Arizona Has Not Changed its Unemployment Formula Since 1930s (Phoenix: mortgage, how much)

[AZgarden]

I think this is a disgrace ! How are people supposed to live on $240 a week and feed their families, pay their mortgage, pay health care bills, put gas in their car, and on top of that, of course, search for work. Some states pay double what AZ pays. Sen J Kyl thinks unemployement money is an incentive not to look for work. What in the world is he thinking???

[KarmaPhx]

You can write off job hunting expenses on your taxes. For some $240 is enough to get by.

[PhoenixAirConcerns]

I believe the $240 a month puts Arizona's ranking at 49th in the nation.

[bluebelt1234]

I think the low pay has motivated me more to do what I need to do to find and keep work. It was kind of a wake up call for me because I do not want to be unemployed ever again. I will take my job more seriously once I do find work. I spend every day in a library or bookstore reading books on job hunting or careers. I send out applications and resumes everyday. I have gone out pavement pounding. I am researching going back to school.

Don't get me wrong, I have struggled on $265 a week. I do think if I were making $500 a week, I could easily become too comfortable and less aggressive in my search for work.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by PhoenixAirConcerns

I believe the $240 a month puts Arizona's ranking at 49th in the nation.

It's per WEEK, not per month. That said, only two states are lower.

That said, I don't know what you mean by the "formula" not changing since the 30's, or where you got that information. The dollar amount certainly has. And, other state's formulas may not have changed since then either, although they have a different formula to start with.

[JGatti]

As someone from another state who was laid off for 10 months and made more than $240 (is that per week) I can tell you even the little more I got here in Michigan was NOT even close enough to make me not look for work. I had 2 car payments, a house payment and a few little bills here and there. We put our house on the market and I looked every day on every job site trying to find any job. Finally the week after we made out mortgage payment late for the first time ever I was called back to work. Unemployment sucks to be on, it screws with your head. It took me a couple of months to shake off the funk of being unemployed. If someone is going to be lazy and milk unemployment no matter how little or how much they make. They are the same people who will find a way to milk the system no matter what.
I think here in Michigan it is based on how much you make and how long you have been employed with a max allowance.

[Boompa]

Originally Posted by PhxBarb

I think this is a disgrace ! How are people supposed to live on $240 a week and feed their families, pay their mortgage, pay health care bills, put gas in their car, and on top of that, of course, search for work. Some states pay double what AZ pays. Sen J Kyl thinks unemployement money is an incentive not to look for work. What in the world is he thinking???

I'm sure Senator Kyl has ties that cost more than that

[las vegas drunk]

Originally Posted by PhxBarb

I think this is a disgrace ! How are people supposed to live on $240 a week and feed their families, pay their mortgage, pay health care bills, put gas in their car, and on top of that, of course, search for work. Some states pay double what AZ pays. Sen J Kyl thinks unemployement money is an incentive not to look for work. What in the world is he thinking???

Unemployment was never meant to be lived off of in the first place. I personally do not even feel it is necessary. I can honestly say now at 35 years old I have never went on employment. I have seen so many people abuse it that it disgusts me.

[OurNextAdventure]

I agree Vegas drunk. People abuse the system. On a truck forum I am on, we have a guy who is making more money on Unemployment than he made working. So he is not looking for a job. That to me is a Pathetic individual. I know he is not the only one either. There are many people who are getting by on unemployment, because they had no real jobs to begin with. It is basically welfare. Lazy people love it; and our economy is not going to come back up until those people stop being lazy, sucking money out of the state and federal Government, and realize they are the problem with our economy.

[las vegas drunk]

Originally Posted by AzDesertRat86

I agree Vegas drunk. People abuse the system. On a truck forum I am on, we have a guy who is making more money on Unemployment than he made working. So he is not looking for a job. That to me is a Pathetic individual. I know he is not the only one either. There are many people who are getting by on unemployment, because they had no real jobs to begin with. It is basically welfare. Lazy people love it; and our economy is not going to come back up until those people stop being lazy, sucking money out of the state and federal Government, and realize they are the problem with our economy.

We have recently had a poster on the Vegas forum who got a low paid job specifically to be laid off in 3 months so she could get unemployment based on her former job. She then got upset when she found out they were going to keep her. She was then asking us for advice on what to do now. If the $240 a week has people in Arizona complaining, maybe they can get off their lazy asses and work like the rest off us.