Unemployment insurance

[frank ryan]

While in the development stage (e.g. coding up the latest iPhone app) there would be no earnings to report.

Ok, I see what you are saying now amigo. This approached worked for jk rowling (albeit she was on the dole, not unemployment)

[Flystripper]

I have an uncle who has been collecting unemployment for almost three years now after he was laid-off. He has no reason he can't work. He's physically and mentally able and has a bachelor's degree. This uncle worked at WinCo during school to pay for bills, and I suggested he could try applying there again. His wife said, "C'mon. He has a degree now? Isn't that a little beneath him?"

Sigh.

So Uncle _____ sits at home playing video games. He has some far-fetched desire to be in politics, but not nearly enough drive or ambition or the "It Factor" to make that happen it seems. From what I can tell, he hasn't actively sought employment the entire time.

How is that even possible? Unemployment runs out after like 9 months

[Scott R Nelson]

I've only been involuntarily removed from the work force twice since I graduated from college (actually, ever). The first time I applied for unemployment and all that. It was a big time suck in my opinion. I was out of work a total of eight days and collected just enough money from unemployment insurance to pay for a nice dinner for my wife and me. I didn't see it as being worth the time to go down to the unemployment office and do all of the stuff they want you to do.

The next time I was out of work for five weeks. I received a little bit of severance pay from that job, since I had been there eight years, so I didn't bother even applying for unemployment. I'm sure that it would have gotten in the way of my job search. I was putting in at least 40 hours per week tracking down my next job. Although I was very annoyed at having been layed off, it turned out to have been the absolute best time for it to happen, at least for the kind of work that I do. I picked the four best companies I thought I might want to work for, got interviews with all of them and got decent job offers from all of them. I don't expect to ever see a job market like that again.

The last time I was unemployed was in 2001 and it was voluntary. I felt the need for a "self-financed sabbatical", so I figured out that even in the worst economy I should be good for at least six months. The economy turned out to be worse than even my worst imagined case, so I started looking again after six months. I checked out unemployment compensation, but since I had quit my last job voluntarily, they were no help. It took two months of active searching to find the job that I have now. I would have still been searching as actively if I had been receiving compensation, though.

My wife's brother is currently out of work and receiving unemployment compensation. He has to turn in evidence of having applied for some number of jobs per week. I can't remember how many, but it's a totally unreasonable amount for anyone in a high-end profession. I guess some of the applications he turns in are things he's totally unqualified for, just to meet the government requirements.

I guess I have mixed feelings as to whether or not unemployment insurance is a good thing. I just hope I don't ever have to deal with it again.

[byu71]

No, I don't. Just like I don't think I should get anything from the government right now for making half of what I was making in '08.

Long way around, do we agree that the safety net for the unemployed should have a deadline on it. I don't know the time, 12 months, 18 months, but it should end.

[Flystripper]

Long way around, do we agree that the safety net for the unemployed should have a deadline on it. I don't know the time, 12 months, 18 months, but it should end.

it does. At least it did for me last year.

[smokymountainrain]

Long way around, do we agree that the safety net for the unemployed should have a deadline on it. I don't know the time, 12 months, 18 months, but it should end.

It should end, and as far as I know, it does in most cases.

[frank ryan]

How is that even possible? Unemployment runs out after like 9 months

Congress keeps giving extensions

[Flystripper]

It should end, and as far as I know, it does in most cases.

I have no idea how people get years of consecutive unemployment short of committing significant fraud. When I was getting it last year it was for 9 months and was set at a predetermined total amount. Every bi-weekly statement had a reconciliation of how much time was remaining on my claim and how much money was left in my claim.

[Flystripper]

Congress keeps giving extensions

sure Congress may have given some extensions recently but there is still a deadline.

[Mrs. Funk]

How is that even possible? Unemployment runs out after like 9 months

I'm not sure the logistics, but I'm confident he's been living off the state for nearly three years now.

[Surfah]

it does. At least it did for me last year.

My benefits ran out after 6 months. I was given the opportunity to file an extension but it would have been for only half the amount that I was collecting previously I believe.

[Portland Ute]

I have an uncle who has been collecting unemployment for almost three years now after he was laid-off. He has no reason he can't work. He's physically and mentally able and has a bachelor's degree. This uncle worked at WinCo during school to pay for bills, and I suggested he could try applying there again. His wife said, "C'mon. He has a degree now? Isn't that a little beneath him?"

