Should people be entitled to....

[Miss Chicken]

That actually seems like a brilliant idea--gives you time to get back on your feet and doesn't punish you as soon as you find work. How well does it work in Oz?

It worked well for me the last time I had a job (before I was granted the disability pension). I had about 600 working credits at the time and I worked for 5 days (from 9 to 3) for a week while the woman who normally did the job had a minor operation. I was being paid $25 an hour (temp rate), so I earned $650. With 600 working credits and being allowed to earn $62, I retained my whole Newstart (unemployment0 benefit for the fortnight. I had to pay $32 in tax.

 

[CaptainStoner]

Bully for you. However IF you were ever in that position, your previous attempts to avoid that would be for naught.

Oh, anyone could lose a job. No doubt about it. I have deep sympathy for everyone who is legitimately seeking work. I just think adults are ultimately responsible for themselves.

That's a nice thought, and to some degree I would agree with you, however there is virtually no one who works for a living who could honestly afford to be out of work for a year or more. You can't just get the first job that comes along--a lot of places flat-out won't hire you if you're overqualified. I mean, what're you supposed to do, sling dope if that's what it takes to make ends meet?

Dope should never be slung.
I had pointed out earlier that abuse of the system is a concern, but that's not the end of my position on it.
There is a logic to the thought that, since "society" and "government" ultimately claim ownership of all things - there are few, if any, natural rights to land - then that entity does have an obligation to at least subsist it's people.
To do otherwise is like taking a creature out of nature, and then insisting that it pay its way in your zoo.

 

[Cakes488]

***Also, in some states unemployment pays 500+ a week. Now, I couldn't live on that but some people could.***

If you were unemployed, you'd have to live on it. Not that many options.

Wow, I could live well on $500 a week!
I pull in $230 a week, and that pays for my medications.

J.

You don't automatically get the maximum...it depends on what you were making...and then there's taxes to think about...it's not tax free. It ends up not being much.

That's right...unemployment is there to supplement your savings that you've saved for just this situation....that you don't have a job. It's not meant to fully support you and LOL it doesn't....

I work retail. 3/4 my monthly income goes to bills, the rest to toiletries and little frivolities to keep me sane. Savings accumulates very slowly, no matter how hard I squeeze.

Couple of years ago, I was out of work for two months after having major surgery. I applied for benefits then, and guess what? I wasn't eligible because I had roughly a month's worth of bill coverage put aside and lived with my also week to week with no money to spare parents.

BECAUSE I couldn't get assistance during my down time, I was forced to empty my savings to cover monthly bills. All spare money since has gone to paying off medical expenses.

I've got $200 in savings at the moment. If I were forced to go off work and try for benefits again, I'd get the same refusal because of that.

Unless you were already rich and putting aside small mountains every week, you can't live off of savings, even supplemented.

No matter what you're supposed to have a: "I don't have a job savings account". I know it's not easy to save...I've done really sucky at it and I'm already half dead already...but it is supposed to be a priority to have ideally 6 months worth of salary socked away in case you're outta work. I think that's unrealistic and seems so unobtainable so I shoot for 3. Shoot is the key word there.

 

[The Boy Who Cried Worf]

If you were unemployed, you'd have to live on it. Not that many options.

Wow, I could live well on $500 a week!
I pull in $230 a week, and that pays for my medications.

J.

You don't automatically get the maximum...it depends on what you were making...and then there's taxes to think about...it's not tax free. It ends up not being much.

Tell me about it. The money I am getting now is based off how much I earned in that two month period. And that wasn't even a full-time job.

 

[The Boy Who Cried Worf]

That actually seems like a brilliant idea--gives you time to get back on your feet and doesn't punish you as soon as you find work. How well does it work in Oz?

It worked well for me the last time I had a job (before I was granted the disability pension). I had about 600 working credits at the time and I worked for 5 days (from 9 to 3) for a week while the woman who normally did the job had a minor operation. I was being paid $25 an hour (temp rate), so I earned $650. With 600 working credits and being allowed to earn $62, I retained my whole Newstart (unemployment0 benefit for the fortnight. I had to pay $32 in tax.

One thing that irritated me about having to open the new claim was how little money it took to have the extension cancelled. If you made over $1300 in a quarter or were employed for two weeks straight you weren't considered unemployed anymore. $1300 a quarter is half of what the government considers being in poverty.

I have noticed in my dealings with America's social service programs what some other people have commented on. They often don't seem there to help out working class people who have been hit hard by circumstance, but to maintain chronically under-class people in being under-class. The moment you get your head above water a bit your booted.

 

[cultcross]

I wouldn't go this far, not for everyone. If you start saving early enough (like when you're 16-18-years old and don't have many, if any, bills), you should be able have a decent amount stored away.

Not if you want to learn to drive or any similar marketable skill - that's where my earnings went at that age.
And even if you get parents who will pay for it, if you go to university, goodbye savings, hello enormous debt. Supposed to help you secure a great job and contribute all this stuff to society and the future of the human race: doesn't really feel like it when you've got no job and the statement from the loans company comes in to remind you your net worth is about negative 20 grand.

I still have about $6000 in savings that I made when I was in high school and had no expenses.

Bloody hell, I think I earned about that much total - how did you find time for schoolwork?

 

[RoJoHen]

I wouldn't go this far, not for everyone. If you start saving early enough (like when you're 16-18-years old and don't have many, if any, bills), you should be able have a decent amount stored away.

Not if you want to learn to drive or any similar marketable skill - that's where my earnings went at that age.
And even if you get parents who will pay for it, if you go to university, goodbye savings, hello enormous debt. Supposed to help you secure a great job and contribute all this stuff to society and the future of the human race: doesn't really feel like it when you've got no job and the statement from the loans company comes in to remind you your net worth is about negative 20 grand.

Ah, the driving thing. Well, in America (at least most of America, as far as I know), Driver's Education is part of the normal high school curriculum. I think it cost me about $20 to get my driver's license.

And college: yes, I have a lot of debt from that, but it's factored into my monthly bills, and the payments are very manageable.

I still have about $6000 in savings that I made when I was in high school and had no expenses.

Bloody hell, I think I earned about that much total - how did you find time for schoolwork?

I only worked about 20-25 hours a week during high school, but I would bump that up to 40 during breaks. I made a ton of money during the summers, and all I did was stock produce at a grocery store. I even had enough money saved to not work at all my first 2.5 years in college. I eventually got a job a waiting tables at the end of my 3rd year.


I was also really good at high school, rarely did homework, and still managed to be in the Top 5% of my class.