Who Really Receives Unemployment Benefits?

 

Who are the people who actually receive unemployment benefits?

 

When I talk to people about the job market and the number of people who are out of work, looking for jobs and receiving unemployment benefits, it amazes me at the number of incorrect assumptions that people have. To hear some people talk, one would think that people who are out of work are getting rich while being lazy.

 

The truth is never as nice as fiction, but the stereotype of the lazy twenty-something sitting around playing video games while getting rich on the taxpayer dime is just plain wrong. In order to qualify for unemployment benefits, applicants have to meet several requirements.

 

Those who haven't been continuously employed for many years or who are self-employed aren't eligible for benefits. Also, those who have been out of work for a long period of time or who were fired from their last job or who had quit wouldn't receive benefits either.

 

In order to get a better idea of who is collecting unemployment benefits, here is a chart from The New York Times:

As you can see, people under the age of 25 are the least likely to be receiving benefits, most likely because they are ineligible due to their limited work histories even though they have the highest unemployment rates.

 

What's interesting is the increase in the number of people over 25 who are receiving benefits. This can be attributed to several different factors, such as more people who were unemployed due to having quit their jobs and more people who are willing to apply for benefits.

 

In previous years, people who lost their jobs were more hesitant to apply for unemployment benefits because they were optimistic about their chances of finding a new job quickly. As the job market become tighter, job seekers were more likely to go ahead and apply, realizing that they might be out of work for an extended period.

 

Although more people are collecting unemployment benefits, it's clear that even though the under 25 group is having a hard time finding jobs, they aren't flocking to the unemployment offices.

 

 

What do you think about these numbers? Do you receive unemployment benefits? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

 

 

 

By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer for LogisticsJobsiteBlog and Nexxt, along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.