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Unemployment benefits, also called unemployment insurance, unemployment payment, unemployment compensation, or simply unemployment, are payments made by governmental bodies to unemployed people. Depending on the country and the status of the person, those sums may be small, covering only basic needs, or may compensate the lost time proportionally to the previous earned salary.
Unemployment benefits are generally given only to those registering as becoming unemployed through no fault of their own, and often on conditions ensuring that they seek work.
In British English, unemployment benefits are also colloquially referred to as "the dole";[1][2] receiving benefits is informally called "being on the dole".[3] "Dole" here is an archaic expression meaning "one's allotted portion", from the synonymous Old English word dāl.[4] In Australia, a "dole bludger" is someone on unemployment benefits who makes no effort to find work.[5]
- ^ Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English. Oxford University Press. 2015. p. 454. ISBN 978-0-19-4798839.
- ^ "the dole". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
- ^ "Definition of Dole". Oxford Dictionary. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
- ^ "Definition of DOLE". www.merriam-webster.com.
- ^ "Dictionary.com | Meanings & Definitions of English Words". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 29 May 2024.