I WOULD hesitate to take issue with such an authority as Julia Unwin, chief executive of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, especially in matters of social policy. However, in her recent article (Yorkshire Post, January 3), I think she struggled to make a clear definition of the concepts of “striver” and “shirker”.
There is, for example, some implication in the article that the “striver” becomes a “shirker” just by dint of losing his or her job. Could I offer a little elucidation?
A “skiver” is a person who, although in all respects fit and able to work, chooses not to and opts instead for a life of idleness at the expense, quite literally, of the rest of society. A “striver” on the other hand, as the very word implies, is a person who aspires to work.
Among the ranks of the “strivers” are people who for a variety of very valid reasons (age, disability, illness, lack of opportunity and so on) cannot take up employment.
Such people are emphatically not to be counted among the ranks of the “skivers” and I venture to suggest that no fair-minded person would dream of classifying them as such.
The “insecurity and weakness of the labour market” could never justify such a classification.
I wish all the “strivers” of this country a very happy New Year!
(Yorks Post.)
A “skiver” is a person who, although in all respects fit and able to work, chooses not to and opts instead for a life of idleness at the expense, quite literally, of the rest of society. A “striver” on the other hand, as the very word implies, is a person who aspires to work.
Among the ranks of the “strivers” are people who for a variety of very valid reasons (age, disability, illness, lack of opportunity and so on) cannot take up employment.
Such people are emphatically not to be counted among the ranks of the “skivers” and I venture to suggest that no fair-minded person would dream of classifying them as such.
The “insecurity and weakness of the labour market” could never justify such a classification.
I wish all the “strivers” of this country a very happy New Year!
(Yorks Post.)
