by Wayne Clist

Created on: June 22, 2009

It is highly unlikely today, given the instability in the economy and the current employment market that an employee will remain in the same employment for the rest of their lives. In fact it it is quite likely, as indicated by daily news stories highlighting redundancies that many employees will be considering the possibility of finding new employment either via voluntary redundancy or simple job cuts. Whatever the reason it is becoming increasingly difficult to secure a replacement position.

In terms of social implications arising from wide scale unemployment, consideration initially should be given to the fact that the hardest hit ill be those in unskilled or menial labour, historically those in lower class social groups without a higher level of education. Across the parts of the world affected by todays economic crisis this will mean inner city areas with already high unemployment rates and large numbers of residents claiming means tested welfare assistance will be the areas suffering most. In areas already heavily deprived, criminality will almost certainly rise as the only option left to people already clinging onto the precipice of day to day living . Certainly the figures seem to back up the theory that as the recession bites there is significant upward pressure on acquisitive crime [theft, robbery and burglary] and, therefore, overall crime figures. Over the last year many police forces have measured an increase in those crimes, indicating that higher levels of unemployment have already had a detrimental effect on crime in society.

As unemployment rates continue to rise, the majority of people already living on low incomes will pay absolute essentials only, in order to retain a certain standard of living. When they are most at danger of the rise in unemployment and acquisitive crime, will most likely be the time when they are most at need of keeping up insurance payments they are simply unable to.

Wide scale unemployment also has severe effects on the standard of health of a population and again in many countries it will be the lower class social groups that will suffer the most. Lower income level will mean that less of the right foodstuffs will be purchased and although generally across the civilized world, the standard of consumables is quite high, low income families won't be able to purchase the right level of nutrients and vitamins to ensure the best health. At the same time, as economic circumstance dictates how much government money is pumped into state hospitals, the current crisis has meant that government spending in national and state health services has been or will be, cut by significant amounts. Those most in need of better health-care facilities will fall prey to poor standards of social care and insurances that would have ensured a good standard of health-care will have simply fallen by the wayside, replaced by a definitive need to ensure that essentials are paid for first and foremost.

A bleak picture, but one that is maybe only too realistic. The class of people most freely affected by the rise in unemployment will be the most deprived currently, the socially poor, the poorly educated, the unskilled labourers and menial worker's that are often the first to go when redundancies are announced in organisations. Although standards of living are generally higher and nowadays the welfare safety net catches most, rising unemployment and the crisis in the economy still has the potential to have a huge impact on the lower class social groups of today.

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