Finally things were looking up. For years Joe Martin had found himself stuck in a series of lousy jobs. As a teenager he served time at McDonald’s. In the wake of the 1990s recession he toiled at a golf course for low wages alongside disgruntled university grads. Later, he installed garage doors, working for years to earn meagre raises with zero benefits. Then, three years ago, Martin finally caught a break. He landed a coveted spot on the assembly line at Cami Automotive in Ingersoll, Ont.—and everything began to fall into place. At $33 an hour the pay was good. The full benefits package was even better. He met Kate Fisher, another employee, and with a sense of confidence born of their joint paycheques, they bought a small home together in nearby Dorchester and prepared to have a child. “We were able to actually have a plan that we could move forward on,” says Martin, who’s now 36. “Things were looking good and the company said if there was ever any trouble, they’d just reduce production and rotate layoffs.” After a pause, he adds, “It didn’t work out that way.”

Last spring the couple both received pink slips, making them front-line victims of the unemployment storm to come. In June, Fisher gave birth to a baby girl. And Martin, already a father of three, now finds himself right back where he started. He’s working with garage doors again, earning $11 an hour while his fiancée struggles to raise their young family. “I’m starting all over,” he says. “We have no idea what we’re going to do to get by. It’s the same thing for everyone we know. My generation is in serious trouble.”

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