Sentence:  There were no jobs for the unemployed, however. And thus many hundreds of thousands went “on the <WSD>pogey</WSD>,” although all available evidence indicates that they loathed doing so. To accept relief was an admission of defeat and failure, a humiliating stigma, whether the relief was indirect or direct. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Government financial assistance, particularly employment insurance.