Please help the Jobless workers

[Kevin]

I wish you luck, but when should unemployment benefits finally be cut off? This is deficit spending on folks who have been unemployed for (in some cases) 99 weeks.

My understanding of unemployment (and I've never taken unemployment, so this is based on very limited knowledge) is that you have to show evidence of at least three job applications per week.

If that's true and you've applied for over 300 jobs and not made progress, maybe the problem isn't the job market.

At some point, this free money has to dry up.

[BluPhire]

Originally Posted by Kevin

I wish you luck, but when should unemployment benefits finally be cut off? This is deficit spending on folks who have been unemployed for (in some cases) 99 weeks.

My understanding of unemployment (and I've never taken unemployment, so this is based on very limited knowledge) is that you have to show evidence of at least three job applications per week.

If that's true and you've applied for over 300 jobs and not made progress, maybe the problem isn't the job market.

At some point, this free money has to dry up.

I do agree at a certain point the money does have to dry up.

I will say this though it needs to be done in shifts. Folks that haven't been working for a long time will and I really hate to say this, be cut off. I know Michigan is hard hit, but it may be time to move. It isn't any accident that the census shows Dallas-Fort Worth having the largest population increase. Sometimes you gotta leave and start over.

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by Kevin

I wish you luck, but when should unemployment benefits finally be cut off? This is deficit spending on folks who have been unemployed for (in some cases) 99 weeks.

My understanding of unemployment (and I've never taken unemployment, so this is based on very limited knowledge) is that you have to show evidence of at least three job applications per week.

If that's true and you've applied for over 300 jobs and not made progress, maybe the problem isn't the job market.

At some point, this free money has to dry up.

Then make it more graduated than the way they are doing this. The way this is working right now is that everybody who has been collecting for more than 6 months is cut off whether it's their 6month + 1 week or their 99th month. I'd be very curious to see better stats on just how long some of these people have been on unemployment. My ex has only been collecting unemployment since February, when his severance pay ran out.

All that said, I disagree with the statement "if you have applied for 300 jobs and still don't have one... " in a market where there are 400 applicants for every ONE job. We're talking about an area where the unemployment is 1 in 6.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by AGDee

All that said, I disagree with the statement "if you have applied for 300 jobs and still don't have one... " in a market where there are 400 applicants for every ONE job. We're talking about an area where the unemployment is 1 in 6.

If that's the situation, you have two choices--1) figure out a way to be successful and self-employed or 2) be willing to relocate.

Eventually, I suppose, if the benefits run dry, one of those choices will be forced on folks in your situation. I just hope you're in a situation where you're doing it on your terms.

Lots of folks have opted to start over. It sucks, but them's the breaks.

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by Kevin

If that's the situation, you have two choices--1) figure out a way to be successful and self-employed or 2) be willing to relocate.

Eventually, I suppose, if the benefits run dry, one of those choices will be forced on folks in your situation. I just hope you're in a situation where you're doing it on your terms.

Lots of folks have opted to start over. It sucks, but them's the breaks.

As the ex-wife of the unemployed father of her children, I have no options. I have a job. If he leaves the state, I either get the kids full time or report him for violating a court order. Seems kind of nuts to report him for violating a court order. However, relocating still means losing your house, which is what I said the concern was.. that one or both of us will lose our houses.

Kevin, I know you'll never understand how someone can end up in dire straits, but the kind of people I'm talking about are people who were continuously employed for 25+ years with master's degrees, families, etc. They have paid more in taxes than some people will ever make. They can do ok for a few years from selling the extra car, living off of retirements funds, etc. At some point though, the money is truly gone. The unemployment is only $300 a week. It's certainly not living in the lap of luxury. It almost covers the mortgage payment for some people. Almost.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by AGDee

As the ex-wife of the unemployed father of her children, I have no options. I have a job. If he leaves the state, I either get the kids full time or report him for violating a court order. Seems kind of nuts to report him for violating a court order. However, relocating still means losing your house, which is what I said the concern was.. that one or both of us will lose our houses.

Kevin, I know you'll never understand how someone can end up in dire straits, but the kind of people I'm talking about are people who were continuously employed for 25+ years with master's degrees, families, etc. They have paid more in taxes than some people will ever make. They can do ok for a few years from selling the extra car, living off of retirements funds, etc. At some point though, the money is truly gone. The unemployment is only $300 a week. It's certainly not living in the lap of luxury. It almost covers the mortgage payment for some people. Almost.

As dire as it is, that does not explain or justify why anyone thinks they deserve compensation from the government (from the taxpayers) when the government doesn't even really have that money to pay them. Sometimes folks' houses get foreclosed when they lose jobs. Sometimes they have to move, declare bankruptcy, etc.

You are not entitled to a job which pays $x simply because you are qualified for the job you used to have.