Sigh.

So Uncle _____ sits at home playing video games. He has some far-fetched desire to be in politics, but not nearly enough drive or ambition or the "It Factor" to make that happen it seems. From what I can tell, he hasn't actively sought employment the entire time.

This concept of ANY form of employment being BENEATH anyone that has a degree or certificate or none at all is completely confounding to me. It is so far from my mind that I can't even deal with or respect people that push such tripe through their entitled pie holes.

In my profession, it's not always easy to find a great job situation in Utah. Some might argue I would have been better off to go elsewhere. However, we chose Utah. I found a job in my profession, however, I had a very difficult time finding a second job in my line of work for after hours, weekends, etc.

So, since we weren't making a great deal of money, I took odds and end jobs working manual labor and maintenance type jobs to earn money on the side and get ahead to get money for a down payment on a house. ( I won't even start on the housing issue and the sense of entitlement that so many people have for a 6500 SF house etc.)

So, here I was, a guy with a professional degree and an undergraduate degree doing what I could to get ahead. Was it beneath me? No.

I figured it was beneath me to do less.

That being said, things have now worked out great for us. We persevered and I found an opportunity in the area in which we wanted to live and work. I don't have to work side jobs. Life is pretty good.

I have a belief in the law of the harvest. You might have to work your ass off to get what you want, but if you are trying, things will break for you eventually. I think NOTHING is going to change if you are at home playing a fucking video game.

How does someone with a degree figure that collecting unemployment is "beneath" them but working in a job outside of their scope is??? DO NOT GET IT!

End of rant. The people talked about in this thread make me sick. The people in the article...the lazy uncle. Sickening.

[Portland Ute]

What burns me is how some formerly afluent folks are unwilling to take the proverbial shitty job. Isn't any job better than no job?

I probably don't often agree with you, Frank, but in this case, I am 100% with you.

Maybe it's upbringing. I am probably in the "affluent" category right now. However, if things changed, I feel like I'd rather die than be on unemployment for extended periods of time. It's one thing to not be able to find ANY work, it's a completely different thing to not take ANY kind of work.

[thesaint258]

I have an uncle who has been collecting unemployment for almost three years now after he was laid-off. He has no reason he can't work. He's physically and mentally able and has a bachelor's degree. This uncle worked at WinCo during school to pay for bills, and I suggested he could try applying there again. His wife said, "C'mon. He has a degree now? Isn't that a little beneath him?"

Sigh.

So Uncle _____ sits at home playing video games. He has some far-fetched desire to be in politics, but not nearly enough drive or ambition or the "It Factor" to make that happen it seems. From what I can tell, he hasn't actively sought employment the entire time.

That reminds me of a guy I met on my mission. To me, he is the ultimate freeloader. He didn't work because the government paid him more than he could make working. He just sat around all day watching TV and playing video games. When we were at his place one day, he was playing Tomb Raider while his wife read him the guidebook.

Despite all the evidence to the contrary, his family thought he was a genius. He even did his own "translation" of the Bible. It wasn't a real translation in that he just made it rhyme, but his wife and mom thought it was the greatest thing ever. The mom tried to sell his Bible and a book of poetry at church once. It was kind of funny to hear the sisters talk about what went down in Relief Society when she announced that they were for sale. I'll never forget that guy or his wife who gave me food poisoning.

[Surfah]

Being the scummy bleeding heart liberal I am, I support unemployment insurance and I'm not terribly bothered by the extentions. But what does get to me is how or at least loosely enforced the job searching rules are. The UC should help them out while they are hitting pavement and looking for work. What burns me is how some formerly afluent folks are unwilling to take the proverbial shitty job. Isn't any job better than no job?

Not necessarily. When I was handed my RIF letter Gidget was pregnant. My company had long cut medical benefits prior to this to avoid layoffs. I was paying an arm and a leg for private insurance. Now that I was unemployed, I had no means to pay for that insurance. So Gidget and my daughter went on medicaid because prenatal care was a must. I was not eligible because I made too much from unemployment benefits. Gidget was only eligible because she was pregnant. Because of this circumstance I not only needed a job, but I needed something with benefits. I had a job offer in Utah, the pay was about 20% less than what I was making previously, but there were no benefits. We couldn't afford that cut in pay and have to pay out of pocket for this baby. So I turned it down holding out for something better.