unemployment discussion essay

Unemployment Essay

500+ words essay on unemployment.

Unemployment is a serious problem among young people. There are thousands of people who do not have any work to do and cannot find work for themselves. Unemployment refers to the situation where a person wants to work but cannot find employment in the labour market. One of the major reasons that contribute to unemployment is the large population of India and the limited availability of resources. In this essay on unemployment, we will discuss all these issues responsible for unemployment in India and how we can overcome this problem. Students must go through this unemployment essay to get ideas on how to write an effective essay on the topic related to unemployment. Also, they can practice more CBSE essays on different topics to boost their writing skills.

Unemployment is measured by the unemployment rate, defined as the number of people actively looking for a job as a percentage of the labour force. The unemployment rate for the year 2013-14 in rural India was 4.7%, whereas it was 5.5% for urban India. In the short term, unemployment significantly reduces a person’s income and, in the long term, it reduces their ability to save for retirement and other goals. Unemployment is a loss of valuable productive resources to the economy. The impact of job loss in rural and regional areas flows through the local community, damaging businesses.

Reason for Unemployment

An unemployed person is one who is an active member of the labour force and is seeking work but is unable to find any work for himself. There are multiple reasons behind the unemployment of a person. One of them is the slow economic growth, due to which jobs in adequate numbers are not created. Excessive dependence on agriculture and slow growth of non-farm activities also limit employment generation. Unemployment in urban areas is mainly the result of substantial rural migration to urban areas. This has also resulted in a labour workforce in cities. The lack of technology and proper machinery has also contributed to unemployment.

The present educational system is based on theoretical knowledge instead of practical work. Thus, it lacks the development of aptitude and technical qualifications required for various types of work among job seekers. This has created a mismatch between the need and availability of relevant skills and training. This results in unemployment, especially among the youth and educated people with high degrees and qualifications. Apart from it, the lack of investment and infrastructure has led to inadequate employment opportunities in different sectors.

Steps to Eliminate Unemployment

Various strategies and proposals have been implemented to generate employment. Many Employment programmes and policies have been introduced and undertaken to boost self-employment and help unemployed people engage in public works. The Government of India has taken several policy measures to fight the problem of unemployment. Some of the measures are the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), National Skill Development Mission, Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY), Regional Rural Banks (RRBs).

Despite the measures taken by the government, India remains a country experiencing severe unemployment problems. It can be resolved by imparting education in such a way that youth get the necessary skills so as to get employment easily. Setting up various vocational training and vocational courses for undergraduate and postgraduate students will help in finding employment for youth. The government needs to emphasise these courses at the primary level and make them a compulsory part of the curriculum to make students proficient in their early stages of life. Career counselling should be provided within schools and colleges so that students can choose a better career option based on their interests and ability. Government should create more job opportunities for the youth and graduates.

India is a fast-growing economy. There is an enormous scope for improvement in the unemployment sector. The various measures and steps taken by the government to increase the employment rate have succeeded to a great extent. The widespread skill development programmes have gained popularity across the nation. With better enforcement of the strategies, the employment level can be significantly improved. Although, we have to go a long way before we can say that all the people in India will get employment.

We hope this essay on unemployment must have helped students in boosting their essay-writing skills. Keep learning and visiting the BYJU’S website for more study material.

Frequently Asked Questions on Unemployment Essay

Is unemployment still an existing problem in india.

Yes, unemployment is still a serious issue in our country. Steps need to be taken by the government and also by the youngsters in India to improve this situation.

Is it necessary for schoolchildren to be informed about unemployment?

Students at this young age should definitely be informed about this topic as it will motivate them to study and aim for higher scores in exams.

What points are to be added to an essay topic on Unemployment?

Add details about different age groups of people suffering from this state of employment. You can focus on the fact that poverty is an indirect reason for unemployment and vice-versa. Then, suggest steps that can be taken to bring about an improvement in education and increase the percentage of literacy.

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Essays About Unemployment: Top 6 Examples and 5 Prompts

Read our guide to see helpful essay examples and prompts to further your understanding and write essays about unemployment.

Unemployment is an unfortunate circumstance many find themselves in; it is a challenge that civilized society faces today. When people are unemployed, they look for jobs but cannot get them. As a result, they are left without a source of income and cannot adequately provide for themselves and their families. This, in turn, can lead to various issues, including depression.

