I got laid off from my job two
weeks ago. The first thing I did, on the first day after my contract
ended—right after I got out of bed, before I showered, got dressed or had
breakfast—was file for unemployment insurance, because I knew that it takes two
weeks to receive your first check and, like 40% of the country (according to
Time magazine http://business.time.com/2012/08/22/a-huge-number-of-us-have-no-financial-safety-net/,
but I still think that number is too low), I live from paycheck to paycheck.
When I didn’t receive my first
check this week, I called the New York State Department of Labor and was told
that there was no record of my claim. Apparently, I had made a mistake when
applying for a new claim on their Web site, but since there are so many people
unemployed right now, it took me two days just to get someone on the phone to
ask a question.
All of this is just a tempest in a
teapot, however.
The larger issue is, How is anyone
in New York supposed to survive on a maximum of $405 a week?
The last time I was laid off, a
former boss of mine emailed me three days later with a job offer. Due to the
incompetence of that company’s HR department (and the Christmas holidays),
however, it still took four weeks for me to actually be hired. Even though I
found another job almost immediately, I still had to borrow $900 in order to pay my rent.
This is why I go crazy when
Republicans start talking about people “living on unemployment.” As if that was
even possible!
The other thing that drives me
crazy is how companies define “immediately.”
When I say I’m looking to start
work immediately, I mean, right now.
Corporations have another idea of what that means. I just had an interview
where the company told me it takes them two months to hire someone. What position am I applying for?
Keeper of the Nuclear Code? Do I need a security clearance from the C.I.A. just
to be a proofreader?
The system has become so rigged in
favor of the top 1%, it’s reached a point of no return. Companies are now
routinely rewarded for destroying jobs. These same companies then pay off
politicians (in the form of campaign contributions) to create tax breaks for
them so they can make even more money.
And then the banks (and other, more dubious “financial institutions”) swoop in
to make even more money as people
left scrambling for any means of support resort to credit cards and payday
loans in order to put food on the table.
They say that it takes one month
for every $10,000 of salary in order to find a job. And that, I presume, is
during a good economy. Right now I have
two friends who have been unemployed for over a year. And neither of them were
hedge fund managers.
When you’re living paycheck to
paycheck, being out of work for even one week can be catastrophic.
I would even be OK with
unemployment insurance providing more
money for a shorter period of
time. That would at least allow people to get back on their feet. The current
system barely provides enough money to eat and pay a few bills. It’s not enough to also be able to pay one’s rent. (And God
forbid you have a car.)
As far as I’m concerned, “living
on unemployment” isn’t even an option.
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