Translated article (and rant): Bullshit

Started by Mr.Obvious, January 03, 2017, 05:50:13 AM

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Mr.Obvious

Hey guys.
Probably not many interested in the article below. But it's bullshit. And it hitting close to home, just irks me.

See I work at the OCMW which is the last resort for people in Flanders, financially. In Belgium when you fall into unemployment or sickness, if you've worked enough days, you can get an unemployment payment or sickness payment through the unions and the mutualities, to sustain yourself untill you find another job or get better. If you've not worked enough days, if you are still a student and your parent have unsufficiënt funds, or if there is a bureaucratic screw up at your union, or if you've made a bad call and quit rather than be fired, or if they are still looking into your sickness, we provide a minimum payment too. I say minimum, but honestly, it's not sufficiënt. A rant for another time maybe.

Now what irks me about the article below is that it's being celebrated that there are so many less unemployed out there now. And that's bullshit.
This is how they did it. The VDAB, a registry and guiding governmental company for unemployed looking for jobs has decided to cut out all those who receive a payment from the OCMW. They did this in part because the RVA, another governmental branch which decides on who can receive unemployment payment from the unions, has been forced to judge more harshly due to budget cuts in the social sector. So all that's changed is that anyone who gets a social payment through the OCMW is now given the code "unemployed, enlisted at the VDAB on OCMW's insistence". And because they have that different code in the computer, they are no longer deemed someone "unemployed", hence a drop in 6%... Utter bullshit.
Worst of all, because they are no longer the 'unemployed' and are 'enlisted at the VDAB at the OCMW's insistence', both things the VDAB decided without any input from OCMW, they now say we are the ones that have to guide these people back to a job. (And even after they find a job, we still remain the councillers for a year onward.) Which is utter madness. We can sometimes help someone to get a job in the social labourmarket, but hardly ever in the private. And while we do this guiding a bit, we do not have the manpower nor facilities to guide them the way the VDAB should. Now I get that through crisis, they too have had cutbacks. But it's their fucking job and they just pushed it all to us, who also suffer under the cuts and are less well equiped to handle this (as it's not our job), and then they have the audacity to celebrate this as a good thing.

Now I can't do more than I can do at my job. (Well that's a lie, I guess I could. But I could also get a burn-out, and I'm not going for that.) But the ones who are really screwed, is the cliëntel. Because while you get people that abuse the social system we have in place, there are many more who want to get (back) on the horse and move forward. And this is cutting the legs right out under them.

Sorry for the rant. I don't think I usually do this. But boy, it kind of feels good.

QuoteFlemish unemployment goes down 5.9%, but there is bad news too.
2/01/17 - 16u38  Source: Belga


Flemish minister of work Philippe Muyters (N-VA). © belga.
Late december 2016 Flanders had 5.9% less unemployed than a year before. In total the unemployment-rate in Flanders went down to 7.15% in december. For some groups on the (private) labour-market unemployment remains quite high, despite this. "The foreigner's unemployment remains problematic", minister Muyters admits.


Flanders had 215.562 unemployed late december: 5.9 percent less than a year before. "The last year the unemployment was lower every month than in 2015. 2016 was a good year for the Flemish labour market", Minister Muyters applauds the numbers. "The unemployment in Flanders went down to 7.15 percent in December."

Read also:

29% of people suffering from longtime sickness are back at work after VDAB-guidance.
"We need more immigrants to combat the ageing of Belgium."

Large general decline, hardly decline for foreign unemployed

Since august 2015 the unemployment rate in Flanders has been going down each month. The unemployment even lowered in december in all age-categories.The youth-unemployment ( -25 years) went down with 5.9%, in the middle-agecategory (25 - 50 years) with 6.1 percent and with those older than 50 there is a fall of 5.4 percent. The 50- to 55-year-olds and the 55- to 60-year-olds are even going down with respectively 7.9 and 8.2 percent. Only with the 60-plussers there is still talk of a climb (+ 10 percent) in unemployment, due to rules about endured availability.

Though the fall isn't as spectacular with all. The fall of the amount of foreign unemployed hardly went down with 0.1 percent, in other words from 59.674 at the end of 2015 to 59.587 at the end of 2016. That very low fall is in stoic contrast to the lowering of 7.9% with native unemployed.

The high unemployement rate with foreigners has been problematic for years, Muyters agrees. At the basis of that problem are a combination of factors: "Language, culture, but also discrimination". Still, Muyters isn't a proponent of anonymous applying for jobs. "That only moves the discrimination to another point in time", says spokesman Thomas Pollet. There is also no talk of target-group discounts. "That has happened for years and hasn't worked."

"More emphasis on custom fit"

The Flemish government will be putting more emphasis on 'custom fit'. "We need to approach foreigners like any other job-seeker and screen for talents and abilities", the minister declares. " For that we ask the responsabilisation and engagements of companies. The employer must distance himself from focussing on résumé's and diploma's and look and what someone can do and what someone is willing to learn", says the spokesman.

Not only the numbers of foreigners are falling behing on the (private) labour-market. The amount of unemployed with a labour-disability was higher at the end of december than a year prior: +0.5 percent. Same for the unemployed who are without a job between one and two years: +0.3 percent.

http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/957/Binnenland/article/detail/3045032/2017/01/02/Vlaamse-werkloosheid-daalt-5-9-maar-er-is-ook-minder-goed-nieuws.dhtml


In summary.
Fuck bad statistics combined with poor research.
Fuck bad journalism combined with poor research.
Fuck bad politics combined with poor research.
"If we have to go down, we go down together!"
- Your mum, last night, requesting 69.

