You're not even reading though, are you. It took 5 months to find any work to go to at all. You don't "believe" that but that's not really my problem. It is the case. I applied absolutely everywhere and attended every interview offered. I worked for some scumbag restaurant owner for free for three days as an "audition" only to find out that he had been "auditioning" a succession of people as free labour for several years. I almost got a job working for a call centre that was, as far as I can tell, basically scamming old people into having wills drawn up for them - but it was shut down. For scamming old people. I would still have done it, though.

Again you're only proving that you must live in or near a major population center. The town I was stuck in at the time had about 5 bars and 3 cafes, none of which needed staff, and "endless" customer service roles? The last time I was back in that **** hole most of the shops had completely shut down. They were really not seeking staff. I'm obviously not saying that finding a job is impossible because I did find one. I'm saying it can take time. Might be weeks, might be months, but it's basically unheard of to go out to "find a job" and be working the very next day. If you think it's not the case, then you either haven't experienced it first hand, or you are lying.

In fact, even the job I did get, for the company I still work for, it was three months from application to starting work. Four months from application to pay in the bank. It took them 3 weeks to offer an interview, another 3 weeks from the interview to get a call offering the job, and 6 weeks from that call until the start date.

Once again - I am not condoning long term benefits for people who have no intention of working. I'm saying that benefits are ESSENTIAL because of how long the process of finding work can be.

highly populated ? I live in mid wales lol theres more sheep than people...ive never been out of work other than when im sick. theres no excuse for ANYONE to be out of work if theyre fit enough to work.

You are then a very lucky individual,if that is all the case for you and where you are then,as I said earlier everyone should maybe try to move there, it sounds like stepping through a looking glass into a near dream world.
It is not somewhere I have found in all the areas I have found people needing help.
So well done to all the authorities and the people where you are.

I have to say and was surprised to hear you say you don't believe him, that the experiences from Toy Soldier are more what I have found to be the case.
From the angle of researching the real situation, by not just believing the grubby press accounts,then getting involved in helping some really desperate people who cannot find work but who would love to work.

As Toy Soldier says, signing on is almost humiliating and in fact,very little help is there for them too.
When we are alright and things going well for us, it is easy to judge and say all people should do this and do that,however that is too generalised and is an unfair direction and judgement,that is just my view.

Also after being out of work for any length of time things can appear a lot worse, confidence is shattered from endless knockbacks at interviews,that is before you get the further pressures from the jobcentres and threats of sanctions too.

I'd rather, any day, go down the non judgemental route and show some understanding and compassion.
How things are where you live seem ideal,almost an oasis set in the nightmare of the rest of the UK.
It is a pity the politicians don't know of the massive success and lack of problems there,since even they have no clue how to deal fairly with the situation of the jobless.
As Toy Soldier was pointing out very strongly from his own personal experiences too.

Our neighbor has just lost his job after the company folded. He's been with that company for over 20 years and now finds himself signing on. He was telling us yesterday that he's been granted (for a couple) just over £400 a month. Because he's had a reasonably well paid long term job he's been able to afford a mortgage and has all the usually affordable debt that most working British households have. He's very specialized in his field of work which means getting work with a similar company is really his only option.

So okay, lets give him a job and if he refuses that job lets sanction his benefits even though the job we offer him as a road sweeper isn't going to give him anything more than a minimum wage, which in turn will ensure he loses his house and will have to claim personal bankruptcy because his meager salary will put him on the poverty line.

Losing a job can be life destroying and that's why we have so many male suicides in this country. Finding the right job that won't throw you into deep financial difficulty could take a little time. To suggest such people are lazy ****ers is ridiculous and cruel. Its not only the people who have been missed out on education or continually scrounged off the system that find themselves unemployed and having to claim.

Wouldn't he lose his house on benefits anyway? Taking anything while he looks for something in his field might be the only way :(

A very good point there DemolitionRed, The Truth is constantly referring to the high rates of suicide amoung males and how awful it is. Which it is. But then it's attitudes like his - essentially calling people lazy, scrounging wastes of space if they don't find themselves just walking out of their house and into a job at the drop of a hat - that are a massive contributing factor in the feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness that result in high suicide rates.

