Life Without Work

First there were the re-runs of 'Boys from the Blackstuff' on BBC4 and now a new series called 'Life without Work' on BBC1. Of course for many probation clients, this is exactly their reality. Typically they 'left' school at 13, have no qualifications, are barely able to read and write and are to all intents and purposes unemployable. In my youth and pre 'health and safety' days this didn't really matter much as Britains vibrant manufacturing industries had loads of unskilled jobs available to soak up virtually everyone available. I well remember my father being telephoned on a regular basis by the local probation officer wanting to send round yet another young lad, just out of Borstal, for a period of trial employment in the factory. It worked well for many years, but as we all know those old industries went through a period of 'restructuring' and whole communities found there were no jobs for anyone, let alone the young.

It was the conservative government in the 1980's that tried to address this problem with the introduction of the Manpower Services Commission and the Youth Training Scheme. Looking back it's quite fashionable to denigrate these job creation schemes, but as a probation officer I can say that without doubt they were absolutely ideal for many of the young unskilled people on our books at that time. If I remember correctly they were affectionately known as ET - a reference to the Extra Tenner you got above your benefit for taking part. The beauty was there was absolutely no bureaucracy, just a phone call to the provider and a start date was arranged. Of course it's been said that they were not proper jobs, had little or no training content, were humiliating and most significant of all, reduced the pool of cheap labour for local employers. But this group were basically unemployable and benefitted from the structured day that was provided. Some made the transition into mainstream work having gained from the experience.  

For all sorts of reasons, the YTS era came to an end, Training and Enterprise Councils simply did not prove as effective and the resulting increase in youth idleness helped provide the perfect conditions for the spread of heroin. By the time 'New Deal' was introduced by Tony Blair's government, a whole generation had been lost to drugs. I'm aware that more recently other schemes such as the 'Future Jobs Fund' have tried to address the problem still posed by unskilled youth unemployment, but this is to be phased out by the coalition government and I'm unclear of any suitable replacement as yet. This is a serious problem as even a job as an unskilled labourer on a building site now requires a CSCS card and some experience ffs!

 I ought to point out that throughout my career I've never really come across anyone that didn't want to work. I think the notion of the deliberate workshy malingerer, happy to be living on the dole, is mostly an invention of the tabloid press. Everyone has a basic need to feel valued, to feel that they are doing something worthwhile and employment most often provides this. Without work, a person often has difficulty knowing themself or their place in society and the desire to be productive is actually quite strong I think. Many of our clients may not have the skill, ability or motivation to find suitable employment unaided, but all would take it if offered and have realistic expectations in terms of wages, in my experience. 

Over the years I've supervised many clients who have been victims of industrial restructuring and witnessed the inevitable debilitating effect it can have. Coming to terms with long term unemployment is never easy, as Seebohm Rowntree discovered from his research in York over 100 years ago. There comes a time when, in the absence of some special help, a person either has to accept the situation and adapt, or go mad. In my practice I've tried to walk that fine line between encouraging aspirations and searches for work, with appropriate support for alternative activity that can help ward off depression, maintain psychological well being and that fills some of the endless idle hours constructively. I think there really is a limit to how long a human being can cope with rejection, before it's wise to accept that life is possibly going to be without work, and move on. In my view any forthcoming changes to the benefit system must take account of this and come up with a realistic, fair and socially acceptable way of dealing with such people, or risk causing them serious psychological damage.