Anyone who says people don't want to work bc they are living it up on public assistance has obv never been on public assistance. I have drawn UI (unemployment) many times in my life due to the nature of my job and industry. I drew it pre covid, during COVID assistance, and even post covid assistance. My most recent time was just last month when I was out of work for 3 weeks. Let me tell you some fun facts about unemployment.
-now I'm sure it varies state to state but these are my experiences in my state-
- IT CAN TAKE WEEKS OR EVEN MONTHS FOR BENEFITS TO KICK IN. You apply for benefits as soon as you are no longer working. You fill out an application basically to be approved or denied. If nothing is wrong with your application then it really should only take a week, maybe two if they are over loaded. (During covid I didn't get approval for 6 weeks.) HOWEVER, if there is a problem or the UI office needs clarification/extra documentation it can take weeks of back and forth to work it out. By that time, you could have found a job and the whole thing would have been moot. So, you'll never see a dime.
- YOU CAN NOT APPLY FOR BENEFITS UNTIL YOU ARE ACTUALLY UNEMPLOYED. Now this one may seem obv at first, but let's say you know you are getting laid off in two weeks. You think to yourself “oh I'll go ahead and get the process started so that when I am unemployed my benefits kick in immediately”. NOPE, they won't let you file until the day you are unemployed. If you lie, well then that's fraud. And remember folks as I just said, it could be weeks of processing till your benefits kick in.
- You have any idea how much UI benefits even are? Now this one can vary heavily to be fair, but in my state the MAX you can get is $365/week. Thats it. I live in a pretty big city, the avg rent here is $1.5-$2.5k for a 1br. $1-1.5k if you go out of the city. You really think anyone is living off of 365/wk? Yes I know there was COVID assistance at an additional 500/wk, but that's been over for almost a year now.
- Applying is no picnic. I am a pretty tech savvy person with a personal laptop and desktop at my disposal. Plus, now I have a lot of experience with the process. But even I still get tripped up and confused sometimes. I can't even imagine someone who is not very good with technology and doing the app from their smart phone. When I first applied, I had to have loads of help/advice from other people who had done it before. Not everyone has that. I can imagine for some it must be very confusing, intimidating and downright scary to do.
- GOOD LUCK GETTING THROUGH TO ANYONE AT UI OFFICE OVER THE PHONE. Now no hate on my UI employees, y'all are overworked and underappreciated. But if you have any kind of question or problem with your UI application there is no way in hell you are getting anyone at that place on the phone. Nope, you'll have to go down in person and wait in line to get any information or help. You could send an email, but it'll be days before you hear back, which could set back your benefits kicking in another week. Bonus story: During COVID lockdown in 2020 all UI offices were not only closed, but most of their office's phones were DISSCONECTED. Imagine that; the highest unemployment in history and all the UI offices were completely unreachable. If you had any kind of problem, you just had to send an email and pray for a response, which wasn't likely. AGAIN, no hate on my UI employees, I don't blame y'all it was a cluster fuck of a situation.
- UI BENEFITS HAVE A MAXIMUM. You cannot be on UI forever. When you apply you have a set amount you can draw for the year or until your next job. I think my max was 5k for the year. So 365/wk would get me 13 weeks which is only a little over 3 months. So no, people are not just living of the system for all of time.
So anyway, the argument that people are just living off of public assistance is just stupid, ignorant, and missing the point completely.
Thats my two cents. Take it or leave it.