From a very young age, my parents repeatedly told my two elder brothers and me that they wanted the best for us. They sought to make sure that we strove to succeed in our ambitions and grabbed the opportunities they were denied.
My father was a miner at Frickley Colliery in West Yorkshire. He endured the full wrath that Margaret Thatcher visited on striking miners in 1984-85 – which meant that our whole family suffered. This was before I was born, but my parents still tell stories of their battles to survive. My mother worked on a market stall selling bric-a-brac just to get dinner on the table. My father was arrested on the picket line.
These were far from the glittering prospects they wanted as a young, hard-working married couple with small children. It was from this troubling decade that they aimed for their children to do to better: to learn and earn and make the best of the future.
Sadly, this is now proving to be much easier said that done – not just for me, but for many other university graduates. It is increasingly hard to gain even a foothold on the lowest rung of the career ladder.
My brothers completed their degrees in 2000 and 2004. They paid considerably lower tuition fees than I had to and graduated in times where the British economy was far more stable. I – and many thousands like me – have found things much tougher.
Although I know what to achieve, knowing that foundations for that are difficult to set in stone – even with a degree under my belt – gives me sleepless nights. It makes my stomach churn to think that it has already cost me thousands of pounds to get this far.
Recently, I was telephoned by my bank asking if I could I pay back money to my student account immediately. I am currently working part-time as a waitress, paying for driving lessons and desperately trying to find a full-time job in my chosen field. Wouldn’t it be better for young people to think they have the world at their feet rather than feel they have the weight of it on their shoulders?
At least I know I won’t have to put out £6,000 or £7,000 in tuition fees, as graduates will have to do in future – if they still think it is worth going to university. Although what jobs will they do if they don’t?
Since I graduated from Manchester University in July, it has been an uphill struggle to find work. Opportunities are few and far between. And things are getting even more difficult, now that the coalition Government has scrapped the plans of its Labour predecessor to improve less affluent areas in the north of England.
Cities such as Leeds and Sheffield have some jobs on offer, but thousands apply for them. It is hard to get an interview even when I ask about unpaid work experience.
As the nation’s capital city, London has perhaps the most to offer up and coming, 20-something graduates. However, as far as work experience (which is what I need to work in publishing) is concerned, how is someone in my position supposed to get it? How do you live in London on work experience?
With cuts set to bite ever deeper and VAT scheduled to rise in January, commuting to more affluent areas is going to get even more problematic. As for relocating and paying rent, it was hard enough at university with a student loan and a part-time job, never mind as a graduate beginning work. No one ever said it would be easy, but did that mean it would be impossible?
While I continue trying to kick-start my career, I am a waitress at the restaurant at which I have worked since I was 16. Over the summer, my working hours were cut due to a lack of custom, which meant we had too many members of staff. I ended up with a single three-hour shift a week, which means a total of £18 going into my bank account every Thursday.
I have sent copies of my CV to employers throughout the local area in an effort to find another job in order to bring a bit of extra cash in. I have had no luck. Frustrated and increasingly desperate, I went to the local job centre in Hemsworth to see what they had to offer and to apply for the Job Seeker’s Allowance. This was disheartening, but I had no choice.
After several weeks of attending meetings, I had received no money. I was told: “We have door-to-door catalogue work, if that interests you.” A job is a job and I do not think that is beneath me. But after years of studying for qualifications and the amount of debt I have accrued to get them, is that all that the job market has to offer?
Two weeks later, I attended my final meeting, where I was informed that, because I was well-educated and “at least working”, I did not qualify for the Job Seeker’s Allowance. I was stunned. I said it was a good thing that at least I had a roof over my head, otherwise I would have been on the streets after the length of time it had taken to reach their decision.
I paid bus and taxi fares to attend the meetings where they offered me the same door-to-door work and made promises my allowance would be in the bank in a matter of days. But I got nothing. The supposition seems to be that because I have worked hard to a get degree I am bound to get “something” in the fullness of time.
But that is not proving to be the case. I can’t find a job in my area and I have been denied the Job Seeker’s Allowance that could have helped towards paying for the rail fare to possible interviews in London. I seem to be in a no-win situation and I fear it will only get worse. Will “graduate” become a label that people do not want?
I know my problems are hardly unique and I try to keep an open mind about the Government’s approach to tackling the problems of our country – notwithstanding the penniless years my family lived through under the compassionless reign of another Conservative administration.
Yet whenever I watch or read the news, my mind becomes a little bit more closed towards the coalition. My mother has told me that public sector cuts could mean she could lose her job as a teaching assistant at the local primary school.
It is only months since the general election, but already history seems to be repeating itself. Those in the older generation are set to suffer again under the Tories. For the younger generation, this is a new and very unpleasant experience.
I only hope that luck will come my way and I might slip through the net. I want to be “the miner’s daughter that done good” in the years to come.