Unemployment is a social, economic, and political issue. It leaves many people in poverty and prevents people from obtaining a source of income. As a result, politicians capture the eyes of voters by promising to lower the unemployment rate to get elected. 

You can get started by reading these essay examples if you are writing essays about unemployment.

6 Examples of Essays About Unemployment

1. unemployment reflection by christopher haynes, 2. what i learned from nearly a year of unemployment by becca slaughter, 3. why aren’t europe and canada in the same boat as u.s. for unemployment by glen hendrix, 4. a global dilemma: how unemployment creates poverty by tess hinteregger, 5. why has covid-19 been especially harmful for working women by nicole bateman and martha ross, 6. youth day and ordeal of nigerian youth by utomi jerome-mario, essay prompts about unemployment, 1. unemployment during the covid-19 pandemic, 2. the connection between unemployment and crime, 3. unemployment: whose fault is it, 4. the causes of unemployment, 5. the effects of unemployment.

“In order to secure work, we must be prepared to change or upgrade our skills and be willing to relocate if necessary. But some people are not interested in retraining to find work in another field, some people do not have the confidence to go out and look for work, and some refuse to accept a job they feel is below their level. Unless people like this change their attitudes, they will not be able to find work.”

Haynes provides two perspectives on unemployment; first, that the government should do more to address it, and second, that if people want work, they must adjust to make a living. He believes that many are unemployed because they are unwilling to change their skillset or relocate to get a job. Therefore, more should be done to reduce unemployment, but it goes both ways; everyone must put in the effort.  

“I remember feeling embarrassed and powerless. I was angry it wasn’t my decision. I was happy I didn’t have to go back there, yet I was stressed about not having anywhere to go. Ultimately, I felt an overwhelming sadness that left me terrified. While I was overflowing with confusing and contradicting emotions, I somehow felt empty.”

In her essay, Slaughter reflects on her unemployed time and how it changed her. Her previous job was long and stressful, but whenever someone would ask her what she did for a living, she was embarrassed and regretful for not being there anymore. In addition to losing her job, she feels like she lost a part of herself at that time. Thankfully, she got a new job, one less taxing than her previous one. 

“You would think paying all that money year after year to a government whose purpose is to “establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity” would entitle that person to a modicum of “blessings” to insure his “tranquility” and “general welfare” in case of some stupid virus pandemic. It would certainly be the “just” thing to do. And that person’s “posterity” might look a bit less bleak. European governments and Canada did just that. And it’s not even explicitly stated in the preamble to their constitution.”

Hendrix criticizes the United States’ response to the unemployment problem caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that Canada and European nations have done a much better job. He discusses how much better their unemployment benefit system is compared to the U.S. and how it is ironic that the United States, whose constitution says all of these things promoting justice and wellbeing, cannot provide that for its citizens during a global pandemic. 

“While unemployment can create poverty, poverty also reduces the chance of being employed. To ensure that those who are affected by unemployment do not fall into the negative cycle, researchers believe that governments should focus on improving quality education and training all young people so they remain in school.”

Hinteregger, in her essay, explains the link between unemployment and poverty, writing that it leads to the loss of income. People will also have to raise their families in poverty, which perpetuates the cycle of poverty. In addition, the poor may resort to violence to make a living. She points out the sheer irony of this issue, as unemployment causes poverty while poverty may also reduce the chance of being employed. 

“COVID-19 is hard on women because the U.S. economy is hard on women, and this virus excels at taking existing tensions and ratcheting them up. Millions of women were already supporting themselves and their families on meager wages before coronavirus-mitigation lockdowns sent unemployment rates skyrocketing and millions of jobs disappeared. And working mothers were already shouldering the majority of family caregiving responsibilities in the face of a childcare system that is wholly inadequate for a society in which most parents work outside the home.”

Bateman and Ross write about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on women. Many women are forced to go through so much to provide for their families; however, the lockdowns led to many of them losing their jobs. The unemployment rate for women rose dramatically, by 12 percent, from February to April of 2020. It has been difficult for them to balance work with taking care of their families, women’s primary role as dictated by society. 

