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I'm also puzzled why unemployment funds are running dry so fast. Employers have been paying into it for a long time now with low unemployment rates, did the underwriters of that insurance just get filthy rich with all that fund over the years?
In my state, with a lot of seasonal employment, laid off workers always drew out more than employers paid in. The underwriters are the state. Unemployment has been very high for a long time....the funds just aren't there. Rates probably weren't high enough to sustain this kind of unemployment but, were still a strain on a small company. Plus as companies downsized, payrolls were lower so, less employemnt tax was paid into the system as unemployment tax is based on limited payrolls.
The problem is that we expect everyone to work, but there is no need for that big of a workforce. Is it really a good thing to have people doing unnecessary jobs just for the sake of "working"? I don't think so.
Sure, one option is to say "well, too bad, go fend for yourself" - but all that leads to is desperate people who turn to crime. No thanks.
The other option is to accept that there isn't a need for everyone to work, so just provide people who can't/don't with a minimum standard of living that is "comfortable" enough so that they don't feel the need to go out and steal things or whatnot.
The problem is that we expect everyone to work, but there is no need for that big of a workforce. Is it really a good thing to have people doing unnecessary jobs just for the sake of "working"? I don't think so.
Sure, one option is to say "well, too bad, go fend for yourself" - but all that leads to is desperate people who turn to crime. No thanks.
The other option is to accept that there isn't a need for everyone to work, so just provide people who can't/don't with a minimum standard of living that is "comfortable" enough so that they don't feel the need to go out and steal things or whatnot.
That second point is also called extortion. Lets give the unemployed something or they will steal from others. When they do that, put them in prison, lots of work there and they no longer have to worry about paying bills. Since some advocate giving someone something for nothing in return except continued welfare, why not bypass all the mess in the middle and start out with it.
The problem isn't unemployment, the problem is the failure to address the causes of it. Unemployment is a symptom, not a cause. Fix the cause.
Instead of teaching kids that it is okay to have two daddies or mommies, how about teaching them budgeting, writing, reading and arithmetic? Then teach them how to maintain a good work ethic and teach them the skills to be competitive instead of rewarding effort. Reward doing.
There are a lot of people who are unemployed because no one "gave" them a job and they are simply waiting out the system. Wait long enough and bleeding hearts will always find a way to take from others and give it to them.
When someone is long term unemployed they should have to work for benefits. That isn't slavery because they have a choice. When we as a society starting thinking people shouldn't bear any responsibility for their own choices, we ended up with ever extending unemployment benefits.
100% of the time (except for those with disabilities), it is possible for someone unemployed to do something to generate income. It might not be the best of times but that takes effort and sacrifice. People who get handouts usually learn nothing except how to put out their hands.
Our inability to make difficult decisions and accept the hard choices only guarantees that the fewer and fewer who work pay more and more for those that don't.
There is no way out of paying people who do not work. The only way out is paying people to work.
Food stamps
Housing assistance
Medical care
Housing assistance
Free cell phone
Free education
Free public transportation
Yes, all of that is available if you get off the couch and look.
Sure, what should we do for the long term unemployed. Wait, lets give them some more money, that oughta do it.
Oh, let me respond to that! In NY:
Food Stamps: Nope, I made too much to get them, by $7.
Housing Assistance: A stay at the Emergency Shelters, (Possibly). Lose all your possessions, Carry only what you can on your back, stay day to day and have to wait at the SS office all day to find out where they'll place you that night, get robbed at the shelter, wait a year before you have a hope of Section 8... and oh, it's better if you're preggers.
Medical: You made too much for that.
Free cell phone: You don't qualify because you're not getting food stamps
Education: Maybe, but you can only ask for one specialty, better make it good. Will prolly be home health aid.
Free Transportation: No, not to look for a job, just to get back and forth from SS, if you're lucky.
So...my solution was to go temporary. I get long-term temp assignments, with about a month in-between assignments. It sucks. We still eat, but barely have enough to pay the rent. Scratch that, I'm 1 1/2 months behind and facing eviction soon.
Just how did all of your list help? Not at all. I don't mean to sound angry at you, I'm not. It's the system that really gets me p.o.'d.
I hired 3 guys to rip out my weed infested yard and drop new sod. I hated wasting the money but it had to be done before the weeds spread into the neighbors yard. These 3 guys, all European Americans 20 years old, barely got out of high school. They had been bouncing from low wage jobs for 2 years and got together and started a yard care business. They bought old equipment at garage sales, craigslist etc...ad on craigslist and have been struggling for a year but are out there working. They live in a small old house in a rough area of town to save money. This is miserable work in Florida during the summer but they are still pushing along.