Congratulations on being part of the problem, Truth.

When my brother came out of work for a short time, they paid his mortgage. Or some of it, idk.

I would imagine (only surmising) that he will have mortgage insurance protection (and possibly other credit insurance) and therefore whilst out of work his mortgage (and other) payments will be covered. If he finds gainful employment the insurance will stop and his payments will be reinstated and if he is only earning minimum wage its will not cover his outgoings.

My neighbour had the interest on the morgage paid is all I think, she kept the house but it was touch and go, she got rid of every other outgoing except the house.

The ignorance is suffocating.

Most Care jobs require qualifications and/or experience, if you've never done Care before then it isn't an easy field to get into. Cleaning is a busy sector, it's like telling people to get into retail, it's hard because it's a go to sector for a lot of unskilled workers. Most Securty jobs require a Security qualification and those cards that aren't CSCS cards but are similar. 99% of cold calling jobs are scams that are purely commission based and offer little to no actual money. Bar and Cafe work are highly in demand and competitive and Door to Door sales have the same issues as cold calling jobs.

You really have no clue what you are on about. You've just been completely whipped by the Daily Mail into swallowing whatever bull**** headline they spit out.

I can confirm to even get a basic security guard license is about £275 for the actual license. The training needed to even get the license is £180.

For someone out of work and barely making ends meat its not really something hat can be done so easily.

SIA badges that are £100 and the security training beforehand costs loads too, I was going to put this earlier but it would've been a waste of energy.

When I got my security license it was £245 not £100. That was for a basic static license.

Exactly. I hate when people try to make judgements and form opinions on things when they don't consider the people actually affected by doing so.

Ah yes the first badge is a lot more yes, after that their still £100 to renew though :/

I've just looked and for a renewal its £220. It's the same as the cost of a new license.

'If this is your first license then the fee is set at £220. However if you already have an SIA license with at least 6 months remaining on your current badge then your subsequents licenses will cost £110.00. With the only exemption being Vehicle Immobilisation license which is exempt from this discount.'

'A licence renewal costs the same as a new application (£220). No additional training or qualification is required for a licence renewal unless you are renewing a door supervisor licence and you have not attained one of the current licence-linked qualifications (the ones introduced in Summer 2010).'

From the official site

http://www.sia.homeoffice.gov.uk/Pag...-renewals.aspx

Right...thanks for that, glad you cleared that up.

Fact remains it's not a job you can just mooch on into.

Precisely

Edit: kizzy we just agreed on something :omgno:

he has my sympathy. Maggie thatcher destroyed 1.5 million industrial jobs forever. she was a sadist. its much harder for a guy like this , a specialist in his field suddenly out of work like the miners....male suicides are a massive issue I always bring up. theyyre worse because women get 95% of the funding for support and charities as well as enormous more being spent on their welfare and health. men should be more priotised and their mental health should see more money spent on it...men kill themselves at 4 times the rate fo women and in post industrial wales male suicides are up 23% and this didn't even make the 10 oclock news , theyre busy talking about lineswomen getting heckled by idiots. typical feminazi liberal biased bbc bulls*it.....heckling is a bigger news than mass suicides? insane and profoundly sexist

now my advice to a man like that is that if he can find the spirit in himself to climb off the canvas to find work, albeit lesser work and lesser paid, anything is better than benefits.....whilst hes in work he will be meeting people and socializing more....he may refind a zest for life..who knows whilst in work he may find a person or an opportunity better suited to his needs...this surely wont happen at home with the curtains drawn on benefits.....men in this country are far more discriminated against than women, far far far more. there is less support, theres far more economic pressure on men too....men MUST work. if they don't they risk losing everything and having their wives throw them out and losing their home their kids wife and career all at the same time. this is exactly why male suicised are at record highs across the entire western society.....oh and they say men should talk about it...I AM talking about it and I get shouted down as being sexist for doing so. proving men cant win, no wonder so many kill themselves

funding can be provided at the job centres....its also worth noting these many people on benefits and hobbling a but should cutback on booze and cigarettes too to save for this

Spot on.

Benefits used to cover interest on a mortgage but apparently haven't done so now for a number of years.

Another ignorant generalisation