About 3 million unemployed job hunters will exhaust their unemployment benefits this year -- without finding jobs. Nearly 1.4 million have already run out of benefits.
Unemployment benefits, which are paid by the states, run a maximum of 26 weeks – just over 6 months. As a safety net, these benefits are overrated: They average $282 a week (about $1128 a month) nationally. Would that amount of money pay your mortgage? How about the rest of your bills? How long would it take for your bank balances to disappear and for your credit cards to max out?
If you haven’t sat down with a calculator and your stack of monthly bills and figured out the answers to those questions, you may be in for a rude awakening.
By the way, Democrats tried to extend jobless benefits and an increase in food stamp outlays, as a part of the 2008 stimulus package that was signed into law Mid-February. Some Republicans refused to include extended benefits because they think, if people could collect benefits for a longer period, they’d be less likely to search for work. (Take another look at the amount of benefits. Would $1128 a month encourage you to forget job hunting?)
What’s your plan for dealing with an extended period of paychecklessness?
Financial readiness is one of the 5 FireProofing strategies that you must have in place before you are laid off.
Love the plug for a progressive solution!
Posted by: Todd Waymon | March 23, 2008 at 01:35 PM