Five myths about unemployment

Five myths about unemployment

I found this on the Opinions page of the Washington Post this morning. Ms. Shierholz's mythbusting makes a lot of sense to me. My dad was a railroad worker, and suffered through several lay offs in his time. The difference then was that he knew he'd be called back to work at some point, so unemployment insurance was just that: insurance that he could keep his family fed during the temporary down times. Full disclosure: my mom also worked full time as a secretary all her adult life, so maybe we were a little bit luckier than some. And it WAS different. I can remember my dad's boss calling him to see how we were doing and to give him updates on when he might get called back in to work. But going from 2 full time incomes - even in the 1960s - down to 1 full time + UI benefits was still mighty tough. In the current economy, there's little breathing room. The statistics consistently say that's there're more job applicants than there are available jobs. It seems pretty clear to me that for a lot of people, myself included, UI benefits are the only thing keeping us from living in our cars. For the time being.

I'm not sure that UI is a big contributor to the economy, but I'd wager it is a factor - on UI, it's a fraction of your previous wages so the full amount is going to be spent, not saved. It's gonna be spent on necessities, like rent and utilities and food, but it's gonna get spent.

The point keeps being tossed out that the longer people are on UI, the less likely they are to actively seek work, that long term access to UI makes people lazy. Sure, I'll concede that there are some folks who have a crummy work ethic. I've worked right alongside them for many years and know how frustrating and infuriating it can be. But if somebody is lazy to start with, they're gonna be that whether they're working or not. I resent being lumped into that category by some six-figure politician who has no idea how the real world works. A separate reality? Not from where I stand. It's the old haves vs. have-nots all over again. The middle class is disappearing, and that's tragic. We're on our way back to the Dark Ages, back to serfs and vassals.

.....Thus ends the Friday rant.....