Comment by mywittyname | Hacker News Reader

Comment by mywittyname | Hacker News Reader

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> The average, including the federal bonus, is currently around $32K/year equivalent.

Yeah, this is where you're messing up and completely mischaracterizing the situation. You're looking at weekly benefits and multiplying it by 52. The thing is:

* In my state, benefits are capped to 26 weeks, with a temporary 13 week extension.

* it's very difficult to continue receiving benefits.

* Those enhanced federal benefits are ending in September. Sooner in some states.

* Past weeks 8 or so, you are forced to take a job or stop receiving benefits. The only way out of this is to disabled or elderly, where requirements to be able to life 20lbs will disqualify you from employment.

There are tons of places out there, mostly factories and the like, which offer jobs to anyone whose been on unemployment long enough. The only way to avoid being forced to take these jobs is to be unable to meet the (modest) physical requirements.

Again, I've been on unemployment before. I remember this headache pretty well. Even with help from family getting my ducks in a row, I was booted off it after a week. Only very specific types of people really benefit from unemployment.

Your state has extended benefits beyond 26 due to covid (all states have). I think you’re arguing the non-COVID status quo and GP is arguing current state.

Before COVID, you’re right. But during COVID (scheduled to end around Sep I think) GP is right.

Right now, in mine and most states, unemployment benefits started last April and continue through September and the annualized rate is pretty high.

The exact hourly rate varies state by state but is $300/week higher because of COVID, and extended benefit periods.

In my state unemployment caps out at $350/week if you would normally make $550. So, before COVID, if I made $550/week, I would get $350 in benefits. And if I made more I would still make $350.

So basically if I made $14/hour, approximately, employed and lost my job, I would only get about $9/hour.

With the COVID benefits I get $650/week or about $16/hour. And I don’t have to actively work. And the benefit period is longer than 26 weeks.

This is not conjecture, it’s facts and pretty easily visible.

So if I’m looking for work right now and getting $16/hour in unemployment (annualized to $32k) then it’s unlikely that I’ll ever take a job for $15. Or even $20, etc etc

When unemployment benefits drop, then the calculus changes.

There’s a game theory element where it may be better to stay on unemployment through September and then take a job vs taking a higher paying job now.

> Yeah, this is where you're messing up and completely mischaracterizing the situation. You're looking at weekly benefits and multiplying it by 52.

Okay, then take the US median income and divide by 52. Compare that against weekly benefits.

The conclusion is the same.

> * In my state, benefits are capped to 26 weeks, with a temporary 13 week extension.

Again, you can't compare traditional unemployment with the current situation. The federal benefits have extended this multiple times. Someone laid off in early 2020 could still be collecting benefits due to the multiple extensions.

> * Those enhanced federal benefits are ending in September. Sooner in some states.

Yes, at which point the argument becomes moot. The article is discussing why some states are choosing to end the benefits sooner.

> There are tons of places out there, mostly factories and the like, which offer jobs to anyone whose been on unemployment long enough. The only way to avoid being forced to take these jobs is to be unable to meet the (modest) physical requirements.

I don't know about your state, but most state unemployment systems rely on recipient self-reporting. There isn't a mechanism by which factories can simply offer random people jobs and then their benefits end unless they accept random factory jobs.

There are also specific exceptions for receiving job offers that are too far below previous salary, would be detrimental to career path, and so on. Programmers aren't being trapped into factory jobs via unemployment, for example.

> Even with help from family getting my ducks in a row, I was booted off it after a week.

You were booted off of unemployment after a week? That's an extreme outlier scenario. Perhaps your strange experience is skewing your perception?

The number of people receiving unemployment benefits right now is around 20 million. Clearly, people are not being booted off of unemployment after a week with any regularity.

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