Unemployment Scam

Fiddling the figures

Michael Wilshaw, the clownish head of Ofsted, launched an attack on the young unemployed because they do not dress properly or have little sense of time-keeping. Young people eh? Nothing like an overpaid, over-risen, over-publicised tosser for making sweeping generalisations about the victims of our biased economy. He says nothing about the employers who expect their young workers to work for nothing ('internships' ) or to be available at all hours on zero hours contracts which forbid the worker from seeking back up work elsewhere. 

Among the comments following the article was this statistic from the EU.

“It is still too high but youth unemployment in the UK (approx 20%) is actually below the EU average of approx 24%.” 

A commentator calling themselves CocotheClown produced this breakdown of how the figures are arrived at. 

“All UK unemployment statistics are blatantly fiddled to look better than they actually are ... There are other Eurostat statistics that measure the low % number of hours worked (as a ratio of hours available) .. in which the UK usually ranks very near the bottom in the EU, alongside industrial power economies like Bulgaria. In particular we rank by far the worst in households with under 18 year olds that are in severe penury due to low access to work hours (12%).

Our numbers treat only in terms of whole people head counts.. if you get a few hours work, you are not unemployed. Most other EU statistics departments ridicule the UK figures that ONS put out ... the EU measure more in terms of whole weeks equivalent unemployed as a % of all people capable of work.

The UK start out by classifying 7 million plus as economically inactive if they haven't actually applied for work in the last few weeks.... (apart from full time students, carers, and long term disabled) so we have three classes.. employed full or part time or unpaid, inactive, 100% unemployed ... whereas others measure employed hours divided by 37, deducted from total work age pool headcount, the rest, who are then counted as unemployed

In 2012 a report from Eurostat reckoned that the UK had very high real unemployment, including all the hidden stuff, almost as bad as the very worst ...Greece, Romania and Bulgaria.(30% plus).. and a very similar % to Spain and Italy (24%). We report 6% to 7% !

Raising school leaving age by two years at a stroke removed about 1 million formerly counted as unemployed.

Disabled unemployed are not counted at all, with the younger age groups mental health disability is very high. Older disabled people tend to eventually get enough experience and training to get work, albeit at low hourly rate.

Those on pretend apprenticeships, which are often a two days a week course for six months, in something useless, or even playing football, are not counted.

Those staying on in education up to their twenties to get access to cheap meals, families too wealthy to get means tested JSA, constantly applying for jobs, and willing and able to start work tomorrow, are not counted.

Many seasonal workers such as summer fairs used to count as unemployed in Winter, now are treated as employed all year, but claiming Working Tax Credit. Those tempted to become vanity self-employed, but have maybe 16 hours a week involvement in work connected activities, but on average only 3 hours paid employment are not counted

Agency temps, working maybe 12 hours a week on average are not counted.

Single mothers available for work, who now have a child old enough to be child minded are not counted.
.
Interns and charity volunteers on zero pay work experience are not counted.

Those on zero hour contracts are not counted.

Many jobs are split between two people, 18 hours a week ... both count as employed.

If Theresa May gets to be Tory leader she is going to have a hard time defending this interview ...

Evening Standard March 2010 (Just before 2010 election)

Just eight countries of the EU's 27 member states have a worse rate of male unemployment than Britain, a study has showed.

Only Estonia, Latvia, Italy, Austria and Poland had higher rates of economic inactivity, and Britain's total — which the CIPD said showed the number of jobless who are missed in official figures — accounted for one in seven of Europe's entire figure.

Shadow Work and Pensions secretary Theresa May today accused the Government of failing to tackle the issue of hidden unemployment.

She said it would miss its target of getting one million people off incapacity benefit by 2015 by 700,000.

"There are 2.3 million people in this country who want to work who are not in work and who are not counted in the unemployment figures," she said.” CocotheClown

Like so many politicians, Theresa May knew then what was going on and has done nothing whatsoever to change the situation once in power. The coalition has made things worse. Labour, to their shame, cannot make too much fuss, because they were at it too. 

SOD THE NEEDY - FEED THE GREEDY