'Growing Underclass' Of Long-Term Unemployed

[peace frog]

Source: New York Times

January 14, 2010, 12:46 pm

A Growing Underclass

By CATHERINE RAMPELL

Slowly but surely, longer-term unemployment seems to be becoming the norm.

While layoffs are slowing, the number of job openings relative to the unemployed population were still at a record low in November.

That means that those who have already been laid off must spend longer and longer periods looking for work.

In December 2008, 22.9 percent of the unemployed had been out of work for at least 27 weeks. A year later, that portion rose to 39.8 percent. That translates to having about 4 percent of the total civilian work force categorized as long-term unemployed.

The average person who was unemployed in December had been out of work for 29.1 weeks. By contrast, when the recession began two years earlier, the average unemployed person had been out of work for 16.5 weeks.

I would guess that these numbers might even understate the portion of Americans who lost their jobs long ago and have not been able to find work, as many of the laid-off have most likely dropped out of the labor force altogether after months of discouraging job searches.


Read more: http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/a-growing-underclass/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+creditwritedownsnews+(Credit+Writedowns%27+News+Feed)

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Graphics at linky...:(

[Royal Sloan 09]

1. K & R nt

[Gormy Cuss]

2. ANd it doesn't speak to the underemployed-- people working only part time rather than full. n/t

[Dappleganger]

11. +1

Or working in positions for which they're way overqualified.

[DisgustedInMN]

3. It's hard to..

.. explain how being longterm unemployed affects you, in a meaningful way to those who haven't ever experienced it. Some of you folks should try to remember that the next time you tell us to be "patient."

Just sayin'

[proudohioan]

12. I hear you!!!!

I'm suffering from some kind of depressive funk that I just can't seem to shake. I don't remember EVER being this down, negative, cynical, fatigued and hopeless.

I avoid talking to my aunt for your same reasons; I can no longer handle her cheerleader chants of "be patient", "this is only temporary" and the ever popular "maybe you should see a doctor about going on some anti-depressants".

She means well, but she just doesn't get it.

t

[DisgustedInMN]

14. If I...

... hear "just hang in there" one more time, I think I'll scream. And in the meantime...

Our Democrat Majority fiddles.

:(

[nashville_brook]

4. i'm a designer/writer -- usually work in marketing or publishing -- each time i've been

between jobs it's been for at least 6 months, and as long as 2 and a half years this last time (with a weird contract gig thrown in there for 6 months). i have more than 15 years experience, so, when i lose a job, it's nearly impossible to find another.

luckily i've been able to be productive during those lulls -- but it's nothing like actually having a job.

my point, i guess, is that we've been in a contracting jobs economy for a long time. it's not just "now." and, i don't think it's going to go away. a hundred years ago, this was called 'machines taking the place of humans.' now it's just 'increased productivity,' which is another word for one person doing 5 people's jobs. there's no magic "increase in productivity" whereby my life gets easier b/c of the miracle of technology. there's lost jobs -- good, blue collar jobs that you get out of high school (like printing and pre-press) without having to put your future into hawk with student loans.

this underclass has been growing since i graduated high school in 1984. this is not new, and it's not going away.

[DBoon]

10. in an unjust economy, "increased productivity" means

the owners of the productivity get more control over their workers.

I read somewhere if the minimum wage in 1967 tracked inflation and productivity growth, it would be $20/hour now

[nashville_brook]

16. Elizabeth Warren wrote an excellent book on this called The Two Income Trap --

she cites enormous increases in non-negotiable expenses like house, healthcare and education while at the same time we've had stagnant income growth (at best). So, we've gone from having single-income families to dual-income families just to stay afloat.

This last "housing" bubble was also a product of this as people borrowed against their real estate holdings in order to pay for surgeries, college and necessary repairs. With the appearance of "easy" money, people saw an opportunity to finally do some of the things they couldn't afford for decades. Everyone seemed to be rushing around in a consumer frenzy, but it wasn't all about goodies. It was largely stuff people needed, and had put off.

Here in Florida, when the hurricanes hit in 2003, many people found that their insurance didn't cover all the costs of fixing their roofs, and turned to home refinancing just to make their houses livable again. Now they're upside down on their LTV. It's really sad.

