the most turbulent ones for me for a rather long time that's for sure.  In my mind as I saw in the new year, barely keeping my eyelids open in San Francisco (I was ill so early night was as wild as I got), I could neer have envisaged I'd have done so much this year and come out of the other side happy.

Without doubt the biggest thing to be thrown at me this year was hearing that I was being made redundant in March and then heading out of that door on April 8.  It was a shock and in many ways scuppered the plans that I had been devising in my head for the year (save a deposit to one day buy a place being the main one).

Looking back now it certainly was not the end of the world and life certainly does go on. I got to travel to South East Asia exploring part of a world that I'd always dreamed of going to; I got to spend a lazy summer in the main doing what I wanted (whilst looking for work granted but with lots of downtime too) which resulted in impromptu walks and dates around town with my then new man, heading out to dinners, seeing old friends and hitting the gym whenever I wanted during the day (yes my buns were certainly made of steel as summer drew to a close).  I've never had a summer like that so it was definately nice.

OK, I can't deny that there were down sides too. Namely hearing the redundancy news, seeing friends suffering a similar fate, having to deal with the endless monotony of looking for work and their accompanying sad feelings.

As the year draws to a close I have an interim role until March which I am enjoying - working for a chhaarrriiiddee, am figuring out what things I want to accomplish  next year and to me that's just so exciting as I know that no matter what life chucks my way I can handle it so bring it on.

Hopefully, the economy will pick itself up but to me it will never return to what it was.  There will be a new state of play and rules that govern society so it's certainly gonna make for an exciting year.