A MAJOR difference between Jersey and the UK is that there is no unemployment benefit here. In other respects our system of benefits – ranging from the old-age pension to disability relief – is fully developed and generous.

However, as most Islanders would readily accept, if a UK-style dole were paid to all and sundry, the Island would rapidly be inundated by ‘benefit tourists’.

Generally speaking, low rates of unemployment in the Island mean that little thought is given by most people to any payments available to those who find themselves out of work. Unfortunately, the recent spate of job losses serves to remind those comfortably in employment or of independent means that real hardship, material and mental, can follow redundancy – even in this prosperous community.

And the latest employment figures, released today, indicate that although the overall rate of joblessness remains low by comparison with many other places, the problem is anything but insignificant. Indeed, at just under 1,000, the figure has only very rarely been exceeded since the winter of 1992-93.

Also, although the Social Security Department says that the total will have been inflated to an extent by young people registered because they are taking part in a new back-to-work scheme, many made redundant in the finance sector do not register but go straight to specialist employment agencies and do not figure in the statistics.

Overall, therefore, the picture is bleak – and particularly so given that we are now approaching Christmas.

But this is not to say that assistance is not available. Unemployed people who have been Island residents for at least five years may well be entitled to Income Support, though this benefit is not paid without strings attached.

It is means tested, paid to households as opposed to individuals and those who qualify must be prepared to look for work, must register as jobseekers and must accept guidance from Social Security advisers.

If this system, which came into effect in January this year, sounds complicated and full of hoops through which claimants must jump, it is nevertheless far preferable to previous arrangements. The cap-in-hand taint of the procedures of the past has been abolished and

although redundancy is in many respects just as daunting a prospect as ever, those who find themselves out of work should certainly not feel stigmatised – especially if they are casualties of the recession and economic forces far beyond their control.