"The problem is that only the most determined and able and lucky can escape the underclass."!

It's not just the 'underclass, Richard – everyone is finding it tough to get jobs these days. Anyone who claims otherwise is simply living in the past and has no idea of the how the world operates today. Sorry to harp on about personal experience, but I just need to counteract the 'golden age' posited by some posters. My son is currently applying for graduate training programmes before his final year. He's a bright lad and expected get at least a good 2.1. However, he's experiencing an unbelievably cut-throat job market. As an example, he's applied to go on the Aldi graduate training programme and has been told that the acceptance rate is 1 in 12,000. So the idea that people with few or no qualifications are just going to get a job for the asking is, frankly, fatuous.