“More than 400,000 people have been out of work for more than two years, according
to analysis of the latest Government data by think tank IPPR.” So runs its press release today, trailed in the Sunday press and the wires. I hope the IPPR didn’t spend too much of their donors’ money
on this research, as the figure is updated quarterly and freely available from the DWP website (click here). Add up only three categories: lone parents, jobseekers allowance and incapacity benefit the
figure stands at 2.4 million, certainly “more than 400,000”. Worse, at the peak of the boom (Feb07), this figure was even higher at 2.5 million.
And yes, it’s a real problem. As the IPPR goes on to say, unemployment is self-reinforcing. The longer you’re out of a job, the harder it becomes to find one.
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