[proudohioan]

17. Another excellent point in the book

is the vulnerability of 2 incomes, and what happens to families when one of the income earners loses their income.

[Lorien]

19. Sadly I know of many families who are out of BOTH incomes now. nt

[whattheidonot]

22. less jobs.

Increased productivity means less jobs. The idea of increased productivity is less jobs. or less pay for the same job when based on product out the door. This cuts the labor costs, which is a big cost. The down side of this is that while the company and its shareholders do well the customer base of the society shrinks and is shifted into a lower class buyer.
machines and technology make 5 jobs 2 jobs which is once again good for the company but leaves people stranded. We have come to value productivity over all other considerations. productivity is the pie in the sky that industrial nations chase. managers chase it and are paid according to it. The stress of the workplace is about productivity to the point of backfiring when not handled properly. It has a huge down side in human terms that is hard to speak of in our society.

[fasttense]

27. Productivity is a rigged number.

You are right about the cost issue. The less a corporation pays for labor the higher their productivity numbers look.

But what is really happening is that jobs are moved to the cheapest labor markets, be they child, prison or slave wage labor. Then the manufactured items and components are brought back to the US (maybe put together here) and sold here so it looks like their productivity numbers are up. But they aren't up. Corporations have just managed to find a cheaper labor source outside the US. Then they turn around and sell their crap here in the US for the same price (maybe with a little discount thrown in to appease the ever dwindling number of consumers and to undercut any homegrown competition).

Outsourcing jobs is a win win for corporations but once the consumer markets shrivels up due to lack of jobs, where do they go? They think they can move to India and China and sell their crap their. But those markets will never be as large as the US market were in 2007. But they don't care. They are using up all the American wealth all our resources for immediate profits and long term sustainable production be damn.

[butterfly77]

28. Does anyone know if you can claim..

an adult as a dependent if they didn't work that much last year but they lived in the same house as the majority wage earner.

[Delphinus]

32. And

wouldn't $20 an hour be more like what it takes to live in this society? It boggles my mind that it's only $7.25 per hour. No one can live on that!

[LiberalEsto]

24. I'm a writer too

I worked more than 25 years as a newspaper reporter, then 7 years as a part-time marketing writer. I haven't had an assignment in 15 months, and no prospects of any in the future. Serious freelance writing assignments have vanished -- I read somewhere that 31,000 reporters and editors lost their jobs last year and there is an extraordinary amount of competition for what little freelance work there is.

When I was a kid in the early 1960s, I dreamed of following in the footsteps of Lois Lane on the Superman tv show.

Now, at 57, and unable to do physical work or work that involves standing, I dream of finding a halfway decent part-time job before I'm old enough to retire.

[bvar22]

5. Don't Worry.

The new NAFTA "Free Trade" jobs will start kicking in any time now.
Its only been 16 years, and these things take a little time.
.
.
.
.
Yep. ANY time now.


Oh, by the way.
Obama and The Democrats are working on a NEW "Pacific Rim Free Trade Zone".
THAT should speed things up!
:party:
.
.
.
Any day now.

[DisgustedInMN]

6. Thanks!

That just what we needed to hear! :sarcasm:

[Mithreal]

8. delete

found what I was looking for

[ShockediSay]

7. Pretty well kills the prosperity of a consumer driven economy

Of course the investment, insurance and banker types
will be able to build their manna type houses.

[undeterred]

9. I have been out seven months.

What kills me is that some recruiters/managers are only looking to hire someone with "recent experience". It sounds reasonable, but it means that they think currently unemployed people are shit.

[scubadude]

13. I've seen a lot of jobs looking for experience "in the last 6 months"...

Why would it matter if you've been 7 months unemployed vs 6?

Scuba

[CoffeeCat]

29. I'm screwed then...

I know I'm screwed, but your post puts a finer point on it.

I was a PR director. I worked mainly in the high-tech and biotech fields.

I quit to be a stay-at-home mom and take care of our two baby girls.

We lived off of one income so I could be at home. That was ten years ago.

I haven't been in the workforce for a decade!!

