This is a funny little video that kind of explains the eligibility for unemployment benefits. I will go into further detail later:
Contestant 1 was laid off and says nobody is hiring so she hasn’t even looked for work.
Contestant 2 lost their job and said they were looking but stopped.
Contestant 3 was laid off as a pilot but got another job at The Home Depot, which counts as a part-time job
Contestant 4 (WINNER) lost her job but says that she has been looking in the Classifieds for the past week. She counts as a part of the 10% unemployment rate because she has been looking for a job.
In the end, contestant 4 asks why the others did not qualify as unemployed and the response is that if we included the other millions of people who were jobless in America
Eligibility for unemployment includes:
- Jobless with no fault of their own
- Able of labor
- Available for work
- Actively in search of work
- Willing to accept any fitting work
I think the issue of unemployment is so complex and also very interesting. I just learned from your blog about the criteria for being unemployed. I didn’t know that if you weren’t looking for a job you weren’t considered officially unemployed. I haven’t really entered the work force, other than being a camp counselor, but it seems like if I looked for a job in the classifieds or around my town for a month, I might take a break from that for a while. It really surprised me that people who aren’t TECHNICALLY looking for a job are not included in the nation’s unemployment rate. What does it really mean to be unemployed? Do people who are officially unemployed get treated differently than those who are not currently looking for a job, but are unemployed? I look forward to reading your blog to gain more knowledge on this subject. Unemployment is an issue that really does affect everyone. If you aren’t the person looking for the job, you’re the mother of someone unemployed, or you’re the employer who unfortunately has to lay people off due to budget cuts. It’s an especially important topic for college students, like us, because we are going to graduate from this fine university and hopefully find a good job. Currently, graduation date seems more dreadful and discouraging than uplifting. Every single college student can only HOPE that a job will be waiting for them upon graduation.
ReplyDeleteThanks for showing interest in my blog Lacey LaPlant. Being unemployed means that you are capable and interested in working, however it is difficult and you are not employed by any company. In order to receive unemployment benefits one must be actively searching for another job. The United States Labor Department considers an unemployed person as someone who lost a job with no fault of their own. So if you were fired because of a mistake or foul play in the workplace then you were simply fired, not unemployed. However if you were laid-off from your job you could possibly be a candidate. Technically those who are laid-off from their original jobs and have to move on to a part-time job are not considered unemployed because they are getting in hours and making some kind of income. The unemployment rate today is around 10%; if we counted the others who work part-time the unemployment rate would double. To be "officially unemployed" you must fill out an unemployment application and prove to the U.S. Dept. of Labor that you are actively filling out job applications and receiving no job offers in return. My mom actually has a friend who considers herself to be "professionally unemployed". That is, she fills out applications for jobs that she is either TOO qualified for, or not qualified enough for. She then receives no offers in return, files for unemployment benefits, and ultimately makes more money than my mom does in her REAL JOB. It's a shame that it is really so simple and people take advantage of our taxes. Because in the end it is really our tax money that the government is using for these benefits. I wouldn't say that people who are officially unemployed get special treatment compared to those who are simply not looking for a job, it's just a matter of being qualified for such treatment. If you are not looking for a job then you are causing your own unemployment, not the economy. I hope that this cleared up a few or your questions and thanks for reading!!
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