Long-term unemployed face life without emergency benefits

[Jazzy]

On Saturday, approximately 1.3 million Americans who have been unemployed for weeks, months or years are waking up to a grim reality: a steady supply of cash assistance through the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program has been cut off, and as of right now, no help is on the horizon.

The federal program, which was expanded in 2008 to provide extra income to the long-term unemployed who have exhausted their 26 weeks of state benefits, lapses Saturday because Congress failed to extend the federal program into 2014. For much of the recession, the government not only offered extended benefits beyond those 26 weeks, but also introduced the EUC program to offer up to 99 weeks of assistance in many states.

In the first six months of 2014, 1.9 million additional Americans will use up their state-funded benefits and find themselves without a federal safety net waiting if the program is not renewed. That number will jump to 3.6 million people. According to a report from the White House Council of Economic Advisors and the Labor Department, in October the average length of unemployment was 36.1 weeks – two and a half months longer than state benefits will last with no extension. The long-term unemployment rate is 2.6 percent, roughly one-third of the overall employment rate of 7.3 percent.

Full article

Now what are these people going to do for a steady supply of cash? Umm, the word job comes to my mind.

 

[Sinon]

Now what are these people going to do for a steady supply of cash? Umm, the word job comes to my mind.

As I recently got a job after over a year of unemployment, that's a bit harsh. It's not that easy to just get a job out of thin air, especially if you live in a more rural area and don't have easy access to transport, be it public or private.

My town has a population of around 23,000, it's a market town and is pretty much a hub that enables easy access to quite a few cities. There's a large amount of stores, both on and off the main high street. I'm a college graduate with various work-based qualifications (first aid, food hygiene, etc), I own my own vehicle, have no criminal record, and have a good previous work history.

It has still taken me 14 months to actually get a job, this is with searching for work daily online and by asking in stores. This has also been with the "help" of government-funded education/back-to-work schemes as well as private agencies and the Job Centre.

It really isn't easy to "just get a job" the way a lot of people seem to think.

 

[Naiwen]

yeah, it's not easy... why doesn't the government just give us a job instead of giving money?

 

[Jazzy]

I know it's not easy to get a job but jobs are out there. Recently, my area held a Job Fair. There were 15 companies set up and taking applications. I was surprised to read in the newspaper that hardly any applicants attended. Most of the companies that were at this Job Fair were looking for entry level factory workers. This makes me think that the unemployed, in my area, thought these jobs were beneath them. It becomes easy to rely on a government check rather than going out and taking a job that may not be your ideal job but it's a job no less.

 

[Hannah]

When I was unemployed for 6 months, I was receiving help while actively seeking jobs. A few places had said that they would not hire me (I was applying for pretty much anything) because my qualifications suggest that as soon as I found somewhere better I would leave and they would have to repeat the process. I cannot argue, because I would have.

Admittedly, if the government spent more money creating jobs than giving it to those who are unwilling (not all receiving benefits, but the ones who don't want to work a day in their lives) to work, everyone would be happier.

Being a country that is already overcrowded and will continue to rise, jobs are becoming harder and harder to find. There's several factors which lead into benefit systems, it is not only that people who are unemployed simply do not want to work. That is not the case for a large group of those receiving who would be much better off working, and happier.

I am replying to your question regarding my own country (England) and the UK benefit system, but I can only assume the US to be similar.