Not interested in jobs

We turn back the pages of the Cambridge Edition to look at what made headlines as part of our series, Mike Bain reports.

Views and attitudes towards the unemployed when work is available have not changed with time.

Turning back the now yellowed pages of The New Edition - a forerunner to the now Cambridge Edition to 1981, shows Cambridge was obsessed over a lack of planning from council about tree planting, ratepayers faced an 18.3 per cent, rise in rates and The Springbok Rugby Tour was foremost in the nation’s mind.

But there was one headline from March 20 which stood out: ‘‘Unemployed show no interest in jobs’’.

Eighteen Government funded jobs were on offer to Cambridge and although they were snapped up, not one person on the unemployment benefit came forward to apply.

Cambridge postmaster John Erasmusson said he could not believe it.

‘‘You can’t help but get the impression that those on the dole want the money but not the work,’’ he said.

The temporary jobs working as Census collectors over a fortnight period were worth between $700 and $800 per person.

‘‘I would have thought being able to take home almost $600 clear for a fortnight’s work was a darn sight better than $170 odd on the dole, but apparently they don’t think so,’’ he said.

In the article an unemployment beneficiary was quoted as saying, ‘‘it wasn’t worth the hassle for just two weeks work’’.

They claimed there would be a couple of weeks delay in get- ting the benefit restarted but the spokesman for the Department of Social Welfare in Hamilton said there should be no delay, within a day or two of receiving the appropriate forms.

Erasmusson was also rather skeptical of the Muldoon-led government of the day suspecting that creating jobs for the census has been a Government ploy to lower the unemployment figures even temporarily.

‘‘If that was so then it’s certainly fallen flat on it’s face,’’ he said.

As it was then, today when it comes to Census time there are no shortages of people applying for positions.

But back in 1981 Erasmusson described the applicants as ‘‘housewives and a few teachers’’.

And 35 years later, unemployed figures show 5.1 per cent of New Zealanders are out of work we still look with disdain on those collecting an unemployment benefit.