We are so worried now. Having one income in these tumultuous times is like
walking on a tightrope. You never know if you're going to fall or how long
you'll remain where you are.

I planned to return at entry-level and work my way up again. Fat chance.
The market for PR, marketing and writing is so fierce right now. Anyone
in those fields knows that those departments are viewed as expense centers, and
layoffs are common. There's so much competition, even for entry level.

I'm doomed. Doomed I tell you! At least I still have my sense of humor... :-)

[supernova]

15. It can be paralyzing

I've been laid off three times since 2002. Each time for more than a year. This last time I'm going on 16 months. :-(

I am... was a technical writer. But I am looking to get out because almost all the jobs I see are for contractors, i.e. the we need you today! You're Wonderful! Have a raise! along with the well today we need to cut back so, see ya! And here, let this nice security guard escort you to your car.

I'm tired of the roller coaster. It's god damn abusive.

I want to work; make no mistake. But I don't want to be loved one minute, then persona non grata the next.

What I want is stability and some measure of peace in my life. Those things have been lacking in my life since 1999 when I started contracting.

I'm getting UI now, but it's about to run out and I don't know if I'm on the list to recieve more or not. Probably not.

I really don't know what I'll do. I am thinking of going back to school, but that has risks also.

Mostly I try to keep from getting depressed, but some days are harder than others.

[proudohioan]

18. Please think twice, thrice about going back to school.

And I hate to say that, because I have always been a proponent of higher education.

That being said, I thought the same back in 2006. My college degree had been obtained in 1988 and I was having no luck at all finding sustainable and secure employment. Everyone was telling me that I needed to "freshen up" my "old" degree and go back to school. To make a long story short, I ended up going to one of those crappy "earn your degree in eighteen months and start working in a career that you love" trade schools. (yes, I DID know better, but those people can be slick and I was feeling pretty desperate!)
After a year and a half, I finally took a good, long hard look at what I was actually getting out of the school vs. the incredibly high monetary cost of getting what was starting to look like a worthless piece of paper. I dropped out in November 2008, rather than incurring any more student loan debt.

I now have almost $20,000 in student loan debt, no job and no way (at this point)to pay off the debt.

Moral of the story? If you must go back to school, try your local community college rather than a crappy "ITT Tech" type of school. And don't look at returning to school as your ticket to employment; look at it as a way to expand your mind, meet new people and get you out of the house. That way, your expectations can at least be met and you won't be left feeling bitter disappointment (and broke) when you graduate. If this can be meet your long term objectives, then by all means, explore and enroll!

Best of luck to you,
t

[supernova]

25. Going back to school

I'm applying to a Masters program and only hope to find some peace of mind as a student. I don't even expect that it will help me get a better job.
It will be a design your own focus program and I'm considering making it a "green" focus. I'll see after I talk to the program director.

I've never considered schools like ITT and so on. Best of luck to you. :hug:

[mojowork_n]

20. Oh, that smarts.

I am... was a tech writer, too. Some of my best jobs were as a contractor, but I think the numbers game has made it really, really difficult to find any new gigs, whether they're limited-term or 'permanent' placement. There are a lot of kids coming out of school who've all heard that jobs in journalism were drying up, so they've switched to tech writing. There are many, many more applicants per job than there used to be, and the longer you go unemployed, the tougher it is to stay at the top of the hiring manager's resume pile.

I don't know what I'm going to be doing, either.

On the bright side, I'm not as worried as I used to be about keeping up my Framemaker skills. I'm not that optimistic, but I still maintain some hope that my next job will require some mix of problem-solving/research/interviewing/writing/graphic design and software skills, but there will be a different job title, and some new things to learn to master the position responsibilities. (Boy, doesn't that sound like a roadmap to success and prosperity.)

[supernova]

26. My thinking is

I'm not leaving tech writing, but I am leaving tech writing about IT.

The places I've worked, there just isn't a lot of call for quality documentation that is meaningful. They just want something to throw in the box with the product. It could be good, could be shitty. They don't care.

I DO care about the quality of the work that I do, so I am taking my talents to a different industry.

[CoffeeCat]

30. Please remember...

...that it's not you.

