The Fairy Jobmother, Channel 4

How is the average unemployed person supposed to benefit from this programme? With no one to set up the interview and guarantee the job, this programme offers no value. Taylor has no recruiting experience and is not qualified to be a social councilor and yet is giving out advice on both. How do these programmes get made?

Interesting that she was allowed to make such a disparaging comment about South Africans. If the comment had been made about an ethnic minority group it would not have been allowed.

this woman is unbelievable. I once heard her say that any job is a good one. does this mean that if she was sacked from her (highly paid) job tomorrow, she would be willing to go out and clean toilets?? I am a single mother of a 2 year old and have not worked since she was born. Before that, I lived in spain for 5 years, where I worked up until i was 8 months pregnant, for 9 hours a day, 6 days a week, with none of the perks of a job in the UK i.e coffee breaks, lunch breaks etc. I paid tax while in spain and got nothing back, in fact when i returned to the uk i had to PROVE i had the right to reside in this country, even though i have a british passport and all my family are here. I started looking for work when my child was 9 months old and have only had one interview so far. I realise this is mainly down to the fact i have not worked in this country for so long. Before i left the UK i was a Personal Assistant for the director of a small company but i worked in bars and restaurants in spain. this makes it difficult for me to get back into the admin field. Believe me, i have tried to find work, as any single mother will know it is mind numbing (although i adore my daughter) to have no structure to your day. On top of this, because of this i receive quite a lot of help with my housing costs. i live in a private let which costs more than twice as much as it would if i was housed by the council, but lo and behold i have been on a council waiting list for the past 2 and a half years and am still not moving up the list. therefore, if i work full time hours, i will still never earn enough to pay my rent fully. this means that whatever i earn will mean my housing benefit will be reduced. whatever extra i earn will be taken away from another source - housing benefit, council tax benefit etc. this woman makes me so angry because she seems t think that those who are unemployed are just lazy. this is not the case all the time, although there are some who are i believe. this country is in a bad state at the moment, i believe. i also think it needs to be said (and im sure this will cause uproar) that many of the jobs in this country are now being taken up by immigrants - polish/czech.romanians, and while i do not disagree with allowing them to live and work in our country, there has to be some kind of limit to it, doesnt there?? I am totally disillusioned by the way this country is run which is why i am taking my daughter and moving abroad again at the end of the year, i will be better off, with no need to live off benefits, which i do not enjoy at all, despite some peoples views. and the government wonders why so many britons are leaving the country every year never to return?? disgusting.

love the programme, and love hayley's no-nonsense approach to unemployment. it is a total myth, trotted out by Sun readers that: ".... it is a well known fact that it that many of the jobs in this country are now being taken up by immigrants -polish/czech/romanians..." blay. blah, blah. there are plenty of jobs out there, if only folk would not feel that they could rely on very generous welfare benefits, eg. housing costs being met, particulary when they had not contributed to the UK tax system, eg. whilst being an immigrant themselves in Spain for 5 years. hope this helps, hayley is a star, and i understand she is being head-hunted by the BBC. she tells the truth. she will go far.

Not to get into a debate about this but feel the need to clarify that while i was working abroad i DID indeed pay tax in the UK due to the fact i worked for a british company. not to mention the years before i went abroad of paying tax and NI in the UK, never once claiming benefits of any kind.

no, this site is not for a debate about 'immigrants'. much better to write to the Sun about ".... it is a well known fact that it that many of the jobs in this country are now being taken up by immigrants -polish/czech/romanians..." there is almost a daily editorial which supports views such as that. hayley is just amazing, her motivational style, and sometimes painful, tell-it-like-it -is approach is a breath of air. fact: there are jobs fact: benefits have to be paid for fact: there are many opportunities to re-train, enter the world of study fact: people are better off in employment, fiscally and socially

now that thats the second time youve brought up the sun/immigrant subject, it seem it is in fact you who wont let go of this particular bone of contention? we are all entitled to our opinions and to tell our own stories. my original post was meant to be more about this show than it ended up being about this country's current situation. however, it is a particular sore point of mine that people like Hayley think there is a simple solution to getting back to work and being better off in work. i do however agree that the amount of benefits paid to individuals is generous. in turn though, this means, like i said in my original post, that going back to work is not always going to make a person better off. i watched hayley in the show about A4E, and this particular point was proved on that show by a woman who had to give up a job hayley had helped her find because she was then 40 pounds worse off than she had been on benefits. go figure. shows like the fairy jobmother are made in good intention im sure but it really is not that easy. fact

i merely raise the point that i find comments such as ".... it is a well known fact that it that many of the jobs in this country are now being taken up by immigrantspolish/czech/romanians..." as particularly odious and totally ill-informed. it is so easy for folk to lash out and blame others (usually out-groups) for their own unhapiness. the news from the coalition government today addresses the issue that at present it is fiscally beneficial for folk to remain on state benefit, this will be a thing of the past very soon. i reiterate my previous comments: fact: there are many, many unfilled jobs that one could apply for .fact: all benefits have to be paid for by people who are working. fact: there are many, many opportunities to enter the world of study, re-train, or start ones own business, (as many, as you put it, "...immigrants..." have done). fact: people are much better off in employment, with a productive role which benefits society, and the individual themselves. i am pleased to say that as an early retired university lecturer i am more than comfortably off, and have never had to claim a benefit of any sort. i still confidently submit that hayley speaks sense and i hope that this discourse has helped you on your learning journey.

