Some of the people who sell Austrian street paper Kupfermuckn in Linz shared their experience of unemployment.
Hermann: “After some time without a job, I had to live from hand to mouth”
I was unemployed a few times. In a way, it was also nice to simply not have to do anything, but then, of course, there was the issue of money. After some time without a job – all the while drinking heavily – I found myself running out of money.
At first, I thought: “Just write a few applications to work as a warehouse worker or forklift driver, and you will be fine.” But construction, where I worked for years as a mason, unfortunately is not for me anymore. I’m already in very poor health. Unfortunately, my joints and my intervertebral discs are not of much use any longer.
When I was looking for a job, I got rejected again and again. Doing nothing brought me no joy. My worries about the future grew, and so did my thirst for alcohol, and then came the day when I could no longer pay my rent. I ended up on the street and sleeping at the station.
Kupfermuckn is a street paper based in Linz, Austria, sold by people who have limited other ways of earning an income.