Atheist Mantis does not pray.

Baruch

Will read more later.  Thanks for posting.

Basically the governments tie benefits to economic indicators like GDP, Unemployment and Inflation ... and then proceed to jigger those indicators to their political advantage.  Perhaps the EU has learned a thing or two from the US?
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Feral Atheist

Very similar to the 'reported' US unemployment rate.  Once all benefits are exhausted or the person merely gives up trying to find employment, they are no longer counted as 'unemployed' when the rate is calculated.
In dog beers I've only had one.

Baruch

Quote from: Feral Atheist on January 03, 2017, 11:18:12 AM
Very similar to the 'reported' US unemployment rate.  Once all benefits are exhausted or the person merely gives up trying to find employment, they are no longer counted as 'unemployed' when the rate is calculated.

Correct.  The point being, to have a social safety net that is all show and no go.  Then when people fall thru it, they will hopefully shuffle off under some viaduct and shuffle off their mortal coil as well.
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Mr.Obvious

Quote from: Feral Atheist on January 03, 2017, 11:18:12 AM
Very similar to the 'reported' US unemployment rate.  Once all benefits are exhausted or the person merely gives up trying to find employment, they are no longer counted as 'unemployed' when the rate is calculated.

I guess its nothing new.
Perhaps I should feel better at not being part of the only country were this happens.
But instead I feel worse. Much, much worse.
"If we have to go down, we go down together!"
- Your mum, last night, requesting 69.

Atheist Mantis does not pray.

Baruch

Quote from: Mr.Obvious on January 04, 2017, 03:08:19 PM
I guess its nothing new.
Perhaps I should feel better at not being part of the only country were this happens.
But instead I feel worse. Much, much worse.

When you stopped believing in Father Christmas (or whatever he is called in Belgium) ... you should have stopped believing in politicians and economists.  Mythical elves are more useful (at least to Santa) than the myths of politicians and economists.

We actually don't know how to define GDP, unemployment and inflation rate.  It all depends, and you can debate it until you wear Depends (adult diapers).
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Mr.Obvious

Quote from: Baruch on January 04, 2017, 07:19:04 PM
When you stopped believing in Father Christmas (or whatever he is called in Belgium) ... you should have stopped believing in politicians and economists.  Mythical elves are more useful (at least to Santa) than the myths of politicians and economists.

We actually don't know how to define GDP, unemployment and inflation rate.  It all depends, and you can debate it until you wear Depends (adult diapers).

Don't get me wrong. I know this stuff happens.
I'm just severely pissed off because I'm closer to it and am learning about it ad it happens, rather than discovering it after the facts.

And its Sinterklaas. That old Turk ought to put all these liars in a bag, drag em off to spain on his steamboat and have them flogged for being so naughty.
"If we have to go down, we go down together!"
- Your mum, last night, requesting 69.

Atheist Mantis does not pray.

Baruch

I have been able to avoid some of the awkward and fearful aspects of old age, because I was young and my wife and daughter were healthy and my mother had a prosperous and healthy senior hood.  Alas, that couldn't last over the last 20 years.  Now I am faced, more and more each day, with new awkwardness and fear due to my old age, because of the divorce and remarriage of my ex wife, the poor health of her, her husband, and the limited prospects for my handicapped adult daughter.  And my mother's prosperity, health and joi de vie have all failed now.  We are in the Winter of our lives, both young and old alike (well only my daughter is young in this tale of woe).  I have never been fond of Winter.  Fall and Spring are my favorite times.

And I have continued to learn with an open mind, but not too much bitterness, how the world really is.  I have always been pragmatic and empirical.  The lack of utopia has been very disappointing, I assure you!  When I was young, and the young should feel this way ... there was no place to go but up, and there were no clouds in the sky.
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Cavebear

Quote from: Feral Atheist on January 03, 2017, 11:18:12 AM
Very similar to the 'reported' US unemployment rate.  Once all benefits are exhausted or the person merely gives up trying to find employment, they are no longer counted as 'unemployed' when the rate is calculated.

If you aren't looking for a job, you can hardly be considered "unemployed".  That would mean my housewife mother was "unemployed, that all children are "unemployed", that all prisoners are "unemployed", that all retired people are "unemployed, that all independently wealthy people are "unemployed", that all disabled-unable to-work people are "unemployed, and that all alien creatures hiding/spying here on Earth are "unemployed".

That last one is for the more UFOlogists among us.  LOL!
Atheist born, atheist bred.  And when I die, atheist dead!

Baruch

Quote from: Cavebear on January 05, 2017, 01:03:28 AM
If you aren't looking for a job, you can hardly be considered "unemployed".  That would mean my housewife mother was "unemployed, that all children are "unemployed", that all prisoners are "unemployed", that all retired people are "unemployed, that all independently wealthy people are "unemployed", that all disabled-unable to-work people are "unemployed, and that all alien creatures hiding/spying here on Earth are "unemployed".

That last one is for the more UFOlogists among us.  LOL!

You must have used to work for the government ;-)  There are X number of households, the average household has to be wealthy or have income.  Their income, hopefully provided by gainful work, must supply sufficient income to provide an acceptable standard of living.  This is not how Unemployment Rate is calculated.  If your neighbor is unemployed (looking or not), then it is a recession.  If you are unemployed (looking or not), then it is a depression.  "Not looking" is a politically derived concept so that the torches and pitchforks stay away.
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.