The Anguish Of Unemployment

A new survey of unemployed Americans quantifies the enormous psychological trauma inflicted on laid-off workers by the recession -- but the pain comes through most clearly in the comments of the unemployed themselves.

"The lack of income and loss of health benefits hurts greatly, but losing the ability to provide for my wife and myself is killing me emotionally," wrote one respondent to the survey, which was conducted by the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University.

"Everything I have built up over the past 15 years of my life is being chipped away," wrote another.

"It really gives you a feel for the depth of the emotion and the suffering people are going through," said survey co-author Cliff Zukin, explaining why he included the raw comments in the report.

The numbers are pretty grim, too: Only 20 percent of those surveyed think they will land a job in the next few months, even fewer expect to get their old job back (11 percent), and most people say they feel stressed (77 percent), depressed (68 percent), helpless (61 percent), and angry (55 percent).

The survey finds that 55 percent of the unemployed say it's their first bout of joblessness in five years, 60 percent were given no notice whatsoever by their employer, and only 11 percent think they'll get their old job back.

Zukin said that beyond the collective psychological trauma, the numbers bode badly for the economic impact of the nation's employment situation. Sixty-three percent of respondents have dipped into their savings or retirement funds, 56 percent have had to borrow from friends or family, and 34 percent have increased their credit card debt.

More numbers:

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-- 75 percent of respondents are considering changing their career.

-- 43 percent said they'd received unemployment benefits from the government in the last year.

-- 53 percent said they had no health care benefits.

Some more comments:

"Even though age discrimination is illegal, I do believe it puts people off hiring; that is why I took a temporary job on my last job....I've always worked, so this is very depressing. At age 60, I never believed I would be unemployed unless I chose to be."

"My age (59) leaves me feeling worthless, very old, and isolated from the workforce -- with little chance of finding employment."

"Very few employers are willing to hire someone at my age because they are afraid of possible
health concerns down the road, and that I may decide to retire too soon to make me a good risk."

"I don't want to move back home with my parents. Right before I became unemployed, I had
moved out on my own for the first time."

"Nobody has called me in seven months. I don't feel important. I'm not contributing to family
finances."

Click here to read a PDF of "The Anguish of Unemployment."

Click here to read the Huffington Post's stories on regular people dealing with unemployment.

Hat tip: Gary Langer of ABC News.

Comments

[skymuffin]

Yes, it IS very difficult. People who you thought were your friends, don't return phone calls. Business connections you thought were solid...disappear. It makes you value the people who do stick by you and it calls up an inner strength that you maybe didn't know you had.

Sometimes, you have to swallow your pride and approach people in businesses that you're interested in -- make cold calls, go for informational interviews that aren't ploys for asking for a job. Don't wait for job postings. Go after companies that you're interested in. Do all of the things that you have to do in this age of technology to be seen, but you need to get out and meet people, because networking is still the best way to get in the door.

Find a survival job. Sometimes that will lead to other things, and it will also take the desperation out of your job search. Employers smell desperation and it is as unattractive as it is in the dating world.

[regularmess]

Was this study conducted by the eminent Dr. Obvious?

Think back to nine years ago this week. This story will take you there in a hurry. http://thehappeningstory.blogspot.com/

[ChrisDWard]

I can relate to so many of you, having been unemployed for almost a year (in Nov) and, unfortunately, I live in a state where unemployment is very high. I've had a few really good interviews and been told by employers they are "impressed with my experience and skills, and the interview went really well, blah blah" but still no job offer. I don't even look for good paying jobs like the one I lost - any job will do. I've gotten almost every job I've ever wanted throughout my adult like, so to be so thoroughly rejected by the work place is really hard to accept. I keep telling myself it's "because of the recession," but at some point you begin to feel like a loser and a reject because your services are no longer needed, thank you very much.

Sure hope Prez Obama extends UI benefits - otherwise a lot of us are going to be living on the streets! Who'da thunk we'd ever be in such a lousy position just before retirement??

[DixieMelody]

It is so draining trying to sell yourself in an interview to a person who holds the keys to the Magic Kingdom of employment. . . over, and over, and over again. . . with a large helping of humiliation when that person is at least half your age.

I sincerely hope things will turn around for you. I know you're trying so hard.

