Originally Posted by
BigBlueBrock
Have you ever actually been unemployed and received UI benefits? I think you mentioned you are self-employed, which probably means the answer is no. Let's do a little thought experiment Mr. "I'm too good for unemployment!"
You're a middle-class worker, making right around the national average of $44,000/yr. Company downsizes, your department is gutted and you're unemployed. Maximum weekly benefit in KY? $415 before federal income tax (yes, you can opt to pay federal income tax of 10% out of your UI check). If you worked 40 hours a week, you'd have to find a job paying $10/hr to make the same. But you're not going to deliver pizzas or flip burgers at $10/hr, you're going to do that at minimum wage, which is $7.25/hr. And you're not going to work 40 hours a week at McDonald's because they're only going to schedule for a maximum of 32 hours. So you work two jobs at minimum wage for 40-50 hours a week. Shitty jobs where you are treated like filth, feel like ass, and smell like grease at the end of the day. And while you're doing all that, you're trying to find a "real" job.
OR
You could suck it up, take your UI benefit, which was already paid for by your previous employer, use your time to train/educate AND look for a job that isn't a menial or below your abilities. One that actually pays close to, or even more than, what you were making before. Did you know that studies have shown that when someone takes an underpaying job that they are overqualified for, it takes them at least five years to reach their true income potential again?
FYI, I lost my job in August of 2009. While unemployed, I took advantage of a UI program that paid for work training/certification programs. I used that to get a CCNA. While taking the class, even though I wasn't required to do so to continue receiving my UI benefit, I continued to look for suitable employment to no avail. In April of 2010, just as my initial UI benefits expired (I was about to apply for the extension), I took a temp job with UKHC's info sec team, doing user provisioning for the hospital making ~$13/hr. While working there, I applied for numerous positions at UK. In June of 2010, I was offered a full-time position at UK's main data center on campus, a job which required a CCENT or equivalent, which is the cert a tier below what I got. It also paid ~40% more than what I had been making at my previous full-time job. I've since continued my education at UK, gained another tech cert, and recently moved to the hospital's data center, which came with a 20% raise. None of that would have happened if I'd been "too good" for UI benefits and worked myself to death in shitty jobs while scrambling for a low-salary job in a crappy economy. In summation - Your point of view on this matter is myopic and reeks of ignorance.