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My experience of 'signing on' at the Job Centre

There are clear parallels to be drawn between the stigmatising way in which welfare is administered in our job centres and the ‘poor relief’ of Victorian England.

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Job Centre
Job Centre

Flickr/Max G. Some rights reserved.

As I entered my third week of unemployment after being made redundant from my job as a caseworker and researcher for a former MP and after 2 visits to my local job centre I was defined as eligible for Job Seekers Allowance (JSA).

My only prior experience of the job centre came in the form of helping often desperate constituents challenge sanctions and/or make complaints about job centre staff.