[according2mark]

I can relate to all this. I was laid off in March and have been looking ever since. I know how discouraging it is to send out resumes, fill out applications and network and seem to receive nothing for it. I have been lucky in that I have had my health insurance until this month. I have to make a decision by the end of the month whether I am going to be able to afford to go with COBRA. (Waiting to see what the cost will be). I don't think that people who are not going through really understand the stress that it puts on families. Their is often the impression that you should have been able to find something if you had really been looking.

Anyway, best of luck to all of you out there. Keep looking and I know it is bound to turn around.

[Kristen777]

Count my family in with these statistics. I know exactly what these people are talking about. We've worked all our lives, maintained immaculate credit, educated ourselves, saved for a rainy day - and now in 4 months we're looking at saying goodbye to everything.

[ResearchtheFacts]

Kristen777 my heart goes out to you and your family. It makes us all angry when we hear these stories whether we are personally going through it or not. Only, by the Grace of God, there go I ...is what everyone should be telling their selves.

It is disturbing to see others taking a vacation with their families, laughing and going on with life as usual when so many are suffering and they have within their ability to remedy the problems.
Where we are in this country is what is at real risk--our sense of humanity. I took someone into my home who had been 5 years homeless to at least feel like I am part of the solution. At some point, the Americans who are surviving the crisis have to stop blogging their concerns and act to make someone's life better. After all, our so called belongings are just, plastic, wood, glass, metal, animal-hide and stone. Humans are flesh and blood.

[schatsie]

We saw the same thing when ENRON went down....the Employees were devastated....READ STATUS SYNDROME and think what this does to financial stabiliity in this country and healthcare...It is a mess....

[marijam]

My husband got laid off at the beginning of July. Turns out the company did him a favor because a month later the company shut down. None of those people were paid for the month. They were working, they didn't get paid. I don't think you can claim unemployment to try to make up those dollars. My husband is working now, he found a job two states over. He's going to rent an apartment. Since I've been driving an hour and a half to get to work and back, now that he's not going to be in the house we own, I've taken an apartment within two miles of my employer. I'm almost paying for the apartment with the gas money I'm saving from not driving the former distance. He's close enough to drive home on weekends. We're in the process of emptying out our house, getting it ready to sell. Maybe it will sell, maybe it won't, but I hate to see it go. We did a lot to it to make it our own. Survival 101.

[littlepuffycloud]

I'm sorry your family is going through all this and you have to sell your home...but I can tell you guys are going to make it. Your story is so familiar and you laid it out there with no self pity or angry bitterness. You blame no one and have a plan you're implementing to move on into the next wave in your life. Survival 101. I admire your positive attitude...I bet you and your husband are still in love..it's obvious from your post. Thanks for sharing and good luck to you and your family and never quit making your house into your own home.

[PhilipTaylor]

The Power that is OPERATING HERE is that POWER of a R1CH EL1TE FEW Unwilling to relinquish any benefits to the American People to appease their OWN GREED for L00T!

[RhondaK]

Finally, someone is paying attention to what it is like out here in unemployment land. There is a veil of depression steeper than after 9/11, denser than any previous period of unemployment in my lifetime. Why, though, does no one speak of the arrogrance of employers in general? So many have crafted these horrible online applications. You spend hours filling them in, only to have your resume, once stylish and beautiful, headed for the dump heap at some employer's pit stop. So much for going green. Has someone studied the contents of city dumps to see the destination of our calling cards?

You send the resume; it ends up in the dump. No one responds to thank you for applying, no one calls or emails you asking for an interview. The unemployment check might cover the mortgage and health care, but that's likely all. I use my savings for food and utilities. Living like a college student for more than 40 years has finally made sense. Now I was a high-wage female earner. What are others far less well off than me doing?

Yes, I am angry and depressed and feel powerless as well as worthless. But one thing I have learned: Don't take the first job you get because it's the first and you feel another won't come. Visualize yourself in this new job. If it doesn't wear well, wait until you get another that has your name on it.

[AmandaRuth]

I hear you, but I must say that after 9 months of unemployement, sending out maybe 300 resumes, with little response, I'm taking the first job that comes along. And continuing the search for a better job.

[justduckygal]

Me too. I'll take whatever I can get. I've been sending out hundreds of resumes as well, with no luck yet.
I too am fed up with online applications. Employers don't need to treat applicants with any respect because there are so many people looking for work. The majority of places I apply never acknowledge receiving my resume. I've also noticed a huge number of spelling errors in job postings (Willing to work in a fast PASTE environment? WTF am I working with gluesticks?!).