“Youth unemployment is potentially dangerous as it sends a signal to all segments of the Nigerian Society. Here in Nigeria, the rate of youth unemployment is high, even at the period of economic normalcy i.e. the oil boom of the 1970s (6.2 per cent); 1980s (9.8 per cent) and the 1990s (11.5 per cent). Youth unemployment therefore is not a recent phenomenon. But if what happened in the 1980s/90s were a challenge of sorts, what is happening presently, going by the latest report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), is a challenge.”

Jerome-Mario’s essay focuses on several issues affecting the Nigerian youth, including unemployment. The country has a high unemployment rate; over a fourth of the youth population is unemployed. He stresses the importance of the youth using their voice to make a change and to persuade the government to care for its citizens more. 

The pandemic and its lockdown policies have undoubtedly caused many people to lose jobs. Look into the impact of COVID-19 on the unemployment rate, particularly during the early months of the pandemic. Which sectors were most affected? Pull data and statistics to show how the public was affected by the covid-19 pandemic in terms of unemployment.

Many say that unemployment leads to higher crime rates. Do you believe this is true? Research how unemployment is linked to crime; examine the effects of unemployment on mental health; and conclude whether this may contribute to the increased likelihood of committing a crime. 

In Haynes’ essay, he claims that employers/the government, and workers are to blame for unemployment. After reading his essay and both arguments, who do you believe is at fault? Explain your response in detail, and make sure to provide a solid base of evidence.

Unemployment has many contributing causes. Assuming a non-pandemic setting, research what causes unemployment and list them down in your essay. Elaborate on each one and, if you can draw connections, explain them as well. 

As a grave issue, unemployment has many severe effects, notably poverty. For your essay, write about the effects of unemployment on a person, both physical and mental. How are they connected? What secondary effects might they produce? For a compelling and argumentative essay, answer these questions using research material and interview data.

For help with this topic, read our guide explaining what is persuasive writing ?If you are interested in learning more, check out our essay writing tips !

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104 Unemployment Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Inside This Article

Unemployment is a pressing issue that affects millions of people worldwide. Whether it's due to economic downturns, technological advancements, or personal circumstances, being without a job can have a significant impact on individuals and societies as a whole.

If you're struggling to come up with a topic for your unemployment essay, fear not! We've compiled a list of 104 ideas and examples to help inspire you and get those creative juices flowing.

• The impact of automation on unemployment rates
• The role of education in reducing unemployment
• Unemployment among young people: causes and solutions
• The effects of long-term unemployment on mental health
• The gig economy and its impact on job security
• Unemployment and its relationship to poverty
• The impact of globalization on job opportunities
• How government policies can help reduce unemployment
• The effects of unemployment on family dynamics
• The connection between unemployment and crime rates
• Unemployment and its impact on social mobility
• The correlation between unemployment and substance abuse
• The gender wage gap and its influence on unemployment rates
• The effects of outsourcing on domestic job opportunities
• Unemployment and its impact on healthcare access
• The relationship between unemployment and homelessness
• The effects of unemployment on rural communities
• Unemployment and its impact on mental health services
• The effects of unemployment on the elderly population
• The role of technology in creating new job opportunities
• Unemployment and its impact on the environment
• The effects of unemployment on educational attainment
• The impact of unemployment on social services
• Unemployment among minority populations: causes and solutions
• The effects of unemployment on personal relationships
• The role of unions in reducing unemployment rates
• Unemployment and its impact on political participation
• The effects of unemployment on workforce diversity
• The relationship between unemployment and inflation
• Unemployment and its impact on retirement savings
• The effects of unemployment on job satisfaction
• The role of entrepreneurship in reducing unemployment
• Unemployment and its impact on social security programs
• The effects of unemployment on public transportation
• The relationship between unemployment and economic growth
• Unemployment and its impact on healthcare costs
• The effects of unemployment on consumer spending
• The role of retraining programs in reducing unemployment
• Unemployment and its impact on job search strategies
• The effects of unemployment on job market competition
• The relationship between unemployment and job satisfaction
• Unemployment and its impact on job security
• The effects of unemployment on workplace culture
• The role of networking in reducing unemployment rates
• Unemployment and its impact on retirement planning
• The effects of unemployment on job benefits
• The relationship between unemployment and job turnover
• Unemployment and its impact on job stability
• The role of internships in reducing unemployment rates
• Unemployment and its impact on job training programs
• The effects of unemployment on job performance
• The relationship between unemployment and job motivation
• Unemployment and its impact on job flexibility
• The role of government programs in reducing unemployment rates
• The effects of unemployment on job opportunities
• The relationship between unemployment and job search strategies
• Unemployment and its impact on job market competition
• The effects of unemployment on job motivation

