I have read these comments with interest because I have a family member struggling to find work and who is not eligible for unemployment benefits due to working as a freelancer. The situation is not to be taken lightly in this or any other downturned economy and I see so many of your responses realize that. I have a question that perhaps someone out there can answer…Is there ever a case when someone like a freelancer without work for an extended period of time actually can collect some kind of monetary assistance? Freelancers pay all their taxes. Do some freelancers also pay their own unemployment tax into the system so they can collect benefits at a later date? I would love some clarification so I can help my family. Thanks a lot.

While this may upset you, my post was directed to the general discussion and not to your post specifically. I did, however, appreciate the lack of civility and ad hominem attacks. Apparently I hit a nerve.

Now, back to your ivory tower!!

I was laid off in January and have been searching for a job ever since. However, because training professionals are usually cut first in this economy, I have a lot of equally talented competition out there. I am now on my extended federal benefits, and I make no apologies for it.

Companies pay into unemployment. When they cut my job and others’, they knew that we would be applying for unemployment. The laws surrounding unemployment require all of us to apply for at least 2 positions per week.

I don’t love being on unemployment, but I can’t deny the benefits of having this time off to work on things that I put on the backburner before, namely, my physical health. I would choose to go to work everyday, but in the meantime, yes I am enjoying the mental, physical, and emotional break. I recognize that this is one of the few times in life I will have this amount of time off. Just because I’m not sobbing into an alcoholic beverage doesn’t mean I’m a bad person.

@Maile – I’ve thought a lot about his post and mine since I read his, and my thought is that what he wrote isn’t necessarily bad… but it certainly should have been reworded in a way that says “I’m in a job search, and starting a business… and I have some extra time and a need to do some stuff I’ve neglected when I had my job. Here’s the list…” That way his statement isn’t going to come across as brash… just my opinion.

@Helen – just read your very thoughtful comment again – I agree with everything you said about BC, PT and UI! Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

@Barry – very intersting dynamic, I hadn’t thought about that with regard to UI and those ineligible.

@John – interesting analogy but it seems the purpose of SS is quite different than the purpose of UI.

I’m not against the government helping.

I’m not against people paying into a system and then getting money back out when they need it (or, qualify).

I’m not even against people who might not even deserve it but definitely need it getting help.

I’m not against SS, and I definitely hope it’s around so when I retire I can count on a couple thousand bucks a month, or whatever the amount is, based on what I paid into the system. Whether it’s around or not is up in the air, isn’t it?

I don’t liken UI OR SS to “the dole” (my reference to it above was not meant to say that all UI is DOLE, rather, the way this guy wrote his post, it seems like he’s living fat off of the gov’t – I mean, me).

You lost me at the wall street execs…