How they think

The government are apparently concerned at the gap between the number of those unemployed and the number of those actually claiming benefit. How kind of them.

It seems that three quarters of a million of those who have lost jobs since the recession began have not attempted to claim unemployment benefit or Job-seekers' Allowance. The result is that they do not appear in official statistics of the unemployed, which is based on claimants. (I doubt whether the aim of the government is to discover and publish the true level of unemployment, somehow!)

The government explanation, and assumption, is that these people are the sort who are too proud to think of asking for benefits.

There are other suggestions as to the reason.

The government suggests that some choose to live from the proceeds of their redundancy pay,
which is a slight variation of their main reason.

There is the also the fact that some expect to find another job soon, and are spending time in searching, - a kind of frictional unemployment.

The conditions attached to government help may be a deterrent - the need to report at an employment office, when travelling may be difficult, or perhaps the amount is regarded as derisory.

The may be some legal impediment - illegal immigrants, cash/N.I insurance free workers, etc.

The government is intending to recruit large numbers of outreach officers to contact, advise and encourage those who are recently unemployed. Unless the non-claimants cannot read English, or are of limited intelligence, this seems a waste of money. Whatever their motives, these people have chosen not to apply. Why, then, pursue them?