Some days I wonder why I even bothered going to college. I would have been much better off financially if I took a job straight out of high school when there were still positions available. Then at least I'd have some years of solid work experience. Now there's no place left to get my foot in the door, and I'm battling for retail jobs with 16 year olds.

[marijam]

Do not follow this advice. The first job offer you get may be the only job offer that you get. There's nothing to stop you from continuing to look for a better job while you're in a job. The important thing is to have money coming in and to not break your work history. It does count against you when you have periods of unemployment.

[sixyfivepercentwater]

So how long do you plan to keep sending out resumes and giving your personal information to people online? As you say, it doesn't work. Try something else.

Find a company you want to work for. Find the name of the CEO of that company. Write a letter to him directly. Give a brief general outline of your work experience, with a link to your online resume., (if you include the resume he not only will not read it but his secretary will forward your letter to HR, which you don't want.) Tell this person why you would be a great asset to him, and emphasize what sets you apart from other workers. (If you have no children to support, say so. He can't ask but you can tell. LIkewise if you live five minutes from work, or if you don't need benefits, etc.) Do not let the letter be longer than one page.

The direct approach has worked for me several times. It puts the power back in your hands. YOU decide where you want to work, and YOU decide who to write to. Market yourself.

[bluevase]

Take the job!

[MaryfromIL]

Many still employed or retired people don't realize how closely we dodged a total economic meltdown that would have lasted about 10 years or so. In some ways, it's a shame that people didn't get that republican president in, and really felt the crash that would have brought. They might then have felt more gratitude for someone having the smarts to rescue us all from possible economic death. It's amazing to me to see people's negative reactions to Obama, without him we would probably have the 50% foreclosure rate of the 1930's.

Well, just wait, the next Republican everyone votes in will take care of that little problem. Then the majority will be lulled back into being comatose like during the Bush era, as every last penny goes down the drain. Then, too late.

[Anthony Brown Jr.]

No President can save us. We have to bring down the central bank. That is the main problem that we have. If it wasn't for the central bank inflating the money and giving away credit, we wouldn't be in this mess.

[billobasher]

Unemployment would be far worse had it not been for the stimulus.

[RJII]

agreed. and the whole economic system probably would have collapsed, if not for the (up chuck)big bank bailouts. now for the reforms we go.

[Anthony Brown Jr.]

You're kidding, right? Let's see where the Stimulus money wnt. The government Sector, to friends of the political class, the car companies and the politically connected. Hmm... none of that is going to help the common folk, unless they suck at the teat of the government. The Political class and their cronies have collected all the money, and the lowly private sector worker and entrepreneurs that refuse to take government funds are the ones hurting. So basically, the stimulus funds went to keep the machine alive instead of helping people. If they would have really wanted to help the common man, they would have split the total amount of the stimulus and given a check to every non-government employee in this country, not to the cronies on both sides of the political spectrum... There is no difference between the democrats or the republicans anymore. We need to vote out EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM and start fresh. People should follow the original intent of the constitution. THey didn't want people with experience running the show. They knew stuff like what we are going throgh would happen. There should be serious term limits. 2 terms for president, 1 term for senator, and 3 terms for congressman. then after that, they should go home and get a real job. No Pensions for those guys, no retirement system, just come in, serve your country, then go home. No more career politicians.

[billobasher]

This really all goes back to ROnald Reagan and his idol Milton Friedman.

[Chazmania]

It is that our government has failed. it is only out for itself and lies about being for the people.
Hold them accountable or throw them out. they work for you! not the other way around. they have used fear and intimidation to brainwash the people into believing they hold all the power.
If all the people came together and demanded what they want or we do not give them a dime of our money via the IRS etc they would come to there knees. your hard earned money pays there salary and they are not doing there job. fire them!

[Chazmania]

There is no reason why we must all live a life of scarcity because they have mismanaged this country.
they let the corrupt banking industry loot us and gave them a reward for it. why is our citizenry not outraged? and why do you continue to believe there lies and propaganda?

[RJII]

and big business controls the government.

[soburntout]

im living off a 250 a week paper route and food stamps good thing my apt complex is letting me make payments otherwise id be on the streets never mind the risk im taking not having auto insurance im just trying to survive and im a maintenance tech you would think rich people still needed their buildings looked after

[RJII]

its been a slow demise since 2007. degrees haven't helped either-- just more debt.
one good thing-- amongst sooooooooo much dispair-- I realized that I can go 18 months without using a credit card. Cash is king-- once I find a job.

[RJII]

oops--despair