Hey!
Is it true that if you lose your job in the US no one will help you? In my country you’d get unemployment money and the government would pay your bills, including rent and give you 100€ per month for food etc…
What would happen if you lose your job in the US? There has to be some kind of social support, right?
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Of course. That’s what unemployment benefits are for. The details will vary because these programs are administered at the state level.
Beyond that there are other rental assistance and food assistance programs. Depending on your circumstances you may also be eligible for health insurance through Medicaid.
Yeah, we have unemployment benefits. If you lose your job (and you weren’t acting beyond the pale in a way that would absolutely warrant your termination), you’ll be able to get unemployment checks
You’d get unemployment money here too, and would likely qualify for various other social safety nets if it was a longer term thing
We have unemployment benefits in the United States. What you get depends on the state.
Where do you hear this nonsense?
there is unemployment insurance run at the state level, generosity varies by state. In Texas there is a dollar max and a time max – 52 weeks – and your benefits go away after that if you haven’t found work. You can also become ineligible for benefits, for example, if you’re fired for misconduct, or if you voluntarily quit (with some exceptions).
Of course, if your income suddenly drops to zero, you will also become eligible for other aid programs for low income people like, depending on the state – again, these programs are state-administered and so have different rules – medicaid, TANF (cash payments), SNAP (food stamps), etc.
You will receive unemployment payments and you would also be eligible for many other programs for food and healthcare.
Depends heavily on the state you live in/are working in and other factors. Your benefits are tied to your recent earnings so if you’re too new to the work force or didnt file within the 18 month period you may not qualify for benefits or get reduced benedits. Further if you’re a person who is working as an independent contractor, for their own business, or what Americans would call “under the table” where tax documents aren’t filed and the government doesn’t know you have the job, you have different circumstances and may not qualify. Also you typically can’t claim unemployed because of your own doing meaning if you got fired for gross misconduct or if you voluntarily quit.
Here’s the requirements for my state
https://edd.ca.gov/en/Unemployment/Eligibility
Assuming you lose your job involuntarily and were not fired for cause, meaning you didnt do something bad like stealing from your employer, then you are eligible for unemployment coverage. For unemployment the state gives you a certain amount of money up to a cap plus an additional benefit covered by federal funds (also capped). Up to the cap the amount scales with what you were making on your last round of taxes.
These programs are managed by the individual states so the details of the state cap, how to get it, etc… vary. It wll generally be required that you are actively looking for work in your field and a few other things.
There are gaps to this. The caps are fairly low and it tends to just slow the bleeding rsther than replacing income from a job. The more you make the less helpful it will be. There are also people who just won’t qualify, contract employees who dont get their contract renewed rather than actually being terminated for example.
Despite all the hubbub about the stimulus checks a BIG part of what we spent during covid to help with unemployed people was drastically increasing yhe federal portion of unemployment benefits, albeit temporarily.
That’s specifically for covering unemployment. There are also programs for general poverty assistance like Medicaid for health coverage and SNAP for food assistance, local charities like food pantries, etc…. many of these have sharp requirements, though and can be extrenely difficult to qualify for if your prior job paid much at all.
That’s not true at all. We have unemployment. I work construction so being laid off in the winter or bad economies when buildings aren’t going up isn’t uncommon. I generally get $500/week when I’m on it.
There are various benefits available. They vary by state and the qualifications to receive them also vary.
It’s generally not indefinite, and it’s barely enough to survive on typically. But they are there.
You have been mislead OP, we do have social support in the United States. It is administered at the state level, as benefits vary differently in each state. It is very important to realize that the United States is not a unitary government, very de-centralized; think of each state as autonomous.
We have to ask for any help we get, and the circumstances must often meet some arbitrary condition or qualification. It’s not automatic, it’s often inadequate or insufficient, and it’s not infinite.
The US has a variety of programs at many different levels.
If you are laid off, you will get unemployment benefits. This is a tax your employer pays. If you quit or are terminated for-cause, you may not qualify for unemployment benefits. This is basically money you get, and at least in Indiana it is paid weekly. These last around 3-6 months, though during peak COVID the benefits lasted much longer.
There are a variety of programs to help people who can’t pay rent or their mortgage, mostly at state and local levels. We also have SNAP (formerly food stamps) and Medicaid. But these aren’t specifically programs for people who lose or are between jobs. These are usually income based programs meant to help people who qualify. Simply not having a job doesn’t inherently mean you qualify.
In Indiana, township governments have poverty relief in that if you are facing a difficult month for a specific bill, they will pay some or all of it but this isn’t meant to be an ongoing welfare benefit. Its more of a one-time thing. And it can be very difficult to qualify as each township has its own guidelines.
