Spare a thought for the unemployed at Christmas

So you kept your job, after the crash, and Christmas, now almost upon us, is looking pretty good.

What, though, of those who didn’t.

Before y9u mutter “bah, humbug” have a look at a few figures,

They are for July, so they might be a bit old, by now.

They are so grim, though, that they would, certainly, have put big holes in the Christmas budgets of thousands of Australian families.

The Statistician reports, for example, that the average bout of unemployment for men, at that time, lasted 17 weeks.

That is, on average, they lost more than four months’ wages.

The plight of women, wbo lost their jobs, was almost as bad.

On average, they lost 14 weeks, or three months employment, and pay.

With most Australian families now, geared to a two income budget, these are very serious shortfalls.

The main response young Australians received, when they sought work, was that “there are no vacancies at all.”

That was the blunt reply that 17 per cent received, when 1`5-19 year olds applied for jobs.

But 15 per cent of those over 45, who sought employment, were told that they were “too old” to be considered.

Ill-health or disability also prevented many people, classed as long term unemployed, getting jobs.

All had been out of work for almost a year.

Unemployment or sickness benefits probably helped most of these people, a little.

But there is still no substitute for a good, full time job.