Idle Hands :: The Experience of Unemployment, 1790-1990 :: John Burnett
Claimant count, ILO unemployment, ‘out of work’ or economically inactive - whatever flavour of unemployment is chosen, this book has it covered. Not just from professional studies, but the personal writings and experiences of those out of work. Whatever definition is used, there appears to be a persistence of unemployment at roughly a quarter to a third of the workforce, higher during times of economic challenge and lower at points, particularly in the post-World War II period. Some examples:
- In Bolton in 1842, 36 per cent of ironworkers were unemployed (page 92)
- In the Liverpool Vauxhall ward in 1842, 26% were wholly unemployed and 38% partly employed (93)
- In 1936, a year of some recovery from the Great Depression, 30 per cent of shipbuilders and iron and steel-workers and 25 per cent of coalminers were unemployed (209)
- Despite 5.3% being defined as unemployed in 1979, the General Household Survey of the same year found a further 25% of people declared themselves unemployed but had not registered (267)
- The Pilgrim Trust believed that some 30 per cent of long-term unemployment was ‘residual’ that is, due to personal, individual reasons rather than economic, and therefore existed in prosperous towns as well as depressed (212)
- Current figures estimate the UK unemployment rate to be 4.4% with economic inactivity - that is those not actively seeking work - to be 21.6%.
But society has changed. Smaller households, the loss of community which existed around older industries, an increase in time spent with immediate family and lives lived increasingly privately. People had “little expectation that the trade unions or the Labour Party would develop viable strategies for a return to work: there now seems less sense either of the ‘shared predicament’ or of public sympathy which formerly provided some encouragement and support” (312). Perhaps in part of this loss of connection and community, there has been a general decline in political engagement, and a ‘submissiveness’ among the unemployed which constitutes a large, disadvantaged group (301).
“in the more privatized lives of the late twentieth century there clearly seems to be less mutual consolation in adversity from extended families and neighbourhoods, and fewer spontaneous collective activities designed to help fill the gap left by the loss of work” Page 293
What does appear more stable is an individual’s experience of unemployment, particularly the personal impact. Anger, frustration, hostility and suspicion from others are all common. Attitudes towards people out of work seem to be a mix of compassion and distrust. Between those deserving support and those taking advantage of the system for personal gain, sometimes labelled as ‘scroungers’. Such charges can be levelled by neighbours or those in authority (296). Differences arise in terms of the type and quantity of support but also societal attitudes and action towards unemployment over the 200 year period. In the 19th century unemployment was seen as a problem with the system, by the twentieth the problem was often with employer or the person leading the organisation (310).
Employment provides a financial reward, but drawing from the research of Marie Johoda the book highlights other ‘latent’ functions:
- Enforced activity;
- Brings the individual into social contacts outside the family and household;
- Involves him in collective purposes which go beyond personal, immediate goals;
- Provides a time structure for the execution of activities;
- A social status linked to the prestige of the occupation.
Work and employment are often synonymous. However, work is different from paid employment, which is a more recent phenomenon. Work is broader activity, it’s doing something, rather than employment in a job. Those unemployed may be able to find some of the functions of employment from self-structuring their day, getting involved in social and political activities, but doing so requires considerable mental and psychological adjustment (296). Jahoda argues that nothing prevents the unemployed person from fulfilling the five latent functions for themselves “but the psychological input required to do so on a regular basis, under one’s own steam entirely, is colossal” (286).
Today, we may hear of people being exhausted from the stress and toil that work extracts. However, such concerns have been around since the 1830s, when there were calls to work less as working hours were so long and exhausting that other kinds of activity were almost excluded (313). So maybe it is useful to re-establish a connection to behaviours which existed before the concept of employment. Doing things is natural, wealth enabled people to choose other activities.
“employment in waged labour is historically recent, mainly the result of the development of an industrial economy in the last 200 years or so: before that, a high proportion of people were at least partly self-employed, engaged in a variety of activities not dependent on a single industry or employer”. Page 296
The book is peppered with examples where a sense of community and connection sprung up around a small number of industries industry or employers. These areas were badly hit when issues arose with these employers. One of the worst being shipbuilding in Jarrow (215) which led to the Jarrow March of 1936 and the book by Ellen Wilkinson ‘The Town that was Murdered’ published in 1939. A diverse local industry is more resilient to economic shocks, going against the actions pursued by some economic development professionals since the early 2000s. Their goal - attracting similar companies to an area, to gain a ‘competitive advantage’. A policy spurred on by the clustering ideas of Michael Porter.
Have working patterns since covid, with more home working, led to fewer social skills and a greater disconnect from and to others? A recent survey found younger adults can struggle to make small talk in the office and build connection. Could the level of uncertainty in employment result in disconnection, with employment being just paid work or a job and people seeking more of the things that work used to provide outside of work? In principle, this could be a benefit, with higher levels of engagement in online or in-person communities and higher levels of volunteering. People could also provide greater support to, and received solace from, family. More evidence is needed.
Published in early noughties, the author notes that recent unemployment has not given rise to the wealth of autobiographical writing which it did in the past (312). From a research standpoint social media may present an opportunity, but this is perhaps a distorted lens. Blogs, where they exist, are perhaps closer in spirit to past writings. The period covered is a time when men were predominately the ‘breadwinners’, as such there are fewer examples of female unemployment and how they coped. One woman volunteered to fill her time (298). I liked the story of a man who turned a hobby into the production and sale of 300-400 lamp holders by keeping using the structure that regular hours provided, in stereotypical male fashion, in his shed.
So it’s not all bad news. Many survive and keep themselves busy whilst seeking work as this quote from an unemployed joiner demonstrates “Earning a living has got nothing to do with you as a person”. (313). There are further examples in the book where unemployment brought people and families closer together. Longer term unemployment becomes more entrenched, but keeping active maintains some of the patterns which both support the individual, keep them positive and lessen the change should they be able to find employment. A final quote from a Colin, described as an ‘energetic man’ who was a voluntary worker in a neighbourhood centre, a health food co-operative and a campaigner against racism:
“There’s too much work to be done to take paid employment” Page 297
ISBN: 0-415-05501-6