There’s also any number of non profits and faith based organizations that can help.
There is tons of support from “the government”. Everything from cash to food to health care to job training programs to vouchers for transit. All of which is dependent on your situation and where you live. Then there’s charity and private organizations who do all sorts of things. Food pantries, job fairs, the list is endless.
None of this is unlimited, lasts indefinitely, or is designed to keep you at the same standard of living as you had when you were working. It’s assistance, not dependency. Most people want to go back to work and do so.
You get SOME money. Not rent, etc. About 50% of those whose lose their jobs qualify. Some states the average weekly amount is less than 200 dollars – some more like 600 bucks.
You can apply separately to get food stamps. It typically takes 5-9 weeks to get approved.
Bro.
I often go to Europe and people ask me this all the time. Why do Europeans believe this? Is it to feel better about where they live?
The US doesn’t have a particular generous unemployment system (it’s state run so if you’re in a conservative run state you’ll get close to nothing). In addition the US mean tests benefits which is generally a bad idea (means testing generates resentment and has been a favored tool of the right wing to generate resentment among their white base).
It depends on if you qualify for your state’s guidelines for those social programs.
https://www.vec.virginia.gov/unemployed#:~:text=The%20Virginia%20Employment%20Commission%20(VEC,the%20Virginia%20Unemployment%20Compensation%20Act.
It’s bureaucratic and can take time to see the funds, and many Americans do not have enough money in their savings accounts to tide them over until they receive those funds.
You can get unemployment if you are let go from a job (but generally not if you quit) to help pay some of your bills. There is SNAP which is a program that gives you money for food. Medical Assistance provides health insurance, and there are utility assistance programs for things like heating, electric, and water bills.
Someone in a long term bind can also get housing assistance but if you are in between jobs, you would typically just use unemployment money for this because public housing wait lists are very long (sometimes several YEARS).
It’s a state-to-state issue, but as for where I live, unemployment insurance is paid out to you if you’ve lost your job “through no fault of your own.” Therefore, if you were fired from your job due to performance issues or policy infractions, or if you voluntarily quit for any reason, you get nothing.
Your benefits are roughly half of your usual paycheck, which is funded both by the state and your previous employer. As such, employers will avoid having to lose employees in order to not pay for their unemployment, and if there happens to be an employee they don’t want, they’ll opt to encourage them to quit or try their best to dig up as much dirt on them in order to build a case to fire them with cause.
If you do manage to secure yourself benefits, you’ll have to continuously report to the state that you’re looking for employment. I’m not sure if we ever got around to it, but I think we might even have a requirement that you must submit for drug screenings as well, since the state doesn’t want to fund the lifestyle of an unproductive junkie.
The last time I was unemployed I was given $1200 a week in unemployment, my rent was covered for 3 months, and I was on food stamps which gave me $200 a month to spend only on food, with an additional $200 a month just because of covid.
If you quit a job or get fired for cause then you will not qualify for assistance in most States. But if you are fired for minor offenses/lack of projects/redundancy/business closing/etc you can get on unemployment. Standard rate is 50% or 60% of your previous salary depending on the State.
Qualifying for food stamps, rental assistance, medical assistance, etc are separate programs with their own thresholds.
Foreigners never stop being willing to believe anything about America so long as it’s BAD.
The US has massive amounts of public assist (social programs) outside of unemployment
There’s food stamps (you can collect these even if you’re employed but below an income level), free lunch in public schools below and income level, public housing, free medical insurance, social security and disability (money paid by taxes if you cannot work because you’re disabled or over retirement age paid monthly), free cell phones, free internet, and so much more. These things are all income dependent. If you’re low income there’s a lot of support
Much of this has been covered in the other comments, but here is an outline of US employment benefits:
* Unemployment benefits are usually half of previous wages. There is a limit which varies by state, currently $703 per week in Connecticut for an individual, and up to $778 with dependents.
* Unemployment benefits also have limited duration, currently 26 weeks in most states.
* https://savingtoinvest.com/maximum-weekly-unemployment-benefits-by-state/ lists the limits for each state.
* Depending on the circumstances it could be difficult to live off unemployment benefits alone. If you had a low-paying job, half of your already low wages would not amount to much. If you had a high-paying job, the limit means you would get less than half the income you were used to.
* Unemployment benefits are not based on need, so even an unemployed millionaire can get them if the general requirements are met.
* There are need-based government benefits for food, housing, etc. which an unemployed person might also qualify for if poor enough. Housing benefits however have a long waiting list.
We get unemployment but it’s usually not as much as rent and food