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The Welfare System And Unemployment. The History of the Unemployment System in America. Definition: Out of work, especially involuntarily; jobless. The word unemployed acquired its modern definition between 1850 and 1880, term unemployment probably did not appear in print until 1887.
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The Welfare System And Unemployment
The History of the Unemployment System in America • Definition: Out of work, especially involuntarily; jobless. • The word unemployed acquired its modern definition between 1850 and 1880, term unemployment probably did not appear in print until 1887. • appeared in the United States only in the nineteenth century • Civil War to World War II, unemployment rates ranged from 5 to 15 percent
Continued… • labor unions and working-class political parties demanded public works programs, as well as relief, from municipal and state authorities • major political parties adhered to the view that the government neither could nor should assume responsibility for solving the problem. • views began to change early in the twentieth century
Continued… • New Deal • Social Security Act of 1935 • Employment Act of 1946 • New Deal + Great Depression = beginning of an era of "managed" rather than uncontrolled unemployment
Continued… • Unemployment levels crept upward in the 1970s, and in 1982 the rate exceeded 10 percent for the first time since the 1930s • 3 percent unemployment was no longer on the horizon • 1980s, the American track record suggested that the problem of unemployment might, be growing more severe. • A century after the term first appeared in print, unemployment remained a significant problem for American society.
Qualifications For Receiving Unemployment • In order to qualify for this benefit program, you must have worked in Ohio during the past 12 to 18 months • Earned at least a minimum amount of wages as determined by our guidelines. • You must also be able, available and actively seeking work for each week that you are collecting benefits. • Earnings averaging 37 times the Ohio minimum hourly wage. • In certain seasonal occupations, an applicant may qualify for limited benefits with less than twenty credit weeks.
Positive Effects of the System on the Individual • Allows an individual a chance to get back on their feet • Helps the worker support his family so the children are not effected • Allows time for the individual to seek out new employment options • Rise in unemployment helps lead to the lowering of inflation
Positive Effects of the System on the Company • Helps lower interest rates • This in turn will help have a positive impact on the company and the general economy • A tax-paying employer knows the tax rate for the coming year and can project the annual cost based on their taxable payroll • During the past two-three years of unusually high unemployment, paying state taxes has provided good security for agencies that experienced funding cuts and decreased donation dollars.
Continued… • Since the national average for nonprofits is $2.20 in taxes for every $1 paid in claims, most 501(c)(3)s will save money by becoming reimbursing employers • Real example: A human service agency in California with a gross annual payroll of $1.6 million has an unemployment tax rate of 4.8 percent. In 2005, their SUI taxes will be more than $45,000 even though their actual claims have not exceeded $12,000 annually. Assuming similar tax rates and claims history, this agency could save more than $300,000 if they decide to reimburse over the next 10 years.
Negative Effects of the System on the Individual • Pay-loss (Usually only receive only 80% of pay) • Majority of people on unemployment are just getting by on normal wages let alone 80% • Can be used as a crutch if used to long or improperly • The unemployed person has a strong incentive to take a job without declaring it, which an employer might be content to allow because he does not pay contributions and does not run into regulatory constraints. • People who have “unwelcomed” occupations, such as drug dealers, prostitution, etc. do not receive W2’s or file 1040z. They are receiving an income but still can file for unemployment.
Continued… • Many studies show the individual gives up on trying to find work • This leads to a bad sign for the recovery rate of unemployment
Negative Effects of the System on the Company • Forces them to pay employees not working with them anymore. • Unemployment taxes currently range from .1 percent to 10.96 percent on each employee's taxable wages, which vary from $7,000 to $31,000 per employee. • Reimbursing employers are responsible for all the unemployment claims paid to their former employees by the state, no matter the amount
Continued… • Reimbursing employers do not get "relief of charges • If an employee resigned from your organization, went to work for another company, was terminated, and filed for unemployment, your nonprofit could be charged for a portion of that employee's benefits (even though the employee voluntarily left you).
Possible Alternatives • Unemployment insurance benefits– where contributions are paid, or credits provided, to earn entitlements to compensatory income, normally by the state, but possibly by a private agency • Unemployment assistance– means-tested and/or asset-tested assistance. • Labor market policy– state-provided combination of training and/or jobs coupled with income transfers, for both participants and others. This includes “public works” and emergency employment schemes.
More Alternatives • Workfare–The unemployed are obliged to take a training course or a job provided or subsidized by the state, in return for an income transfer. • Employment or wage transfers– a sum or money or tax credit paid either to the worker on being hired or, more typically, to the firm hiring the unemployed. These include so-called “in-work” benefits intended to “make work pay”. • Citizenship income grants– an unconditional basic income paid as a citizenship right to all, including the unemployed. • Other areas include stricter guidelines. This would include trying to ensure the unemployed is actually unemployed, faster time finding a new job, and more advanced rules to how money is being used. • Some other ideas given would include money to help further education. This would help the unemployed with qualifications and easier job availability