Letter: My son lost more than just a job

I FOUND the article by Derek Edmunds (Debate, 9 May) most interesting. My son lost his job on turning 50, having worked since leaving school at 16. He was devastated and spent most of his time applying for jobs. He had several interviews in the beginning, the outcome was always the same – "overqualified". A new word for too old perhaps.

I watched him gradually deteriorate, having lost his dignity and self-respect. It was soul destroying. We lost him shortly after he turned 60. His bus pass arrived whilst he was in hospital. Later, on going through his papers I found a letter informing him that HM Government had decided he could live on 54 a week. (It cost 3 to get to and from the job centre).

I also discovered that he had been applying for jobs until a few weeks before he died. In view of the recent goings-on of those in government it was so unfair.

H Baxter, Cairneyhill