| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Meantime back on Earth... | |
| Posted by: | Guy Lambert | |
| Date/Time: | 14/08/14 19:38:00 |
| I am pleased that the employment stats are positive and I don't think they are fiddled. The last big fiddle I'm aware of was in the 80s where many people were classified as unfit to work and put on sick benefit (or whatever it was called), leading to the difficulties which Labour started to unravel and which IDS has accelerated, adding a bit of callousness and a lot of cynicism to the process. IDS by the way has been repeatedly criticised (including I think by the ONS) for repeatedly quoting false statistics. However there are two big caveats: average pay is actually going DOWN in cash terms (in the quarter) and up by fractions of a percent in the year; and the pay stats do not include those who are self-employed where surveys suggest pay is 40% less than the same people when they were employed. I suspect the truth is that quite a lot of people have pretty well given up on employment, decided benefits are not worth the hassle and converted themselves into casual workers who pick up a bit of work as and when, rather like Vanessa's son. |