Social relations of people experiencing unemployment. Between support and stigmatisation

The aim of the article is to analyse social relations of people experiencing unemployment in today’s Polish society on the basis of the data collected as a part of the “Memoirs of the Unemployed” project. In this paper, we investigate three types of relations: with family, with friends and acquaintances, and with labour market institutions. Our analysis shows that the experience of unemployment has a specific impact on social relations, both within the family and with other people. They are characterised by great ambivalence, which results from the fact that although they are a source of support, they are often based on a lack of understanding of the situation of people experiencing unemployment, and even involve stigmatisation. The relations with representatives of institutions are perceived by the research participants as instrumental and stigmatising.