The Fairy Jobmother, Channel 4 | reviews, news & interviews
The Fairy Jobmother, Channel 4
The Fairy Jobmother, Channel 4
How to get the terminally jobless into gainful employment? Make a reality programme
Wednesday, 21 July 2010

Hayley Taylor's 'Highway Road to Success': A crash course for winners - or a dead end?
No-nonsense Hayley Taylor is to the terminally unemployed what Jo Frost, aka Supernanny, is to the attention-seeking, tantrum-prone pre-schooler – but without the naughty step. In this reality three-parter she attempts to do what whole governments have so far failed to: to get members of the long-term, unskilled unemployed (what some might unkindly term the "Jeremy Kyle generation" – aka the underclass) back into the labour market. This she attempts to do, not by sprinkling magic Fairy Jobmother dust over the British economy, but by addressing the “negativity” of those she’s come to rescue from the jaws of the “The System” – aka the benefits system. And yesterday, in Part Two of the series – which, despite all we’ve come to expect from the format, is surprisingly low on trash and high on genuine insight – it was pretty clear that even benefits-busting Taylor had her work cut out.
No-nonsense Hayley Taylor is to the terminally unemployed what Jo Frost, aka Supernanny, is to the attention-seeking, tantrum-prone pre-schooler – but without the naughty step. In this reality three-parter she attempts to do what whole governments have so far failed to: to get members of the long-term, unskilled unemployed (what some might unkindly term the "Jeremy Kyle generation" – aka the underclass) back into the labour market. This she attempts to do, not by sprinkling magic Fairy Jobmother dust over the British economy, but by addressing the “negativity” of those she’s come to rescue from the jaws of the “The System” – aka the benefits system. And yesterday, in Part Two of the series – which, despite all we’ve come to expect from the format, is surprisingly low on trash and high on genuine insight – it was pretty clear that even benefits-busting Taylor had her work cut out.
Taylor mixes genuine compassion with a firm hand. What’s more, she's equipped with the personal qualities that make even Lynda warm to her
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