Milan Trisna Period 1 The Crisis Today: Unemployment What if you did not have a job because you could not get one, and you needed one to support your family? It is hard to live a normal life without having a job or money. This is the situation for many Americans these days. With unemployment rates soaring to unbelievable heights, many Americans are left without jobs. This is a major crisis and has a tremendous impact on the economy. It directly affects everyone because people rely on their income to maintain their standard of living, and the loss of a job reduces the standard of living. Unemployed workers stand for “wasted production capability.” In other words, the economy is putting out less goods and services than it is producing. Currently, work labor is in high demand. Our American economy is in a recession and is at its peak almost equal to that of the Great Depression of 1929. As a result, many people are left with nothing; no job, no money, no food, and no support. Since unemployment has a negative effect on the economy and affects it as a whole, leaving emotional, financial, and personal problems, how are all these problems fixed? Since our new president, Barack Obama, was elected to office, this may be a positive impact and a fresh, new start on the economy. Starting off with new jobs for everyone, so that the unemployment rate is kept very low, would be a great jump-start for Obama in office. If new jobs were created, less people would suffer from the physical and emotional scars of being unemployed. The crisis of unemployment is extremely severe and can be decreased through the creation of new jobs for all individuals.
The loss of income is one of the most life changing effects of
unemployment. "When a member of a family is unemployed, the family
feels it in lost income and reduced standard of living" (Jones).
An individual’s income is an important factor to support a family.
Unemployment can break families apart. Divorce is common during these
times of crisis. Since income is not coming in from both parents, the
effects are felt by the family. "People all over the world have determined to live together…’get
marriage’ in another word, so that they depend on for living each other" (Roberts).
Although, how can each of them depend on one another if money is not
being brought in? During this time, people can also loose their homes
because they do not have money to pay their mortgage. Then where does
a family go to live? Due to the
stress of this and other debts it could break up a marriage and the
children would suffer. Lifestyles are altered during this situation of
unemployment. For example, if a young man in business with an
expensive house, flashy sports car, and busy social life loses his job,
he could lose all due to the type of lifestyle he is accustomed to
living. This could severely change an individual’s life. As a
result, the loss of income has a great effect on a family. However,
this would occur less if new jobs were created. Perhaps, family
separation would go down drastically if everyone was entitled to a
job. This would bring in money to support a family. "Barak Obama held
a meeting of the world’s largest economies to address the global financial crisis but also urged more action at home" (Herbert).
He stated that "’Millions of our fellow citizens lie awake each night
wondering how they’re going to pay their bills, stay in their homes,
and save for retirement’" (Garcia).
Many Americans are faced with this stressful situation. This would not
be a problem if everyone was able to get a job. Barack Obama plans to
revive the economy's financial crisis and create more jobs for all. Today, long-term unemployment is higher than it has ever been in the economic cycle. Almost 20 percent of all unemployed persons have been out of work for six months or longer. "At the beginning of the last two recessions, that number was closer to 12 percent" (Stanford). As a result, it suggests that part of those who did loose their jobs are having hard times finding new ones. This has not changed since last July. Real GDP, which stands for Gross Domestic Product, will also be lower, reducing national income, effectiveness along with living standards. Unemployment, therefore, causes a loss of human capital as the unemployed do not contribute skills and experience to the workforce. The decline in unemployed human capital and increased period of unemployment escalates this rate of unemployment. Many people fear being unemployed because of this. This fear would not be there if our economy had more jobs. "Obama plans to stimulate the economy by getting money in the form of tax cuts and direct spending directly to the people who need it the most" (Hartford). This is a seventy-five billion dollar plan and hopefully, will decrease the unemployment rate and keep people, who need it the most, from suffering. "We face unemployment above 10 percent without bipartisan support for a massive government stimulus program that would temporarily add to the record federal budget deficit but would ‘save or create at least 3 million jobs over the next few years’" (Allen). President Obama also directly adds that "‘immediately after I become president I will confront this economic crisis head-on by taking all necessary steps to ease the credit crisis, help hardworking families, and restore growth and prosperity’" (Joshi). This is a huge crisis that Americans face daily and Obama plans to restore the financial situation and lower the unemployment rate. Stated in the New York Times, "the Federal Reserve would further cut interest rates this month, perhaps by an unusually large half a percentage point, in a bid to prevent the economy from sliding into the muck" (Goodman). This will help ease the financial crisis, along with Obama's plan. There is already ways to help the economy by unemployment benefits. "Unemployment benefits stimulate the economy and helps workers" (Cayton). This is only one way of helping this tremendous crisis of high unemployment. Unemployment has a negative outcome on the economy. Since our country is in a recession, many are loosing their jobs right now and money is extremely tight. Work labor is in high demand and is at its highest peak. Unemployment is leaving its mark in the American economy and has created financial, emotional, and personal hardship for so many individuals. Currently, unemployment is one of the major crisis’ our economy is enduring. While the American people are trying to fix this problem, our new President elect, Barack Obama, will certainly take immediate action to this crisis when coming into office.
Reference List
Allen, Mike. Politico. "Obama sounds economic warning." Economic Policy Institute, "On the ground, a painful and worsening recession." http://www.epi.org/. (accessed January 13, 2009). Garcia, Emilia. White House Youtube Channel. "An American Moment." Goodman, Peter. New York Times. "Unemployment Sounds Warning About the Economy" Herbert, Bob. New York Times. "Obama’s Biggest Challenge." Joshi, Jetendra. The Sydney Morning Herald. "Obama vows to confront economic crisis head on" Stanford, Craig. National Geographic. 2000 US Census Data. "Education and Employment Status."
Jones, Herman. Payment Protection. "Ways to address member concerns." January 12, 2009. https://www.loanliner.com/ice/contents/DPtalkingpoints.htm (accessed January 14). Roberts, Ryan. The Healthcare Lawyer. "How to avoid a nasty medical divorce." |