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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsKrugman: Writing Off the Unemployed
Back in 1987 my Princeton colleague Alan Blinder published a very good book titled Hard Heads, Soft Hearts. It was, as you might guess, a call for tough-minded but compassionate economic policy. Unfortunately, what we actually got especially, although not only, from Republicans was the opposite. And its difficult to find a better example of the hardhearted, softheaded nature of todays G.O.P. than what happened last week, as Senate Republicans once again used the filibuster to block aid to the long-term unemployed.
What do we know about long-term unemployment in America?
First, its still at near-record levels. Historically, the long-term unemployed those out of work for 27 weeks or more have usually been between 10 and 20 percent of total unemployment. Today the number is 35.8 percent. Yet extended unemployment benefits, which went into effect in 2008, have now been allowed to lapse. As a result, few of the long-term unemployed are receiving any kind of support.
Second, if you think the typical long-term unemployed American is one of Those People nonwhite, poorly educated, etc. youre wrong, according to research by the Urban Institutes Josh Mitchell. Half of the long-term unemployed are non-Hispanic whites. College graduates are less likely to lose their jobs than workers with less education, but once they do they are actually a bit more likely than others to join the ranks of the long-term unemployed. And workers over 45 are especially likely to spend a long time unemployed.
What do we know about long-term unemployment in America?
First, its still at near-record levels. Historically, the long-term unemployed those out of work for 27 weeks or more have usually been between 10 and 20 percent of total unemployment. Today the number is 35.8 percent. Yet extended unemployment benefits, which went into effect in 2008, have now been allowed to lapse. As a result, few of the long-term unemployed are receiving any kind of support.
Second, if you think the typical long-term unemployed American is one of Those People nonwhite, poorly educated, etc. youre wrong, according to research by the Urban Institutes Josh Mitchell. Half of the long-term unemployed are non-Hispanic whites. College graduates are less likely to lose their jobs than workers with less education, but once they do they are actually a bit more likely than others to join the ranks of the long-term unemployed. And workers over 45 are especially likely to spend a long time unemployed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/10/opinion/krugman-writing-off-the-unemployed.html?hp&rref=opinion&_r=0
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Krugman: Writing Off the Unemployed (Original Post)
spanone
Feb 2014
OP
LWolf
(46,179 posts)1. But...But...6.6%! Why aren't we celebrating?!? nt
ProSense
(116,464 posts)3. Kick! n/t
Barack_America
(28,876 posts)4. "You will take what you can get and you will like it."
That's the message behind the unemployment cuts. No more holding out for a living wage, benefits or job satisfaction. The unemployed will take what the corporations offer or they will perish.
The youth, who have never known any better, accept this more easily. The cut in long-term unemployment benefits is an effort to ram this message down the throats of older workers.