achtungbaby
07-17-2003, 09:26 AM
As Benefits Run Out, Many Job Seekers Move Back with Relatives
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Unemployed and running out of money, Brad Hoegler is back where he never thought he'd be -- home with his parents.
The 26-year-old lost his job last year as a financial consultant for Charles Schwab in Austin, Texas. His severance package dwindled within weeks. Jobs were nowhere to be found, and the few hundred dollars he collected each week in unemployment benefits didn't make ends meet.
Hoegler, who left home eight years ago, said his only option was moving back in with his parents in Southern California.
``It puts a little crimp in my social life,'' Hoegler said. ``But it certainly helps me, there's no two ways about that. I couldn't have made it paying rent somewhere.''
Hoegler is part of an unhappy trend -- frustrated job seekers forced to move in with relatives and friends because they can't pay the rent. Others are depleting savings or maxing out credit cards before taking minimum wage jobs.
Of the 9 million Americans who were unemployed last month, 2 million had been jobless for at least 27 weeks -- a week longer than most states pay benefits in a 12-month period, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
The Washington-based Urban Institute said about 40 percent of all those who collected benefits last year were still unemployed when their checks ran out.
To ease the financial crunch, President Bush signed a bill last month extending jobless benefits through December. But about a million people who already have used up their benefits are not eligible for the program.
full story (http://imdiversity.com/Article_Detail.asp?Article_ID=17957)
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Unemployed and running out of money, Brad Hoegler is back where he never thought he'd be -- home with his parents.
The 26-year-old lost his job last year as a financial consultant for Charles Schwab in Austin, Texas. His severance package dwindled within weeks. Jobs were nowhere to be found, and the few hundred dollars he collected each week in unemployment benefits didn't make ends meet.
Hoegler, who left home eight years ago, said his only option was moving back in with his parents in Southern California.
``It puts a little crimp in my social life,'' Hoegler said. ``But it certainly helps me, there's no two ways about that. I couldn't have made it paying rent somewhere.''
Hoegler is part of an unhappy trend -- frustrated job seekers forced to move in with relatives and friends because they can't pay the rent. Others are depleting savings or maxing out credit cards before taking minimum wage jobs.
Of the 9 million Americans who were unemployed last month, 2 million had been jobless for at least 27 weeks -- a week longer than most states pay benefits in a 12-month period, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
The Washington-based Urban Institute said about 40 percent of all those who collected benefits last year were still unemployed when their checks ran out.
To ease the financial crunch, President Bush signed a bill last month extending jobless benefits through December. But about a million people who already have used up their benefits are not eligible for the program.
full story (http://imdiversity.com/Article_Detail.asp?Article_ID=17957)