Describing the experience of unemployment in Ireland

Last week, researchers at UCD’s Geary Institute released a working paper ‘The Experience of Unemployment in Ireland’, the aim of which is “to capture the subjective experience of unemployment in Ireland during the current economic downturn.” Pointing out that “The debate about unemployment in Ireland has been restricted to discussion regarding the macro and micro-economic issues” the authors say “By listening to and documenting the views and experiences of people who have lost their jobs, the paper examines how material, emotional, psychological, social and physical well-being is being affected by unemployment.”

According to the authors, “Unemployment is seen as an almost uniformly negative experience,” saying “the overall mood of participants could be summarised by the following quotation: ‘It’s every bit as stressful as it was working, except it’s stress without an end.’”

Below, a selection of extracts from the paper. You can download it in full here.

Powerlessness and inertia

Participants related the lack of major political protest in Ireland to wider feelings of powerlessness, “You wonder why people ring Liveline? It seems to be the only way”, with the unemployed in Ireland being too busy “trying to put food on the table”. Another participant felt Ireland was too small a country for there to be any real change, “We’re such a small country, like a little island, look at the amount of people that run it, like that sit in that place, like the amount of them and the wages that they’re all on. Like you really do only need one or two people to run a little island.”

The role of the media

“There’s no truth out there anymore.”

There is a sense that the media is a place where individuals in power attempt to justify their own positions and in doing so undermine those without a voice: “They use the TV and the media to try and get across their point but there’s no one trying to get across the point of the people who have actually lost their job…the people who are really paying the price for this as regards their lives.”

Another participant felt there was a hidden agenda in the Irish media: “You’re going to get right-wing slant where it would be anti-workers, reduce the minimum wage, everything from a neoliberal perspective.” This was likened to brainwashing.

Another participant felt, “They actually own the world, the media…Switch it all off for a period of a month, just one period of a month and see what happens. People will get back to grass roots, indigenous everything, support local stuff”.

Financial strain

Money worries constitute a large part of the anxiety experienced by participants, “You look down at your trolley and you say, “Oh my god, how am I going to afford this?...but that time that you’re supposed to relax, it’s filled with worrying about the next bill and the next bill”.

Often participants describe how they set tight budgets for the week for essential items, however when unexpected expenses occur such as trips to the doctor or unexpected bills they upset the weekly budget, meaning sacrifices in other areas like food had to be made: “It just covers me for the week like in terms of food. If I get an ESB bill or if I have to see a doctor in one week, I’m screwed.”

Activities like buying food, paying mortgages, gas and electricity bills and rent were cited as the most anxiety-inducing expenditures. Another had begun to miss some meals: “I would miss a fair few lunches…for the kids and for this and that and the other. Like I wouldn’t eat as much as I would if I could…especially if you are out and about, you will just do without.”

One participant tried to avoid visits to the hospital and was willing to put up with pain to avoid it, “I had to go to Galway, I could barely afford it…so I’m suffering pain because of that”.  This was a sentiment repeated elsewhere: “I found since I’ve been out of work, I felt sick and I had a cough and all and I said, ‘Oh no. I’ll leave it. I’m not going to spend all that money going to the doctor,’ so I’d hold off and hold off and buy a bottle of Benylyn or something and then a month later when it wasn’t going I ended up spending double that in the doctor because I ended up getting an infection then…but everyone is doing that.”

Engaging in social activities with friends was something people missed, but it would mean feeling unpleasant guilt, “My daughter is saying, “Go out, you have to go out socially or you will go mental in the head”. You would be sorry for going out the next morning”. Another person felt that socialising meant sacrificing payment of fuel or electricity bills. Guilt about engaging in these activities was strong, “Even if I go out at the weekend, I’m like, “Oh, I shouldn’t really be doing this” and you don’t enjoy it as much”. Managing to survive and cope on a lowered income had become an integral part of maintaining psychological health, “you sort of are going up against a hill and you never reach the top no matter how long you try, you never reach the top”.

