If you have a job, value it, you never know how long it will last (Personal Experiences of Unemployment)

Member Name: liz3yy

Product:	Personal Experiences of Unemployment
Date:	23/06/09 (83 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: None

Disadvantages: Loss of self esteem, no income

Today is not a good day, I came home to hear that my partner who has been out of work since mid January of this year will soon have his unemployment benefits stopped. He doesn't receive a huge amount as it is but losing this vital income every fortnight is a potential disaster and has me worried about the future.

We don't live an extravagant lifestyle by anyone's standards, we eat well and have a comfortable home and like to have days out at weekends occassionally, other than that we don't splurge our hard earned cash or take risks. Now however with only my income to survive on even the smallest little treats and pleasures may have to go, thank god we don't have any children or other dependants to worry about.

I totally sympathise with my partner as I was made redundant 4 years ago and though I was only out of work for 6 weeks I found the experience soul destroying. Being told you're no longer wanted at work and then having to go through the torrid time of applying for endless jobs only to receive endless rejection letters for your troubles is enough to depress the most optimistic of people.

My partner has never been out of work for so long and we can only blame the credit crunch, up until the end of last year he had a steady well paid job and was very happy there. Now he fills his time when he's not scouring the job market and writing endless application letters, looking after our home and ensuring I have a clean flat to come home to and a hot meal on the table. I love him dearly for it and for his determination not to let this beat him.

Of course there are times we both feel dejected and fed up with it all, we're only human and of course it's bound to affect us but having each other keeps us sane and being able to talk about things openly only helps even more. We've been through worse situations in the past which have driven us to tears some days but we got through them in one piece eventually and I know deep down we'll get through this too.

We've been together 4 years almost and have never had a holiday together for longer than a weekend but that's not what's important. We love living together and despite our financial worries have never had a row, we have disagreements like all couples do but never anything heated, we have too much respect for each other to resort to behaviour of that sort.

I'm not a religious person but I find myself praying very occassionally that things will get better soon and that my partner will find a job. He deserves it and the peace of mind it will no doubt bring.

© Liz3yy 2009

Summary: Something no one should have to go through