Understand the big picture
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| Published: | 2014-Feb-25 |
| Last Updated: | 2014-Jun-24 |
| Principal Writer: | Barry Shatzman |
 | Understanding The Issue |
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| The Rumor Mill |
Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act
2014 (S-2532)
Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act2014 (HR-3979)
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What does it mean to be unemployed?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics classifies someone as unemployed if they do not have a job, but have been actively searching for one in past 4 weeks.
After 27 weeks, if they still have not found a job they are considered long-term unemployed.
How long one is unemployed matters
About 4 out of every 10 people who are unemployed have been out of work for more than six months. They are referred to as long-term unemployed.
To put this in perspective, until the start of the Great Recession, the ratio had never exceeded 30 percent since the Great Depression.
Generally, it is harder for someone who is long-term unemployed to find another job. Some reasons for this, according to a 2013 report by the Urban Institute, are...
o Their network of social and professional contacts may diminish as they are removed from the workplace.
o As the effects of being unemployed (lack of resources, stress, family crises, etc) compound, it becomes even harder for someone to get a job.
o Even if someone who has been unemployed long-term does find a job, it may be at a lower skill level and bring in less income than the previous job.
There also are effects to our society as a whole...
o The unemployed workers pay less in taxes - meaning less money to pay for those services. This includes services that everyone might use, such as education and public safety.
Click here to read the Urban Institute's report on the consequences of long-term unemployment.
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