Inadequacy of unemployment payments

A number of participants felt that the social welfare they receive of 196 Euro a week is not enough, “It’s atrocious that you can’t survive on that. If I was to break down 196 and pay a bit of your gas bill, a bit of your ESB bill and then pay a little bit of the mortgage, you just can’t survive”. Participants found that there was simply not enough to get by on: “There’s nothing left at the end of the week…the mortgage takes most of it. What’s left then has to be spread across all the bills. Give a bit for everyone.” One participant felt that “when your money gets reduced, it means that you can’t put three into two. It can’t be done and that puts pressures on you at home as well because you have more time hanging around thinking these things…but money is the main problem.” A number of participants, over the age of 25, had moved back in with their parents to cope financially.

Providing for children

Providing for children while being unemployed is described as extremely stressful as parents tried to manage their children’s needs and expectations. It was felt that children are particularly in tune to social expectations and their own wants and needs, “You always want to do your best for your children, Christmas comes and birthdays come and ‘Johnny down the road has this’ like, you know? ‘Why can’t I have a bike?’ That would get you down”.

Christmas was found to be a particularly tough period. One father described having to postpone the payment of bills to enable his child to go on a class trip. One lone parent felt upset that she had not been able to afford gifts for her son on his birthday: “I still haven’t given my son his birthday present which was in April. I still haven’t given him a party because I simply can’t afford it. The things like that that other people take for granted.” Other parents struggled to provide for their children’s basic needs: “It’s nearly a disability at this stage you know, you try and like provide shoes and this and the other for your children.” This lead to feelings of guilt, “I do feel awful that I can’t give them a lot more.” One participant argued that family counselling should be mandatory for those about to be made redundant so that all members of the family know what to expect and learn coping mechanisms.

A sense of foreboding

Participants expressed a generalised sense of dread and foreboding: “The pressure is getting deeper and deeper and deeper.” Another saw, “no improvement in this going on”.  One participant felt that his psychological health was in jeopardy as he did not know when he would get work again: “It starts to rot, to eat away at you. You start to believe that this is the way it’s going to be for the rest of your days.”

Depression

Many of the negative psychological effects of unemployment mirror the effects of depression - such as losing interest in everyday tasks and not wanting to get out of bed. “Even when you’re washing dishes after dinner time, if you’re not in the best mood, you say, ‘Ah sure I can do them in the morning’…but there’s days and nights I go really down on myself.”

The need to get out of bed is highlighted continuously, something those with major depression often fail to do, “You have to get out of bed first of all, that’s the most important thing, get out of bed every morning” or, “the single most important thing is to get up at a reasonable hour”. This sentiment was echoed across all groups, “I think the most important thing is to get out. To get out of bed every day”. The importance of morning times and starting the day right was said to be vital, “the main thing is to keep motivated in the morning…if you plan out your day it will make it go that bit quicker for you”.

One sentiment expressed frequently was the importance of maintaining an active approach to life, and particular the importance of not getting stuck in unhealthy patterns of behaviour; “Get up every day to go somewhere”.  One participant described how if she did not keep to this routine she would engage in activities that would seriously damage her health, “I would be one of those people who would take to the bed, you know, day time television, Lidl wine, chainsmoke, never get dressed…and you’re destroyed”.

Many participants expressed the view that social isolation was having a negative impact upon their mental health, “You haven’t got so much of a social life through work so therefore you’re in your own head a lot”. Participants described how they often overanalysed things perhaps as a function of the amount of time they had to fill on a daily basis: “You’ve only your own voice in your own head to listen to, you know and it does get a bit, sometimes it’s nice to get a bit of perspective with other people”.

This depression and lack of self-esteem was described as cyclical and encompassing a wide range of factors, “I think it’s like a vicious circle when you’re stuck in that rut”. Much of the loss of self-esteem came from rejection from employers. One participant said it made him feel low and it “makes you aware of how vulnerable you are…it challenges your self-confidence and it knocks you back. It makes you feel bad. It puts you down.”  The lack of a routine meant participants were,  “stuck in a rut”; they described putting on weight which meant both their mental and physical health suffered.

One participant described feeling as though there was a wall between them and psychological recovery, “it’s [like] you have a wall outside your house or inside your mind, it’s oppressive and frustrating and it makes you really challenge yourself as to how you’re going to get past or through this wall and the wall is ‘not having a job’. And that’s incredibly depressing so it’s a daily battle to overcome that.”