I'm not saying everyone can do this type of work, but you would be surprised what 2 or 3 people can come up with as a business when they put their heads together. I wish your friends the best of luck but we have been in a "right sizing" economy for decades and it will not be getting much better in the future.
I don't believe they can't find a job. They just can't find one that meets their standards. If you can't find a job where you are move to where the jobs are otherwise you don't want a job bad enough.
North Dakota has a low unemployment rate because of the energy boom. They can't build houses fast enough. They are so hard up for workers in some places they make a lot of money just to do things like serve food. The hotels/motels are full.
"A low unemployment rate and competition from North Dakota’s oil patch region has local employers struggling to fill thousands of open jobs.Grand Forks staffing agencies and job experts say filling positions has become more difficult for employers, especially in industries such as retail, production, health care and construction.The allure of high wages in the oil patch is pulling workers out of the Grand Forks market, according to Tom Fetch, a business service consultant with Job Service North Dakota’s Grand Forks office.The situation is exacerbated by low unemployment. Grand Forks County recorded an unemployment rate of 3.4 percent last month —- half the national rate."
"North Dakota’s unprecedented oil boom has helped boost the state’s median household income above the national average and positively impacted salaries to its sister state to the south, demographers in the Dakotas say...North Dakota has gone from the nation’s ninth-biggest oil producer in 2006 to the second, behind only Texas. The state has some 22,000 more jobs than takers and the lowest unemployment rate in the nation, at less than 3 percent. Energy-related jobs also have helped neighboring states where businesses there are catering to North Dakota’s Oil Patch and out-of-state residents are flocking to fill unfilled jobs. “We’re seeing a huge spillage effect happening throughout the region,” Iverson said. “This is a good thing all the way around because we don’t have the resident workforce to deal with all of this.”
You don't have to work in the oil industry. You can work in the supporting industries (restaurants, health, retail, construction, etc.) for the people that come there to work in the oil industry
The responsibility is theirs. Unemployment insurance exists not to be "generous" and long-lasting, but to get those who lost jobs through no fault of their own over the hump.
If they have "basic skills" and are employable, then they should be able to find a job. It may not be to their liking, and it might be a step down, but they are out there. Many people who've found themselves unemployed have done that, BTW. There are also many who continue to look solely for jobs "in their fields" and thus dismiss those basic skills that are always transferable and which make them employable.
I have a slightly different idea for the long term unemployed.
Government should provide tax credits for hiring the bona fide long term unemployed. Not the currently employed, not someone's brother in law. True long term unemployed. Have this tax credit available for up to 5 yrs.
If the now newly hired employee loses their job again, the tax credits would need to be PAID back in full.
This would work better than any bailouts.
I was just about to suggest the same thing (Great Minds, Easybreezy?). I actually did mention this idea at a town meeting, to my Congessman, who basically said "next question?" and moved on. Nice. Compared to some tax credits available to businesses, this is one that actually makes sense. As it stands, employers like to hire people who are already employed. The longer you're out of work, the harder it is to get back in the workforce.
I know how to ship something. I am wondering about offering web services such as web development. I am currently learning how to construct maps. I can offer that service, or at least enter data in.
Right now I have a literary project I am trying to finish.
Good luck on the literary project. Re web development, you can find a ton of books on this subject at the library. "For Dummies" type stuff will get you started.
Sadly, though, web development is becoming more and more novice-friendly, with many drag-and-drop website builders with all of the trimmings and plug-ins that eliminate the need for third-party help. A couple of them are even free. When I first lost my job in 2009 (I haven't found regular, full-time work since), I started a small web development business but by early 2012 I had so few new clients and so much competition that I folded. The time I was putting in wasn't paying out and it began to interfere with other efforts. I do some online retailing now, at art fairs and through Etsy because I have some talent at reimagining used furniture and other objects. Business is exceptionally unpredictable, though, and the work is time-consuming for what profit I make. Going "junking" is fun, I have to say. More like entertainment than work.
I have a suggestion for brave unemployed professionals -- mortuary school. Talk about a guaranteed growth industry! It's a short program and not too expensive -- I don't have a school near enough for me to attend or I'd do it myself. I know a former banker who did this after a layoff and three years later is a full partner in a funeral home, earning a comfortably middle-class income. Family-run homes are often willing to take on unpaid apprentices, so you can learn the business and test your stomach before you commit to the education.
One thing I'm doing now is looking closely at local periodicals, the news, Craigslist, whatever, and identifying goods and services that there seems to be an unmet need for in my area. Even if I have to start very small, I may find a niche to fill. After years of frustration in a fruitless run-of-the-mill job search, I'm over any fear I had (it was a little intimidating) of making my own thing happen.
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