Social security for the unemployed was not designed to cope either with large-scale or long-term unemployment and recent developments in the structure of unemployment and in social security policy give rise to concern for the living standards of the unemployed, especially the long-term unemployed. This article draws on data from the Family Finances Survey to assess the living standards of the unemployed after various durations of unemployment and compare these with the living standards of families with low incomes from work. The measures of living standards used are income, expenditure and the availability of consumer durables. The implications of the findings for social security policy are discussed
