Sort of related to labour activation, but did anyone hear the interview on RTE Drivetime with the Irish woman living in Greece? She describes an acquaintance of hers, college educated, who was desperate for work and took a job in a kebab shop, paid €20 under the table for 8-10hrs per day, who gave up that job because she was so tired that she hadn’t the energy to send of CVs for ‘proper’ jobs, and who now wonders if she did the right thing because that €20 is money she now doesn’t have.
Disclaimer: I know the woman being interviewed and it’s revealing to hear her describe her switch in support to SYRIZA as a case of “how much worse can it get if Greece drops out of the Euro”. Her Greek husband is a public service worker, traditionally a PASOK voter but he and his family have all switched to SYRIZA. I haven’t spoken to her myself in years but when she was living in Dublin she was fairly apolitical, a GP voter, Irish Times reader, south Dublin professional set, not the sort of person one would expect to be leaning towards the further Left. A good example of how material circumstances change outlooks.