i think the key point in your last comment is that (luckily) "you never had to claim a benefit of any kind". unfortunately , we are not all so lucky. circumstances and situations mean that people DO have to claim benefits for many many reasons (and this is what benefits are there for). My view is that sadly, this programme suggests that the vast majority of those claiming benefit do so because they are lazy and do not want to work. This is unfair, and simply not always the case. I believe that indeed there are people out there who claim benefits who do not need to, because they prefer not to work, or they cannot be bothered. But i am not one of them, which is why this programme offends me so much. I dont believe it portrays an accurate image of many many people who do claim benefits.

SUNDAY AUGUST 1ST 5.0 P.M. Although I agree with much that Donna says, I find Hayley's programmes quite riveting. But she hasn't yet addressed the needs of an unemployed friend of mine. As a single man my friend gets only £65.00 a week on JSA. He is 41, living in London, and every day he tramps the streets hoping to find some place that might employ him. He longs to get back to work, is an excellent worker and highly presentable. He has past experience as a driver, warehouseman and in a hotel but since 2009 cannot find even the lowest paid job. His JSA does not cover the cost of travel to interviews or even to pay for many phone calls, and as well, his mother and his 3 little boys in Kosovo are driving him frantic because they cannot afford food and need desperately whatever he could send - from his wages. There's something wrong with a system that puts people into such a situation when all they are asking for, is a job. They just need the means to get one. Hayley please give this man's plight your warm, wonderful skilled attention and bring his needs into the limelight. You are doing a fantastic job - but can you help people like my friend? I am sure he is one of thousands.

ilaine, I agree your friend is in a predicament, and you are right, this programme hasnt yet addressed the problems facing single unemployed, only families. when i came back to the uk, there was a month where i too was receiving 65.00 pounds per week, until my child was born. during this time, and because i had just returned to the uk, there were many times i need to contact jobcentre plus to gain information by telephone and although there are free phones within jobcentres, i was told these were only to be used for job seeking reasons and therefore i could not use them. i was completely astounded at being told this, as at the time i did not have a landline and could not afford to buy food, gas and electricity as well as preparing for a new baby AND put credit on my mobile. my frustration was made worse by the fact that NOW, in any jobcentre in the UK, you cannot speak face to face with an advisor. It is a feat in itself to get past the security guard at the front door. at the tiem, i was 8 months pregnant, being told i would have to prove i have the right to reside and if not i would not be eligible for any financial help whatsoever. i only wanted to talk to a human being, and im sure many people who just want some help and advice feel the same about this. also, jobcentre plus do reimburse costs for travel to interviews, but if you dont have the money upfront to pay for this then it really isnt much use at all. i know thats not really what the programme is about, but all of these factors have a knock on effect, and do not in any way make it easier to find work.

oh dear, oh dear. just back from our Gite, to a glut of fruit and vegetables, and to see Donna still waxing lyrical with regards to her plight. fact. help to workseekers in the uk is gold standard compared to other countries (we have friends in SA, USA, France, Norway, Ireland, Holland, and Germany) they are all in awe of the help that we give to those out work. fact. looking through my local paper, 35 jobs for care workers, 18 jobs for cleaners, 57 jobs for homeworkers etc. i still maintain as suggested by Ilaine Lennard that there are jobs and Donna, go seek, and move on. The world (not just the UK) has changed and although you find life in the UK distressing, it may be much, much worse for you as an immigrant jobseeker elsewhere. Hayley speaks, as Illaine says, sense. apparently she is being offered a blue-chip consultancy appointment by the coalition government, immigration is down tooo, and the-'...polish/czech/romanians, who took the jobs.....' are returning home. to use your words, go figure. hope this helps on your journey of self-awareness.

yadda yadda yadda. finding the available jobs is not the problem, lack of experience and/or qualifications for the jobs available is the problem. getting even to the interview stage because of this is the problem. and, referring to a point you made regarding retraining a few posts ago, I am currently studying towards a legal secretarial diploma, which I decided to do before I made the decision to move to brazil, and which I HOPE will help towards finding work if i return. we are not all lucky enough to never have to rely on benefits as an income and when we do have to, SOME of us do make every effort to find work or to retrain in order to gain more qualifications. Not all unemployed are lazy. FACT.

Good luck with the Diploma , education is still the key to success in giving one choices . I have had time to reflect on the issues, and have come to the conclusion that it must be dreadful to face the set-backs that you have experienced. The last thing you need is someone else on your case, extolling the virtues of Hayley Taylor. All good wishes to you and your child in Brazil, I hope that it all works out for you both.

thank you for your comment and best wishes. i will find a way back into employment, whether it be through the diploma or not.although i really hope it helps. if nothing else it keeps my brain working so that when i do get back to work i am prepared!