26 Years Gets You 26 Weeks?
John
their unemployed Countrymen who become incensed at the thought of
anyone receiving more than 26 weeks of unemployment insurance
benefits, no matter the circumstances. They seem to believe that after
26 weeks any further benefit payments are being stolen from their
paychecks.
To address this I propose this hypothetical scenario:
Bill, 55 worked for a manufacturing company for 26 years and is laid
off. He filed a UI claim and started diligently looking for work.
Unfortunately the 26-week mark is approaching and he hasn't found a
new job due to the poor economy as well as his age, and limited skill-
set due to his 26-year loyalty to his former employer. More bad news
for Bill...he isn't eligible for extended benefits. Even though his
employer has been paying into the UI fund on Bill's behalf for 26
years. Bill's annual income was a very modest $25K and he received
about $5K in UI benefits for 26 weeks (6 months). Bill's former
employer certainly paid more than $5K into the fund on his behalf in
26 years. Where has all of that money gone, and why isn't more of it
available to help Bill in his time of need?
But wait! Just in the nick of time Congress initiates federally funded
emergency unemployment compensation and Bill qualifies for 13 more
weeks of benefits. However now Joe Currently-Employed Taxpayer, Bill's
neighbor is up-in-arms because he assumes that Bill's EUC benefits are
being funded with his tax money. Is this the case? Has Joe confirmed
that in fact his tax liability has increased? No. And there is still
the question of what happened to the rest of the money Bill's employer
paid into the fund on Bill's behalf.