Blame was referenced a number of times in the context of psychological health. Those who channelled their anger at political parties and government tended to have fewer negative psychological health issues. Those who made internal attributions of blame described this as a psychologically distressing, “I felt I was to blame.”  When this person could not find work, he blamed himself, “you say, ‘It’s not turning up, there must be something wrong with me’.”

Identity and social approval

Participants described feeling an enormous blow to their sense of self and identity since being made unemployed, “You feel, you’re not yourself,  the person you used to be, ‘the cook’ or whatever, you’re just, ‘on the Dole’ and you don’t want to be that. You’ve spent 30 plus years being somebody with a title, regardless of what level it was at and all of a sudden, it’s all gone.”

One participant felt a severe degree of distress at losing her job, “If I’m not working, I’m not a real person, I don’t really exist.” Many participants expressed pain at personal experiences of stigma due to unemployment. They felt that others are judging them to be “lazy”.

Claiming social welfare seems to intensify the ‘unemployed’ identity, with participants frequently feeling discomfort and dissonance: “with the social welfare system, they’re trying to fit you into a hole…not everyone fits in to what they want.” Participants described feeling “like a beggar” when asking for extra benefits like a medical card.

Losing benefits and the proliferation of part-time work

Participants expressed concern that they may have to take a job that pays considerably less than their previous job. The potential loss of benefits was also of great concern to many participants. “I actually don’t have any objection to washing floors and cleaning toilets, but if I was working and living on a wage of 400 Euro a week, I’d probably lose my medical card and that is more worrying to me than working in a low status job.”  Losing social welfare and benefits was a deep concern to participants.

The proliferation of part-time work is also a hindrance for those trying to re-enter the job market, one participant was offered a job which had 4 hours a week, “like the experience and all was good, but I was never actually going to make anything out of the place.” This was summed up by one participant who noted, “if you have a mortgage, that type of money is no use to you. You have to pay the bills and that, especially only 20 hours a week. Anyone here wants to get out working full-time.”

One participant commented that it was not rational for him to work part-time as his Family Income Support benefit was cut, “312 I was getting. And on the Social, I was getting 367. So to travel up to Tesco, of course you have to eat, you have to buy your lunch, the whole lot. I came back then, after Christmas, I was down to 28 hours, then it was 24, then it went to 16….they wanted me to do 16 hours over 5 days. That was 5 days travel, 5 days food…I couldn’t do it.”  Another participant had a similar argument to make, “I wouldn’t be able to take that job if I really wanted to take it. I get rental allowance, I get a medical card, I’m asthmatic. I depend on my rent allowance, I depend on my medical card. If I was to take that job for 300 Euro a week, then I’d lose my medical card, I’d lose my rent allowance, I’d still be paying tax on the minimum wage, so I mean I’d be much better off staying in the situation that I’m in now.”

The system was also criticised as participants felt that they might have to refuse short-term work as the hassle of signing on and off was a disincentive to work, “You’re thinking, ‘Right, if I go and do a 3 month contract, it took me a month and a half to get a receipt from the Social Welfare, when I’m finished that 3 month contract, I’m going to spend another month and a half after that, looking for me social welfare, looking for me benefits’…like I’ve got absolutely zero motivation to do any of those jobs.” Another participant pointed out that, “If you got a couple of hours work, and if you be honest about and say it to the social welfare, they make a big thing…10 hours work would be no good because it would cause too much hassle to pay it through the books.”

The minimum wage

Participants described how short term contracts and fewer hours meant that they were financially better off on the Dole, “Another fella was packing Playstations into boxes…he was getting no money at all. You’d be better off on the Dole, getting more money, getting the same, maybe a little bit less, but it’s a lot less hassle as well, going out there, just packing boxes and getting no money at all.”

One participant expressed a similar sentiment, “If you figure it out, an average working week on the minimum wage after tax, PRSI, PAYE, you end up with only 64 Euro more and yet it would cost me more than that per week to actually get the bus to and from the places and that’s with a bus pass”.

Social welfare

Participants uniformly described social welfare offices as chaotic and unpleasant environments. The layout of the office was difficult to understand and it often took two or three visits before participants knew the ergonomics of the office. One participant described how frustration brewed in these environments, “People getting thick with each other because you’ve jumped the queue and you mightn’t necessarily even mean to jump the queue because you don’t know where you are.”

