As Extended Unemployment Benefits Wane, Founder Of Neighbors-Helping-Neighbors USA Issues Call To Action

Article written by John R Fugazzie (edited by Matt Fugazzie) and Published onDec 22nd on AOL Jobs as guest contributor.



On Dec. 28, all people currently receiving unemployment insurance through the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program will lose their benefits, unless the government decides to extend it by an additional three months. This seems very unlikely with the budget bill having passed through Congress this past Wednesday.

While there has been talk of coming back to the issue in January, when Congress returns from recess, it will be too little, too late for the 1.3 million unemployed citizens who will be affected by this decision.

There has been a major divide in Washington over the issue of unemployment benefits, with Republicans claiming that things are getting better, and people shouldn't need the extra aid anymore, while Democrats counter that, with the unemployment rate still as high as 9 percent in some states, the additional aid is still necessary to help out with the massive crisis that continues to plague the country.

Unfortunately, these ideological differences weren't enough to prevent Congress from passing the bill without the extended benefits, leaving things just about as bad as they found it this year.

How extended benefits work
Right now, the way the unemployment insurance program works is that, under normal economic conditions, the state is responsible for paying out benefits for up to a maximum of 26 weeks. When the economy suffers extreme hardships, as it has since 2008, the Federal Government extends Unemployment Insurance benefits by an additional number of weeks to be determined by how bad the unemployment rate appears to be at the time.

This additional time is broken down into "tiers," with each tier, up to Tier 4, available to be added in or remove as needed. They are as follows:
Tier 1: 14 weeks
Tier 2: 14 weeks if the state unemployment rate is 6 percent or higher
Tier 3: 9 weeks if the state unemployment rate is 7 percent or higher
Tier 4: 10 weeks if the state unemployment rate is 9 percent or higher

Between 2009 and 2012, when unemployment rates were at their worst, the maximum number of weeks was extended to 99, and there were so many long-term unemployed citizens they even garnered a nickname as "99ers."

Extended benefits have since been cut back to 47 weeks, ostensibly due to unemployment ratesdropping, but the trouble is that the manner in which the Unemployment Insurance program determines the current rate does not accurately reflect the true state of unemployment in the country.

In addition to the 1.3 million people losing their benefits at the end of 2013, about 4.9 million more are expected to exhaust their benefits in 2014, and those still out of work even after they are no longer receiving financial relief from the government will be in dire straits.

Ultimately, the unemployment insurance benefits are a Band-Aid on a bullet wound; it might help staunch some of the bleeding, but if something more significant isn't done to fix things soon, it will begin to hemorrhage, causing total economic collapse. There needs to be a serious effort put forth towards finding ways to create new jobs, or expand the opportunities in the ones currently available. While we understand this is not going to just magically happen, steps can be taken to begin moving towards this goal right now.

Make your voice heard with your representatives
The first thing that needs to happen is for all citizens, whether they are currently employed or unemployed, to reach out to their representatives and demand that their voice be heard in the national debate concerning the state of the economy. If you have an idea or an opinion on the subject, send an email, or even an old-fashioned letter, to your local Congressman or Congresswoman and Senators.

http://www.neighbors-helping-neighbors.com/ue-extended-benefits-congress-support.html