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This article deals with developments in eligibility for unemployment benefit between 1979 and 2021, studied using an eligibility calculator for all career paths, through successive regulatory developments. It demonstrates that eligibility has varied considerably for those in discontinuous work whereas the eligibility of those in stable employment has remained remarkably consistent, and that the idea of a linear improvement in eligibility for those in discontinuous work turns out to be a myth. In contrast, over the course of 40 years, the rationale of benefits has been profoundly shaken up, moving from an insurance-style model to a savings account-style model. It is also useful to distinguish two categories of employees in discontinuous employment which are frequently conflated: the “precarious” (in intermittent employment) and the “working unemployed” (those with a history of stable employment), the eligibility of each of which have evolved in different ways.