RealNewsUK.com

The Recession

July 2009

Pensions

There are a lot of people approaching retirement who, having paid off their mortgage, thought it would be a sufficient financial bedrock for their retirement.
Little did they know that Gordon Brown’s hatred for middle England would make him turn all their financial plans into chaos
Firstly, his oft repeated lie that a pensioner gets a minimum of Ł150 a week.
In fact this is a means tested benefit, someone who owns their own house will only get the minimum Ł80 a week and sometimes less.
This is a bit of a financial quandary for the supposedly well off, previously cash rich middle Englanders.
Their capital has also been depleted by a series of financial frauds over the last ten years.
Endowment frauds, pension fraud, investment frauds and of course, divorce assets split added to legal services fraud.
On top of that any savings which they had left are not only earning virtually no interest but they are having to live off them until they run out.
With the prospect of twenty or thirty years of retirement ahead of them they are faced with the prospect of spending it living in poverty.
There is an increasing sense of bitterness regarding the growth of public service pensions and the high cost of the profiteering utility company bills and council tax.
Household finance now shows that England is not a good place to spend your retirement.
There is no financial advantage to be had from being an asset rich pensioner in Gordon Browns economy.
And no prospect of work in recession hit Britain.
The possibility is therefore arising that these mobile oldies will sell up and roam the world until their resources are used up.
Gordon Brown has not only destroyed the British economy, he has destroyed the retirement plans of millions of pensioners.

June 2009

Unemployment Counselling

It is generally assumed that the main objective for the unemployed is to get a job.
Though this may be the ultimate objective it is quite possible that other problems have to be solved before this can be achieved.
Unemployment is not just a work/money problem. It is a problem on many levels.
There is a sense of bereavement that people feel when they lose a job.
They have not only lost their source of income and their personal identity, they have lost their work colleagues, the friendship and daily contact of work conversations.
Unemployment can also have many disastrous residual effects.
It will put pressure on the family and/or relationship. It may even cause separation or homelessness.
So the ability to find another job becomes not just the ability to go through the mechanics of CV construction, job applications and interview techniques,
It becomes a daily battle of survival to get through the day and to maintain a positive outlook.

Confidence

Lack of confidence is a killer.
Once an unemployed person starts to question their personal abilities they can lose direction.
Even someone with a wealth of plans and ideas can lose the confidence to carry them through.
The primary objective therefore becomes not to get a job, apply for 6 vacancies or write 8 letters it is to get through each day with a little self esteem.
This involves changing targets and objectives.
One of the problems of lack of confidence is when a person pushes themselves into a situation which they were bound to fail anyway.
With the objective of getting a job, an interview is undertaken which leads to failure and then adds to their lack of confidence.
Eventually they give up because it is too painful an experience.

Routine

Building up daily or weekly routines can be a useful means of raising self confidence.
When you have spent time on work pursuits you can then approach your free time with an easier conscience.
If you have achieved a small step along the road, that is a worthwhile achievement in itself.
Failing to build positive steps into the day can lead to stagnation and continuous anxiety.
People then use drugs and alcohol to escape this anxiety.

Time Management

Regularly spend a few hours a day to indulge in some work orientated pursuit.

Focus

It may not always be apparent which direction a person should be heading.
Which job, which objective is best for them.
A more random approach is to focus on one thing one week and something else the next week.
Developing skills in personal responsibility is something that can take time after being in a work
environment where everything is planned for you.

Skills

Skills and training can help someone build the self confidence to achieve a level of competence which would be useful in their working life.
Life skills are something that is currently entirely ignored.
Typing is currently the most important life skill.

Overview

In the current job market it has to be admitted that it is possible that there isn’t enough work for everybody.
So applying for jobs that don’t exist becomes a delusionary occupation.
If this is the case, people and society in general should change their attitude to the current concept of life and work.
People should be trained into job sharing. A healthy society will not evolve where 10% the population is working overtime and 10% is doing nothing.
Working for charity should be more acceptable.(JSA grant)
Working on artistic or occupational projects should be encouraged.(JSA grant)
This new direction comes up against a major problem. The actual cost of living.
In our post war, materialistic expansionist economy, profit was put before people.
This has led to the current situation where people on low incomes cannot afford to live.
Profiteering businesses have made the cost of utilities in this country untenable for some, and this makes it less likely that people on low incomes can be self supported.

October 2008 - Financial Meltdown

A Million Missing From Unemployment Figures.

The Department of Works and Pensions has built up a system of deterrence for would be claimants.
A series of complicated hoops that a claimant has to jump through to actually get registered as unemployed and eventually get benefit.
A national telephone registration system has been installed which suggests to claimants that its not worth them registering.
Then an attempt is made to direct them onto other benefits.
Also a secret assessment of their national insurance stamps can invalidate a claim.
Then a personal assessment at the jobcentre to show that they are willing to work.
Then they have to sign on regularly even if it is 20 miles away.
The Department of Works and Pensions is a minefield of secret regulations which the claimant can fall foul of at any time.
It is rather like snakes and ladders.
To be registered in the unemployment statistics you have to be "a claimant" (actually receiving benefit).
So if the jobcentre refuses to pay you, then as far as the government statistics are concerned, you are technically not unemployed.
This leaves a black hole in government statistics and real life poverty for all who fall outside of the system.
To add to the confusion the government has revamped (buried) the unemployement national statistics in the Labour Market analysis.
The introduction of means tested benefits means that claimants are brought down to the poverty level before the benefit is paid.
Even over 60,s are being stripped of their life savings before being allowed benefit.
When claimants are at their lowest ebb and they need help, they are faced with a barrage of bureaucratic tricks to make them fail.
If you think there is a basic structure to help the unemployed in this country, there isn't. Gordon has already destroyed that.
People are homeless & starving in Britain today and its going to get worse.