Well, due to my husbands job, when he was laid off in the past, he'd max out the unemployment amount.  For example, normally he brings home a NET check of anywhere between $1700-$2400 every 2 weeks.  Unemployment only will pay a maximum of $416 per week (that is from 2 years ago, which is the last time he collected.  This time he didn't even bother and we used our emergency fund to cover his lay off as well as him taking on extra side jobs like roofing and handyman work).

The medical welfare is a good one as it's all paid for by the state, but to go on welfare due to it, Jesse would have to lose his job which in turn we'd lose our house.

For us, it's definately not worth it!  But some here DO abuse the system.  Which is unfortunate because currently there are many who need it due to no fault of their own.  Fortunately, there are companies like my husband works for that do week long layoffs here and there in order for them to keep them operating and the workers in their jobs.  

I am VERY grateful every single day!

Lefty wrote on Jul 10^th, 2009 at 7:50am:


Not in my experience.  When the real estate market collapsed here about 2 years ago, I was made redundant and got unemployment insurance for a short period while looking for a new job.  The unemployment benefits were less than 1/3 of my previous salary - it provided a buffer while looking for a new job, but sure didn't encourage me to stay unemployed. There is also usually a time limit - after 8 months or a year, no more unemployment.  These policies vary from state to state ... some may be more generous, others may be rather stingy.

For those accustomed to a good paying job with good benefits it doesn't match up.  However, for those on the lower rungs of the ladder when housing assistance and food stamps and Aid For Dependent Children gets thrown in it can be more than a minimum wage job pays.  Often even a bit higher than that.

As Brew said, it is enough to eak out a meager existence, but to those who are to lazy to make something of themselves it is a way to get by.

I had to take unemployment one time, and could not wait to get off of it.  I felt like I had to hang my head when I deposited the check in the bank.  I qualified for food stamps, but refused to take them. 

Unemployment insurance is something you pay for (via your employer), so it is not charity, and there is nothing wrong with using it when needed.  I was just raised with the idea that you earned what you got, and could not get by the idea of getting it for nothing.

Jerry

Callico wrote on Jul 10^th, 2009 at 10:22am:


Jerry, I couldn't have summed it up better myself. You captured the very essence of my angst. I totally understand the difficulties faced by recently laid off people with family. Social security payments will never cover the cost of bills , mortgage payments and daily living costs.

The social security payments in the UK are very bad indeed. A single man or woman will only receive $90 per week compared to the $283 you get in the Irish republic. In the last year alone a little village in Co.Cavan (pop:1100) bordering N.Ireland reported it had 3100 on it's unemployment registrar. The figures just don't add up, we call them benefit tourists over here. Why work when you can just pop over the border and get a decent enough wage for doing sweet Fanny Adams.

I don't know if it was reported in the States but recently in Belfast a large amount of Eastern Europeans were intimidated out of their homes by a group of racists thugs. Unfortunately the same story is being reported all over Ireland. The same old excuses for their actions were spouted i.e. " They are taking all our jobs" but if you were to ask one of these thugs to apply for a hotel or hospital porter job they would laugh in your face or more likely punch you in it.

I think more pressure should be put on these people to actually get of their arses and contribute to society. Schemes similar to which Kevin M mentioned like $5000 can be applied for toward retraining and schooling. We do have training schemes over here but there a bit of a joke. They basically a ploy by the Government  to get numbers  of the live registrar so it doesn't look as bad.




Lefty...!

Lefty wrote on Jul 10^th, 2009 at 4:19pm:


Yeah, I guess being a gigolo is always an option, and it's not really work. At least not if you do it right.

If you have had the unfortunate bit of bad luck to have been caught in the whirlpool of the recent down turn and have paid into the unemployment insurance program than you should feel no shame in receiving funds that is part of an agreement that you participated in. It is an agreement.

Also, I have no problem with providing assistance for training or re-training and along with that additional funds to help one through the rough patches. It's part of being Human and our ability to experience empathy. After all, helping someone from being a taker verses a life of stability and becoming a giver is most certainly preferred.

But along with being human some may do the math and choose to work the system instead of working in general. I mean, why bother when you have several layers of social mechanisms standing by to facilitate the notion of just getting by. The net provided has a tendency to become a bed in which offers a slight bit of comfort and at the same time destines one to atrophy and ultimately resulting in an inability to get out of the bed of complacency entirely.

Generations, having been raised in this nanny state have resulted in an ever doomed segment of society blocked out slightest notion of living any differently. The concept of rising above is limited to the few and those without that slight bit of hope and courage are left to continue in an unproductive existence.

On our trips the the Smokys, we cannot help but notice the incredible infrastructure built by the folks who signed up to work for the CCC and WPA programs of the depression years. We drive through City Park in New Orleans and notice the dates, in relief, on the structures built by our ancestors.

I guess I am one of the many bad things some can say about my cruel beliefs.  I am however perplexed about why, when there is so much to do, do we not insist something in return for the generosity.

Again, there is some much that needs to be repaired, built and provided. What's wrong with requiring input? I am certain that the stone masons, along with all the other bridge building participants, walked away from those beautiful arched works of art with a sense of pride, worth, accomplishment and the invaluable knowledge gathered in that journey.

This is not even possible today. What a total loss. What a prison.

I'd rather be dead.

Steve G

Hey Lefty,

My sis is in South Wales and yes, it was the same. She had to leave uni in her 2nd year after becoming pregnant with my nephew. She wanted to return but the uni creche had an 18mth waiting list and she couldn't get extra funding or student loan to help with private childcare if she returned as a student.

However, when she had Ollie, she was just classed as 'unemployed' and got full benefits which were WAY over what she would have needed just to cover childcare while she studied! She did go to work when he was a year old and has struggled ever since. She couldn't finish her teaching degree and now works for a car insurance company. Admittedly, after 3 years there, she's now in their training and development team doing something similar to her uni training, but the salary is nowhere near what she would earn as a teacher (and not her dream career either).

It seems to me that if you're wanting to help yourself or better yourself, the UK govt make it more difficult, or rather easier to get money for nothing. I still wonder that if my sister wasn't the kind of person she is, where would her incentive have been to better herself and get out in the world.

For all those who are in the position of redundancies etc, I am all in favour of a system that supports people in times of need - I'm not bashing people who need this, especially at the moment. But I do question people who abuse the system, and the system itself, which seems flawed.

PS - Cav - my sis was almost 20 when she had my nephew. She never became eligible for a house or a flat from the council because she wasn't high enough on the priority list. She was living with my parents and then renting the most horrible flat in the whole world. So it's not a guarantee that yourIn the end, she gave up asking because it had been over 2 years and she decided to start saving for a house. She's just put an offer in on her first house yesterday. Fingers crossed.

Wisconsin's maximum Unemployment benefit is $363.00/wk with an additional payment of $25.00/wk federal stimulus payment for a total of $388.00/wk.  Even if a person had made 80K a year and gets laid off, this is the max one can get.  This is with no taxes withheld.

Like Christy's sister, I've also applied/sent resumes to hundreds of jobs, had a few interviews, but yes there are at least 200 others, many times more, who are in competition for the same spot.

I just learned this week that the Mid Level Manager that put my neck in the noose and hung me out to dry last fall was let go Thursday himself in the latest round of layoffs. 

Wonder what happened to his company paid Cadillac?