“The trouble with unemployment is that you never get a day off”

“The trouble/problem with unemployment is that you never get a day off” (or “The trouble with being unemployed is that you never get a day off”) is a jocular line that was written by a trade unionist in a labor publication. Paul Corrigan wrote a paper titled “The Trouble with Being Unemployed Is That You Never Get a Day Off” for the Leisure Studies Association at the Polytechnic of North London in 1982.
 
A similar statement that’s about retirement is ‘The trouble with retirement is that you never get a day off.”
 
   
Google Books
Work and Leisure:
Unemployment, technology and life-styles in the 1980s:
Papers from a conference held by The Leisure Studies Association at The Polytechnic of North London, 1982
By Anthony James Veal, Stanley Parker, Fred Coalter, et al.
UK: Leisure Studies Association
1982
Pg. 59:
THE TROUBLE WITH BEING UNEMPLOYED IS THAT YOU NEVER GET A DAY OFF
PAUL CORRIGAN
Polytechnic of North London
 
Google Books
Time for Life:
The Surprising Ways Americans Use Their Time
By John Robinson and Geoffrey Godbe
University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press
1997
Pg. 168:
The problem with being unemployed is that you never get a day off. — P. Corrigal
   
The Guardian (UK)
Buzz words
On the appeal of adrenalin.
Work Unlimited
Richard Reeves
The Guardian, Tuesday 7 November 2000
(...)
As a trade unionist once said: “The trouble with unemployment is you never get a day off.”
 
Google Books
The Working Life:
The Promise and Betrayal of Modern Work
By Joanne B. Ciulla
New York, NY: Three Rivers Press
2000
Pg. 5:
A writer for a labor union publication summed up the problem this way: “The trouble with unemployment is that you never get a day off.”
   
Google Books
Everyday Arguments:
A Guide to Writing and Reading Effective Arguments
By Katherine J. Mayberry
New York, NY: Longman
2002
Pg. 362:
As a trade unionist once said, “the trouble with unemployment is you never get a day off.”
 
Google Books
Corporate Ethics and Corporate Governance
Edited by Walther C. Zimmerli, Klaus Richter and Markus Holzinger
New York, NY: Springer
2007
Pg. 96:
A Union newspaper summed up the problem this way: “The trouble with unemployment is that you never get a day off.” (Corrigan 1989, p. 192)