Tough Times for the Unemployed

Tim Iacono

There’s lots of thoroughly depressing data in this report(.pdf) from the Pew Research Center about the plight of the unemployed, particularly the long-term unemployed. But, to me, the data snippets below are almost as interesting as how much those without a job for six months or more hate their new jobs when they finally find one.

It seems that you don’t have to be unemployed to have felt real financial pain over the last couple years, almost 40 percent of those who have never been jobless during the recession taking money out of savings and about half that amount borrowing from family or friends. The 7 percent or so of “under-employed” workers (i.e., those accepting part-time work who would prefer full-time work) no doubt contribute significantly to these totals.