I have been told that there is very little oversight to determine whether people are aggressively seeking work. I have heard of people purposely putting something on their applications or saying something in the interview that will ensure that they will not get the job. Other people simply apply for jobs they are not qualified to perform. It is really very easy to milk the system and millions of people are doing it. They figure that they have paid their dues and it is time to reap the rewards.
In Florida, the MAXIMUM is like 250 a week even if you used to make 500k a year. In some states a guy who made 50k a year is getting 600 bucks a week. It doesn't have much to do with what you "paid in" but more the generosity of your states unemployment system. Sure, there is the question of "cost of living" but usually in urban areas. You can't tell me the cost of living is lower in Miami than it is in rural New York state?
OK. It would be hard I suppose to go from 500K to 250 a week! I wanted to mention that in my comments I didn't mean to imply that I necessarily agree with the system at all - also I have never been on unemployment or any govt. help so I am not the type that has lived off govt. or anything. I guess in my comments I just wanted to mention that I see how it could happen that a guy maybe made say 100K a year and had been with his co. for a while, and now looking for jobs is only offered jobs from say 50-70K range - on unemployment (for example in CA), he would probably make as much to just turn those jobs down - again, I'm not saying it's a good system, just the way that it seems to be right now. JJacksET4
The benefits need to be tied to working on some kind of infrastructure improvement jobs, work crews in the national forests, anything really. If the money is going to be spent let's get some return on it and all the sudden those low paying jobs don't look as bad anymore when the alternative is labor instead of staying home.
First job they should do is repeal NAFTA and impose a tariff to equalize labor costs among our trading partners. What we have now is NOT free markets. By LAW an American worker will not be working for less than 7.25 an hour while the minimum wage in Mexico is 4.48 usd PER DAY. OUR GOVERNMENT is preventing a free market by allowing free trade with a nation whose wages are 1/12th of ours due to minimum wage laws. It doesn't take a rocket surgeon to figure out why there is a huge unemployment issue.
It's a gambling game. Do you turn down that lower paying job now and ride out the benefits "hoping" you get something closely better, or "take what you can get" for a while and try to live off of it... Or do you get a better skill set or get into something that potentially can pay a lot more... The system is screwed. Then again it never was even to begin with.
If you want free trade you should want both countries to drop the minimum wage, not to impose more barriers like tariffs. That would create more unemployment in both countries.
When they stop the checks you'll see pikers by the droves filling every job available. It's human nature to be lazy and dishonest. Kind of hard to blame them when they see everyone including huge Fortune 500 cos. getting bailed out. The fat ass lazy slob is ruining this once great land. Rennick Reagen out
The purpose of unemployment insurance is to give a laid off employee time to find a comparable position. Not to trade a six figure job that's gone to India for a Walmart vest. The image chosen to represent people receiving unemployment insurance benefits - a stoner drooling on the sofa - is insulting
It didn't seem to have the efeect you claim it will when it was standard operating procedure BEFORE NAfTA.