It's much harder in many ways for young people to get a job than it used to be. I helped a milkman for pocket money from the age of 7 until we emigrated when I was 12. In Belgium, I helped the man next door build his house and worked in the local corner shop on Saturdays and during school holidays for pocket money. Back home at 16 I went straight into an apprenticeship at PO Telecoms.

Now no-one will of course give any kind of jobs to kids for pocket money, but there are also a whole load of obstacles in the path to young adults getting jobs... not least, everyone seems to want you to apply on-line nowadays, but they don't like replying to all the online applications they're flooded with.

Anyway.... to get to the point of this post... You can't get even a labouring job now without having something called a "CSCS" card. A friend rang me the other day; he'd managed to pass the test, but you have to PAY for the card and he didn't have the money.

He gave me a phone number to ring and his reference number. So I rang to pay for the card.

Fat chance!!! The woman wasn't allowed to talk to me unless the person was with me... data protection or whatever. I protested that all I wanted to do was PAY so they could send his card out, so what was the problem. Nope.... she couldn't talk to me. So that was that, and he loses another week's work while we try to meet up to make the call again with him present. Why????????

WHAT A MAD COUNTRY!!!

I am convinced there is a political agenda to hinder young people from getting into the labour market. At the other end of the age scale ageism acts against mature people from remaining in employment. Successive governments have overseen the wilful destruction of British engineering resulting in the loss of meaningful apprenticeships and long-lasting real jobs. Politics of all colours has encouraged the importing of endless cheap labour from abroad – which Labour are now saying was a mistake, and we now arrive at this situation where real jobs that pay a living wage are as rare as honesty in politics is.

Out of interest, I looked into a Job Centre earlier this week. The sense of despair and hopelessness written all over the faces of the young people in there was dreadful.

I came home and read the newspapers, where I was confronted with a severe contrast of futures to those I saw in the Job Centre. The reports and photographs in the papers were of Cameron giving his speech at the Lord Mayor's dinner. Cameron was dressed up like a penguin, and surrounded by a large number of the wealthy gorging themselves on unbelievable luxurious food and surroundings. And Cameron was telling them that austerity would now be the permanent norm – but not for him and his elitist colleagues from all political parties, the bankers and globalist movers and shakers. The same obscenely rich and powerful people have the audacity to leach off public money in order to fund their extravagance while imposing a bedroom tax and depriving the vulnerable of essentials – such as heating and food. How these people sleep at night is beyond me – they must be devoid of all humanity.

The story below is one of the latest revelations of the rich and powerful abusing public money extracted from the poor, and one more reason why I am not renewing my TV license:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... cians.html

My son has to currently sign on at the Job Centre and has been told to apply for at least four jobs per week. He went there armed with a list of 9 that he had applied for in the last fortnight to be told that he wasn't trying hard enough.

He's already depressed - I wondered if they were trying to make him ill so he didn't have to sign on every two weeks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5dBZDSSky0

U.S Comedian George Carlin deconstructs late capitalist, neo-liberalism,

there are over six hundred in the SW1 big house that could be replaced by one non politico who can think straight, so there are plenty in that lot could be taught how to work,

_________________
Its not always the biggest and the bestest, its them that make the least mistakes.

It's dreadful. I know people in that situation, they get no real help at all then get "sanctioned".

This has happened to one of my best friends too last year. He had been battling depression for a few years and this pushed him towards becoming suicidal. In the end he wrote them a letter and handed it in to them telling them to get stuffed and that their attitude was appalling. He never went back after that. Luckily his mothers partner owns a company and employs him from time to time to help him financially.

I had to go to the Uxbridge Road Job Centre last month to get a certified 'copy' of my marriage certificate. It was quite an eye opener looking at the general attitude of the 'customers'.

The vast majority were obviously not wanting work and just there because they had to be. They were quite rude to staff for no reason.

I was very polite with the over burdened staff and they were appreciative. There was an altercation between 2 staff members as one was apparently trying to offload some of his queue into the queue of another and it nearly came to blows.

_________________
Lets be careful out there !

I despair when I read posts like this because being in a similar situation I can fully understand what folk are going through. It is a nightmare trying to deal with this system at the best of times, never mind when your physical and mental health are rock bottom.

I'm a mild mannered person, but I am becoming increasingly angry about the frequent attacks being made against the genuinely unemployed, sick, disabled and elderly in our so called society. It's fast reaching the point where it's becoming a hate crime.

I am appalled at some of the posts I see on 'social media' websites, from people who quite frankly should know better. It comes as no suprise to me that politicians spout the same old nonsense, but it's reached a new low when Union Reps are posting some pretty disgusting stuff.

I will no longer hesitate to name and shame them.

I've known people desperate for work who've been treated very badly by the job centre and I've listened in when they've had to ring Belfast and end up desperate and frustrated at the way they're dealt with, going round in circles getting nowhere.