Is it all worth it?

   This year, unemployment rates hit the roof across the UK as we blasted our way to over 2.5 million jobless people across the Country. In 3 months alone, 80,000 people joined the crowds of unemployment, official statistics tell us. That increase alone is the largest for almost 2 years; and as we stand the jobless rate now stands at 7.9%.

   There's more doom and gloom hitting the Unemployment News; the number of people claiming Job seeker's Allowance also rose by over 20,000 and Youth unemployment rose by 78,00 to 973,000.
In other words, the number of Young People across the UK now unemployed, is almost three times larger than the entire population of Fife in 2009.

   Statistics like this begin to make you wonder; is it worth it? For Students south of the border, you could be paying £27,000 for Uni, just to face a 1-in-10 chance of not being employed. Compare that £20,000+ debt to receiving up to £53.45 on job seekers allowance, and you may begin to think that maybe Further Education isn't such a good idea.

    Of course, the Student Fees haven't yet made over the border to Bonnie Scotland, or at least not to affect Scottish Students. Edinburgh Uni, St Andrews Uni and several other Universities will charge UK students to study there, with some reaching a cost of £36,000 for a 4-year course.

   But it isn't all good news in Scotland. A recent NUS Scotland survey discovered that:

61% of students worry frequently or all of the time about finances

62% said that not receiving enough money was having a negative impact on their studies

50% had been forced to access commercial credit (credit cards and the like) to get by

68% were working more than the Cubie-recommended 10 hours per week with 47% of these said that combining work with study was having a negative impact on their studies

36% considered dropping out due to financial worries, with 89% of these saying “not having enough financial support” was a key reason for considering this

NUS SCOTLAND, Still in the Red report

    This is getting ridiculous. People deserve education, in fact it is a Human Right. So why should you be allowed to study because of your money, not your knowledge or intelligence? All the Politicians seem to say is that they are there for us. They are there for the less well-off in the Country.

   Yet introducing such ridiculous fees, will merely make a terrible inescapable escalation of the poorer not being able to afford education, not being able to get a job, getting poorer, their children receiving worse education, not being able to get a job... You get the idea. But apparently the Politicians, who are representing US may I add, do not catch on so fast.

   The idea that in the long run, the amount they will be paying out in Dole money, will soon overtake the amount they are saving by their steep, and dangerous cuts. Surely it is their responsibility to make Jobs, not ensure the closure of more retails, factories and businesses, whilst hiking the cost of fuel, food and other necessities by increasing the VAT rates.

   Just how much further can they go, before the volcanic eruption of bankruptcy, unemployment and homelessness that is already showing signs of coming, finally blasts its way into the Houses of Parliament, and they realise the Errors of their ways.

   You may think I'm being harsh, perhaps it's not all the Governments fault. Well, no. You're right. We could blame the banks perhaps? Or perhaps the old favourite, Gordon Brown? 

   They, along with others, may well have initiated the UK's problems, but let's face it, the glorious Con-Dems have hardly helped. The VAT rise causes less high street income, meaning more businesses closing, which, in turn, means more unemployment, more dole money... We are back to that vicious circle again.

I may be being selfish, only focusing on the Young and Unemployed, as there are far more people, and far more problems, in Society than that. The Elderly, Single Parents and Families. That means the Government must help with Pensions, Child Support, and need I even mention, Crime, Health care, the BBC, Transport, the Armed Forces, Defence, along with Education, Employment, Dole... You can see why they may be ever so slightly strapped for cash.

It's going to take time to rebuild a stable economic climate. Let's just hope we will survive the storm, until that Day finally arrives.