I was in PR, and I have many friends still in the PR/marketing/writing worlds.

So many of them have been laid off and they all gush talent. A few were vice
presidents who blew their clients out of the water with successful campaigns.

It's not you!

The problem is this type of field. Writers, marketers, PR people and other corp com
types are in departments that are viewed as expense centers. We don't generate
revenue, but we cost a great deal. Plus, at times it can be hard to convince others
of our value, even if we understand it! So, layoffs happen in these areas a great deal.

When companies want to cut--they come to marketing, PR and technical writing departments
first. It sucks, but that is the reality.

One of my friends, a former VP PR guru--is now doing contract work and loving it. Maybe
you could set up a Website for yourself. You probably know some graphic designers. Maybe
they need writers, and you could barter for services. Set up your own page and start
a technical writing business.

I'm sure it is depressing and so very hard. Just remember that you are talented and worthwhile.
It's not your fault the economy stinks. :-)

[New Dawn]

21. K&R

[Odin2005]

23. Is it a Depression yet?

[barb162]

31. Unemployment and underemployment are terribly understated. n/t

[writingworker]

33. How Will Scott Brown's Election Affect Continuing Extended Unemployment Benefits?

How might Scott Brown's United States Senate victory in Massachusetts affect efforts in Congress to continue extended unemployment compensation benefits past their current expiration date of February 28, 2010?

This is something we must all deal with now.

Even though many Republicans in Congress have joined most if not all Democrats in supporting past UC extension efforts, we cannot assume quick or easy passage in the Senate of the UC extension currently under consideration.

Certainly, the major jobs bill that the U.S. House of Representatives passed in December, which includes a six-month continuation of extended UC benefits, now faces at best a rocky road. Extending UC benefits in the Senate might thus require--in both houses--quick introduction of and action on a separate, "stand-alone" bill much like the one passed by Congress in November. I am sure that all of you who follow Congress' repeated "cliffhanger" efforts to keep extending much-needed UC benefits, for millions of us literally a matter of survival, keeping many of us from hunger and even homelessness, know that this matter, to use the famous words of Franklin D. Roosevelt on similar issues over 75 years ago, requires "action--and action now."

To keep extended unemployment compensation, this most vital of lifelines, going, however, the U.S. Senate must agree with the House to extend benefits past February 28. Without timely action by Congress, millions of us will lose that lifeline in the short weeks following that date.

A post-Great Depression record nearly 40 percent of Americans out of work through no fault of their own--some 6 million of us--have been out for six months or more. I'm one of them. You most likely know and care about others, possibly family members and friends, with the same plight. Yes, extended UC benefits indeed are, for us, vital to our very survival.

Extended UC benefits have helped me remain in my apartment, keep food in my pantry and in my little dog's dish, pay my utility and medical bills, and otherwise avoid destitution. They have been vital to assuring me some semblance of stability and peace of mind as I continue to search for a new job--something to which I may now be closer than ever before, but still far from assured. (Although I'm still concentrating my job search in my own local area, I am, as I've been all my adult life, quite flexible as to field and industry; I've applied for jobs located as far as 360 miles away.)

Without extended UC benefits, true disasters, including homelessness and the serious problems that can arise without access to decent health care, now confront millions of us who have worked hard and "played by the rules" all our lives. I personally know many others who have lost their jobs--not only many of my former co-workers but also many friends, including some of you reading this. I am sure you now do, too.

The Senate went back into session on Tuesday, January 19. There's not much time between then and February 28.

I therefore urge you to join me in contacting your two U.S. senators this week and urge them to reauthorize extended unemployment compensation for at least six more months, and preferably through at least the end of calendar year 2010. Get at least 10 others you know to do the same--this week.

It is really best to write to your U.S. senators as well as call them, sending your messages with the help of their own respective Web sites. Just look up your senators' names on Google or the like and go to their sites--they all have pages where you can contact them by e-mail and that give their "snail mail" addresses. You can telephone your senators toll-free by calling 1-888-245-0215.

Extending UC benefits as long as they're needed is all-important toward bringing about a real, broad-based, and lasting economic recovery.

Spread the word to as many people as you can about this. Time is short.