Lack of information

Often participants were unable to find out information relevant to their claim and many did not know the status of their benefit claims. One participant summed it up:  “There’s a policy here whereby if you lose your job, ‘Tough. We don’t give a shit about you’.” Another person likened the experience to “banging your head off the wall”. Another found the process of collecting welfare dehumanising. There is a sense that the Social Welfare services have not moved with the times, some participants felt that they were, “not up-to-date with what is going on”.

Many participants believed that some social welfare offices were deliberately chaotic so that participants would stay away, “Even when applying for grants that you’re entitled to, it’s just such a rigmarole.” Frustration was the main result of this chaotic system, “There’s so many restraints with trying to deal with being on social welfare, never mind all the other aspects of trying to actually maintain a standard of living. It’s just a nightmare.” It was also believed that there was no system of complaint, “There is no accountability.”

‘Just a number’

Related to this feeling of being dehumanised, there was a feeling that social welfare officers did not know how to properly communicate. One participant described how he felt bullied when a welfare officer told him to sell his house, “She said to me, “Well you just have to. Those days are gone, you just have to sell the house, that’s it.” And she was just so ruthless, she didn’t even look in my face.”  Another participant described getting social welfare as traumatic: “There was about 100 people in front of me and 100 people behind me and by the time I got to the counter I was practically abused by the person behind the counter and it’s just embarrassing and it’s horrible…they don’t make it easy and that’s not very helpful when you’re not working. It doesn’t have to be that hard.” One participant explained a bad experience at the welfare office, “I was just another one at the end of a very long line of  people…you’re just a statistic, a number.”

Participants felt they should all be treated with respect, “like we’re all human”.  Another participant felt, “People who have worked all their lives are being reduced to the level of beggars, you know, we’re back to the Victorian idea of the deserving poor being looked after by the ladies.”

Differential services

When participants described their experiences of social welfare it was marked with feelings of chaos and a lack of sensitivity amongst staff, “They don’t care about you. You’re only a number”. There seemed to be a degree of variation in service both between welfare offices and between individual welfare officers, “it depends on individuals, who you come up against”. In a similar vein it was felt that there was “no type of uniform humanised empathetic treatment for people whose circumstances have fallen”.

A number of participants also expressed the view that welfare officers treated people differently depending on whether they were Irish and their level of education, “I don’t want to say she treats non-Irish nationals differently and  also treating Irish people who are maybe educated and have worked and had previous employment vary differently to her attitude. She was actually very polite to me…but a couple of weeks later I heard her roaring at this poor man and she was like, “It’s not my problem you don’t speak English properly”. This may also be to do with biases amongst staff towards those they believe to be “career unemployed” and those they regard as unemployed as a result of the recession.

Job training and placement

The majority of experiences of FÁS are negative. A large proportion of the study’s participants were involved in or had been on FÁS courses. No one reported finding work as a result of the course, “I’ve a daughter, sure all the courses, most of them, you have to pay for them. She can’t get a job, she’s after paying for every one of her courses. It’s only all a joke.”

Work placement programme

Many felt that the programme was simply a means of taking advantage of people and that it was a way for profitable companies to make money, “I’d imagine that it is exploiting. As I said, somebody’s going to do that for 9 months and then they’re going to get rid of you and get someone else for 9 months.” Participants also said that they felt that 9 months was too long a period to, “work for nothing”. Participants felt that there was an advantage to it, in that it would fill up your time but felt that remaining on Social Welfare for the duration of the scheme was unfair, “If she’s working the same as everyone, she should be getting the same money as everyone else.” Participants felt that if there was a guarantee or possibility of full employment at the end of 9 months it might be worth considering.

They also pointed out that the cost of travel and childcare that would be incurred from working made it an unattractive offer. Participants felt that by taking part in the programme they would be used as, “cheap labour”.  There was also a sense that being on the WPP would cause inconvenience as you would have to sign off the Dole and if you weren’t offered work by the end of the programme you would have to reapply, “You’ve to go back in and be begging for money whereas you had it in the first place.”

Download the full paper here.