I learned something crazy today- there’s 9.2 million people between the age of 16 and 64 out of work in the UK and aren’t looking for work.
Having recently become one of them, I wanted to yap about what it would take me to get into work.
Previous Employment
Oof, well- I’ve always made my own work. I’ve never not been a freelancer and that’s because I’ve always had major struggles delivering work in any other way. Before I knew about things like ADHD and Autism, I was just the guy who cried in front of their boss and flunked out of uni over one missed module.
I’m a big doer- coming up with something to do, making space for myself, and working with anyone who’d be willing to have me along for the ride. That’s how I ended up in both drag and web3, and also inevitably why I quit both.
My CV is a hodgepodge stapled together with an on-again off-again web design practice, which I was finally taking seriously just before I became sick with FND.
So back to work?
What’s the point? I’ve progressed beyond being able to do much of anything without actively sabotaging my mental and physical health. I’m unfortunately having to accept that being “economically inactive” is prudent- not even being able to apply for the art grants which were supporting me throughout 2024.
No, any sensible person would look at me and go “ah yes, you have gotten sick, you need to look after yourself”. So that’s what I’m working on. There are paths for me to get back into work, definitely, but those will require a much larger scope of funding and support.
Like, you know, fixing the fucking NHS.
And yet, Rachel Reeves has decided to make it harder for me to continue to exist at all, cutting essential benefits to people like me when if you did want to cut benefits there’s a pretty obvious target.
Cough, Cough let’s means test the state pension
So to be frank, I feel I’m being pragmatic by saying I’ll probably not get the chance to be long-term economically inactive again. Between AI, lack of opportunity, and now having more restrictions on what I can and can’t do- I’m just a shit bet moving forward.
What’s the plan?
I’ll keep saying it- get better, get a house, get my boyfriend here. The best chance of me being able to do any work is to be as divorced from the stress of living in England and that’s only possible by no longer renting and having the extra care support of my partner. That’s the only way I’ll get a decent quality of life even outside of work, so that’s what I’m working on.
I’ll be keeping up on products, mainly creating poetry collections and zines for sale. I don’t expect it to be economically viable but it’s consistently something I can still create, so we’ll see.
Either way, I’ll be not letting Starmer or any future government rob me of my hope or my love of this country, which has genuinely been robbed blind by the elites. People should hang for what they’ve done to us- it is treason.
I don’t super have a plan for my blog, I just know I plan to keep posting my thoughts on it. Eventually I’ll be back to video, too.
I think I’m just gonna put it front and center on my website and hope for the best.
Love yas,
Haley