Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Collecting Unemployment Insurance Benefits Help

By Skip Butner

The unemployment rate is projected to rise in the coming year. We have not yet seen the bottom of the hill we are sliding down. With mass layoffs at large companies, and smaller layoffs with small local businesses, no one is certain of their employment.

For some of those not receiving benefits, there is an understandable explanation. They may have been ineligible to receive benefits, or their benefits may have expired. For many people, however, the reason they are not collecting benefits simply because they do not apply.

If you lose your income, can you keep your finances current? Sometimes a job loss, even if you only spend a few months between jobs, can put you behind on mortgage payments and other bills. Many people can only find work that pays less than the job they left, especially because they need to take the first job they find, and that makes it much harder to catch up on bills. Even when people qualify for state unemployment insurance, the amount they qualify for is usually only enough to pay for groceries, and not enough to make mortgage payments, or to keep the lights turned on!

There are two basic ways to reduce unemployment. One, the conventional solution, is to increase the number of jobs available by somehow creating more jobs, and two, to somehow reduce the total number of currently employed workers in viable jobs; jobs that will need replacement workers. Either one, or a combination, will reduce the unemployment rate.

For some of those not receiving benefits, there is an understandable explanation. They may have been ineligible to receive benefits, or their benefits may have expired. For many people, however, the reason they are not collecting benefits simply because they do not apply.

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