Unemployment - they should ask those who know

Yet another bright spark has produced a load of rubbish on how the unemployment issue should be dealt with. Yet again, it is obviously someone who has no idea about unemployment or what it actually entails. The latest gem says that the unemployed should do a 9-5 day of job searching. A previous "expert" said that people were unemployed because they lacked basic skills such as numeracy and literacy! Having seen the examples of literacy among those in work, it is not the unemployed who are illiterate!

As someone who is long term unemployed, I will offer my own slant on this.

I have been on many training schemes and very rarely have I come across people with numeracy or literacy problems. I have a science degree, does that smack of being illiterate and innumerate?

The best way to help the long term unemployed is to provide work-based placements, which allows a person to gain some valuable experience, and also an up to date work reference. Without experience and references, no employer will look at you twice, no matter how many hours you spend a day searching and applying for jobs!

Also, there should be an end to the ageist bias in training. Once you are past the age of 25, there is no proper help available, whereas the under 25s have the Modern Apprenticeship and the New Deal. Any work placements which do come up and have a good chance of leading to a job are only offered to the under 25s.

The New Deal for the over 25s is only available after you have been unemployed for 18 months (as opposed to six months for those under 25). On this scheme you will spend all day looking for jobs, without a hope in hell of getting one when you don't have the proper experience! Without getting a work placement, this scheme is next to useless, and certainly of no benefit to anyone.

The government should ask those of us who are unemployed what would help us the most rather than relying on the "expertise" of someone who has never been in that situation themselves.