Live Register figures - Statistics mask plight of victims

The number of people on the Live Register of unemployed jumped by 26,700 during February, according to the latest figures released by the Central Statistics Office. The unemployment rate at the end of the month was 10.4%, but it is increasing daily.

If the job losses continue at the present rate, the unemployment figure could reach 450,000 by the end of the year. This would amount to over 13% unemployment, but the way the Government has consistently underestimated the deterioration in the economy, the figures are likely to be even worse.

Unemployment figures cannot be forgotten like yesterday’s news, because they are also a reflection of the unpleasant reality that has befallen thousands of people. The victims are not just those who lost their jobs, but their dependants. As a society, we must make sure that these people are given the support services they require.

It is a most stressful time for people who have always worked conscientiously to find themselves without a job through no fault of their own. It must be particularly demoralising and all the more galling to find that Government seems preoccupied with assisting those who — through irresponsible greed — were primarily responsible for the current economic mess.

Many people have, in recent years, taken the right to employment for granted. A whole generation entered the job market during the past 20 years without ever experiencing the kind of disillusionment their parents’ generation would have known in the 1980s, or their grandparents in the 1950s.

Losing a job can be particularly destructive for some people. They might not have been motivated by monetary considerations so much as the need to promote their self-esteem by working and thus making a contribution to society. This was real patriotism, but now, in their disillusionment, these people may feel virtually worthless. This is not only unfair, but particularly destructive for those people, their families, and for society. The Government should provide proper leadership by coming up with imaginative schemes to relieve the stress of unemployment, and it should where possible encourage higher employment in the private sector.

Even during the Great Famine, government recognised that providing work was a social necessity, but at that time it made the mistake of building roads and bridges to nowhere. In the great depression of the 1930s, governments around the world gradually came to realise that it was as socially desirable as it was economically necessary to put people to work on projects that were beneficial for society as a whole. Such projects could incorporate necessary infrastructural improvements which would not be that expensive in real terms, because the Government would otherwise be paying out money on unemployment benefits.

By providing people with employment on something that is of benefit to society, everybody gains. If the Government does not have the imagination to come up with such measures, it is out of its depth.