I'm living on unemployment benefits.

[robotparker]

it's pretty righteous. I get $209 a week to masturbate and watch 30 Rock. y'all should try it!

[dzagama]

the american dream.

[Newsy]

I did it, getting $211 for about 3 months. It sucks that the company I work for now is pretty stingy about giving out unemployment. I could so use it right now.

[robotparker]

I've got 17 more weeks to go, unless our new HALF-WHITE SOCIALIST ANTI-AMERICAN COMMIE of a president passes some kind of extension. oh wait!

Obama's Stimulus Package - Benefits in Reduced Taxes, First Time Home Buyers and Owners | Mint.com Blog | Personal Finance News & Advice

"Have you been laid off recently? Take some solace in knowing that the first $2,400 in unemployment benefits received can now be excluded from income. Additionally, you may also be eligible for a 65% subsidy for up to 9 months if you stay on your former employers health insurance policy. You will also start to receive a $25 weekly increase in your benefit check.

If you’ve been worried that your 26 weeks of unemployment benefits were almost up, you may now benefit from up to an additional 33 weeks through the end of the year. Check with your local unemployment office for further clarification."

AWESOME.

[EastTexas]

Wow, you guys are lucky. I lost my job the first week of November.
Unemployment was denied.
I applied for "emergency" food stamps in January figuring it would keep me afloat another month or so hoping I'd find a job. I qualified, but never got a decision on my application. What is that, a month and a half for "emergency help".

I finally got a job starting this week. I was down to my last $200 of savings. Don't know what I'd have done.

I think this time I don't want to pay for my portion of taxes to these programs since I can't get them when I need help. 5 months of making it with no help.
Bew system!

[John Galt]

You can always sell plasma and jizz. Unless you live in a very small town, there is a market for your precious bodily fluids.



You can also find cash gigs on Craigslist. They probably aren't what you want to spend your life doing, but they'll buy groceries.

[Lanfear]

In the US not everybody gets unemployemnt, right?
So if you do how is it calculated? Is it completely up to the company?

In Germany I would get 1 year (shorter if I worked less than 2 years in my life) of 60% (67% if I had a kid) of my former net income and afterwards fall on the significantly lower social benefits which are quite hard to calculate.

[Alexandra]

Originally Posted by Lanfear

In the US not everybody gets unemployemnt, right?
So if you do how is it calculated? Is it completely up to the company?

In Germany I would get 1 year (shorter if I worked less than 2 years in my life) of 60% (67% if I had a kid) of my former net income and afterwards fall on the significantly lower social benefits which are quite hard to calculate.

No, not everyone gets unemployment benefits. You needed to have actually paid into the system first and some jobs don't. Some don't for stingy reasons,and some don't because that's how the union voted to do things decades ago. And then, if your employer chooses to fight the payment of benefits in your case, they can and they often win. That way, they don't have to pay someone that they fired for non-performance. If, however, you were laid off, there's no chance your employer can fight it.

Payments are determined by a formula calculating how much you earned and for how long. Top payment is $362/wk. -in Michigan anyway- (really funny if you earned 6 figures for years)

Don't like the system? Don't pay into it. I hear that doesn't disqualify you for a cabinet position.

[Lanfear]

Originally Posted by Alexandra

No, not everyone gets unemployment benefits. You needed to have actually paid into the system first and some jobs don't. Some don't for stingy reasons,and some don't because that's how the union voted to do things decades ago. And then, if your employer chooses to fight the payment of benefits in your case, they can and they often win. That way, they don't have to pay someone that they fired for non-performance. If, however, you were laid off, there's no chance your employer can fight it.

Payments are determined by a formula calculating how much you earned and for how long. Top payment is $362/wk. -in Michigan anyway- (really funny if you earned 6 figures for years)

Don't like the system? Don't pay into it. I hear that doesn't disqualify you for a cabinet position.

Thanks!

Here you pay into mandatory unemployment insurance (50/50 employer/employee) for every job paying over 400 EUR a month.

[skizzbot]

Yeah, my dad's work has been laying him off every Summer for the last couple of years. I'm glad he has something so he and my mom can keep afloat... it's a good thing she has a great job that doesn't dump her every year for no good goddamn reason...