Why some stay on Unemployment / welfare

Florida's maximum unemployment benefits are $275 per week. There's very few jobs that pay less than that, so your argument just isn't realistic. No one is getting $600 per week in unemployment.

 

In Washington State, the unemployment benefits are based on a percentage of the wages you earned in the previous 12 months. I have received the benefits, after I had a high-paying job (about 16 years ago). My benefits paid me the equivalent of $6.50 per hour, when Washington's minimum wage was only $5.25 per hour. Naturally, I stayed on unemployment (while obeying the rules to search for a job) until my benefits expired. The next day, I was hired at a job that paid me $5.75 per hour. I got that job without the assistance of the State too!

I would also comment that most of the jobs I was required by the State to apply for, I was not really qualified for. As an example, I was required to apply for a management position at the local electric company. (As an explanation, I was a manager in the USAF for several years before I retired. The state said I could be a manager anywhere with that experience.) The position required 10 years experience in the electric industry (but much more job-specific than I remember!!). I had no such electrical experience! But I still applied, and of course was rejected.

BTW, I spent a lot of time during that six months working on a church building. I see it as God providing me an income while He needed my hands to work on His house. (And, no, I do NOT like construction work! I still did it!).

So I totally agree with the OP!

Bill :godisgood:

 

I would wholly disagree with you & ask if you yourself are unemployed (so you have frame-of-reference)? If not, sign into the Unemployed Friends Blog & start walking in their shoes. Given that perspective, I'm pretty sure you will change your mind in short order. Anyway, I can see this thread becoming contentious so I choose to retreat from it. May God work to enlighten you. Blessings to all!:jesus:

 

Preferring to stay on welfare/unemployment when jobs are available is a characteristic of the trash class. Anyone disagree?

 

Why stay on unemployment? It pays.
The system is broken. Both sides have made it so. But the Dems are smartly trying to hang the lapsed unemployment benefits squarely around the neck of the GOP. I'm telling you, the GOP lets this election cycle go by without making solid gains, and they're finished. The Dems have handed them the midterms on a silver platter, and if they don't take advantage, watch out.

But, of course, it's a long time til November.

 

You fail to realize that there are many who are without a job that don't get any unemployment benefits at all.

The last time I was on unemployment benefits was back in the early 90's. Yea, it was kind of nice getting a check while sitting home, except that I knew the benefits were limited. And if I waited till near the end and the job I took didn't work out, there was nothing left. I was drawing benefits for about six weeks, then I found a job and took it.

 

I'm glad I have this board to remind me that it is really is the poor's fault that they are both poor and needy.

 

As someone who was unemployed immediately after 9/11, I know what it's like to look for a job for an extended period of time.

Because of some contract work that I did during part of the year prior to my unemployment, I was not eligible for unemployment benefits, so I had to sell possessions and take any job I could get to scrape by.

I had never had any trouble finding a job prior to that time. The longest I had previously been unemployed was two weeks.

Throughout the five months I was unemployed, I applied for all kinds of part-time and full-time jobs... Manual labor, flipping burgers, teaching at the local community college, a PR job (which I was qualified for), etc.

Throughout the entire five months, I was only able to get two interviews, one of which I essentially talked myself into with the personnel manager of the local newspaper when I was turning in my resume and their application form. She flatly stated that I was wrong for the part-time job and they would not be able to hire me (I suspect it was because I was white male and they needed another gender/ethnicity). Fortunately, the second interview I was able to get resulted in a six week hiring process leading to the job I have now.

But what I ran into, time and time again, was that I had too much education (they were not looking for people with graduate work) and experience to get any of the fast food jobs or manual labor because they suspected I wouldn't stick around when a better job opened up.

While I was working a bunch of little jobs for people in my network (delivering things, helping people move, doing security surveys, freelance writing for magazines, etc.), I had a bunch of well-meaning people giving me advice:

- "You just need to go work for the city." (Uh, yeah. I told the city I was available, but they weren't interested.)

- "You need to swallow your pride and work at a fast food place." (I had no pride left and had my resume/applications out at a number of fast food places. They just assumed that because teenagers with no experience could get jobs there, that management would hire anyone.)

- "You aren't trying hard enough. If you really wanted a job, you would have one." (I was putting about 50 hours a week into my job search, so I'm not sure what else I could have done. Furthermore, I was working a number of little random jobs for relatively little money, so I'm not sure why they thought I wasn't motivated.)

- "When the money runs out, you'll settle on something." (The "money" had already run out and I would have settled for anything if there was anything to settle on.)

- "I see help wanted signs everywhere. You ought to try those places." (Often they couldn't remember specifics regarding the businesses that had these signs posted, but when they could, most of the time I had already spoken with those businesses.)


Unless you've been unemployed during a particularly bad economic time, I'm not sure you can understand the dynamics of trying to find a job when almost no one is hiring.

 

Excellent post. The disconnect from reality many of the employed have (see the OP) is alarming. To even lump UE benefits with welfare is ignorant.

 

I'm glad I have this board to remind me that it is really is the poor's fault that they are both poor and needy.

Someone has to remind the koolaide drinkers about reality.

 

In many cases it is through neglect, poor work habits, poor lifestyle choices etc. It is in error to assume otherwise.

 

Why don't you comment on BaptistBeliever's posting?

 

I did!!!!!

 

Agree that it is very difficult for most middle aged people to change occupations. I can't think of a solution for that situation. A guy who has been welding car bodies for 30 years . . . train him to be a shoe salesman working on commission?

 

Bapt Believer is correct.

I've been there. I've been in the "Golly, you're way overqualified, but thanks/"Sorry, when you get qualified come back and see us" spot. That said, I know of a physical therapist who works at WalMart because he can't get another job and a fellow who used to own his own realty company who now stocks shelves at Lowe's.

I digress. The days of companies willing to hire someone just to have a warm body is pretty well over. Even the burger flip jobs are picky because the single biggest expense for most companies is hiring a person.

 

No you didn't. Just your usual, shall I say stuff?

Comment about people who are out of work with no job outlook, and close to being put out on the street?

 

Yea, Rob another compassionate minister of Christ......NOT!

Anyway take a look at this , its a graphic depiction of the unemployment situation as it spreads across the country from April 07 to March 2010......shocking!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T6vuoQdY6Q

 

Interesting but unexpected. The most unemployment is where the most employment is/was.