With over 250,000 people on the dole, RTÉ's 'Evening Extra' looks at the plight of social welfare recipients.
In 1975 Nick Coffey interviewed two families from inner-city Dublin for an RTÉ '7 Days' programme. On the eve of the 1987 budget, he returns to both families to see how they are getting on.
Back in 1975, less than 80,000 were on the dole. The figure in 1987 stands at in excess of 250,000.
The programme takes a comparative approach by examining two case studies of how unemployed people survived back in 1975 and twelve years on.
