Link: “‘Dole bludger’ narrative has always been destructive and that's why some people like using it”
During the “full employment” years, high unemployment was seen as a failure of the economy and government to create enough work for everybody, due to inadequate aggregate demand.
However, from the mid-1970s, high unemployment was recast as the fault of workers for being too lazy, or of government “intervention” in the labour market in the form of overly generous income support and minimum wages.
Good piece on the right-wing “dole bludger” hysteria and the inadequacy of our welfare system to support the people it’s supposed to be supporting.
Jessica Smith is a left-wing feminist who loves animals, books, gaming, and cooking; she’s also very interested in linguistics, history, technology and society.