It's almost like "there are no jobs" in that respect.

Strange... I've never had a single day not working in 25+ years. And I have literally walked out of jobs on the spot (with good cause, I might add). And, yes, I've worked horrible jobs in the meantime.

But I've never had a day in my adult life where I didn't have any job to go to.

However, to counter-act your story: In one place, I started work with four other people just to fill in a gap (I had a guaranteed job, already signed the contract, but it didn't start immediately so I just needed to cover the gap and though I could have just lazed around, I got a part-time job instead).

Not one of the people I started with actually wanted the job. There was nothing wrong with the job, it wasn't particularly arduous or horrible, and it paid in line with what you'd expect. They were all sacked within the first month, they just couldn't be bothered to hold the job down or do the very basics. I can't even fault the employer, they were actually handling it quite reasonably, but the employees just couldn't be bothered to just do a little basic work for some pay.

There are people out there who literally don't want a job at all, even if it means suffering and moaning endlessly because of it. I've known several of them quite well. They can't hold down a job not because they don't need to (they really, really do NEED to), but because they can't be bothered to do so. They don't like being told what to do, or they just get bored and lazy, or they ignore every warning they're given.

They're usually the same people complaining that they have no money, and that nobody (not even the state) is helping them. They do exist.

But equally, there are people who never have a day unemployed in their lifetime.