With so many possible topics to choose from, you're sure to find something that piques your interest and allows you to delve deeper into the complex issue of unemployment. Whether you're focusing on the causes, effects, or solutions, there's no shortage of angles to explore. Good luck with your essay!

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Unemployment Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on unemployment.

Unemployment is a very serious issue not only in India but in the whole world. There are hundreds and thousands of people out there who do not have employment . Besides, the problems of unemployment are very severe in India because of the growing population and demand for jobs. Moreover, if we neglect this problem then it will be going to become the reason for the doom of the nation.

What is Unemployment?

Unemployment refers to a situation in which a skilled and talented people wanted to do a job. But cannot find a proper job due to several reasons.

Types of Unemployment

Now we know what is unemployment but unemployment does not only mean that the person does not have a job. Likewise, unemployment also includes people working in areas out of their expertise.

The various types of unemployment include disguised unemployment, seasonal unemployment, open unemployment, technological unemployment, structural unemployment. Besides, some other unemployment is cyclic unemployment, educated unemployment, underemployment, frictional unemployment, chronic unemployment, and casual unemployment.

Above all, seasonal unemployment, under unemployment, and disguised unemployment are the most common unemployment that is found in India.

Reasons for Unemployment

In a country like India, there is much reason for a large section of the population for being unemployed. Some of these factors are population growth, slow economic growth , seasonal occupation, slow growth of the economic sector, and fall in the cottage industry.

Moreover, these are the major reason for unemployment in India. Also, the situation has become so drastic that highly educated people are ready to do the job of a sweeper. Besides, the government is not doing his work seriously.

Apart from all these, a large portion of the population is engaged in the agricultural sector and the sector only provides employment in harvest or plantation time.

In addition, the biggest reason of unemployment in India is its vast population which demands a large number of jobs every year which the government and authorities are unable to provide.

Consequences of Unemployment

If things will go on like the current scenario then unemployment will become a major issue. Apart from this, the following things happen in an economy which is an increase in poverty, an increase in crime rate, exploitation of labor, political instability, mental health, and loss of skills. As a result, all this will eventually lead to the demise of the nation.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Initiative by Government

The government has taken the problem very seriously and have taken measures to slowly reduce unemployment. Some of these schemes includes IRDP (Integrated Rural Development Programme), DPAP (Drought Prone Area Programme), Jawahar Rozgar Yojana, Employment Assurance Scheme, NRY (Nehru Rozgar Yojana), Training for self-Employment, PMIUPEP (Prime Minister’s Integrated Urban Poverty Eradication Program), employment exchange, Employment Guarantee Scheme, development of organized sector, small and cottage industries, employment in forging countries, and Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana and few more.

Besides, these schemes the government also make some rules flexible, so that employment can be created in the private sector also.

To conclude, we can say that the problem of unemployment in India has reached a critical stage. But, now the government and local authorities have taken the problem seriously and working on it to reduce unemployment. Also, to completely solve the issue of unemployment we have to tackle the main issue of unemployment that is the vast population of India.

FAQs about Unemployment

Q.1 Why there is a problem of unemployment in India? A.1 Due to overpopulation and lack of proper skills there is a problem of unemployment in India.

Q.2 Define Disguised unemployment? A.2 Disguised unemployment refers to a form of employment in which more than the required numbers of people work in industry or factory. And removing some employee will not affect productivity.

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Unemployment Essay Writing Guide

Academic writing

Essay paper writing

Employment is one of the major forces that bring on the economic growth of each country. In addition, unemployment rates can show how economic state of a country changes with time. That is why, it is crucially important to study the causes and effects of unemployment on the economy, social issues, and the life of every individual. Every student can do that by working on a research paper or essay about unemployment.

Luckily, you have come across this article, in which we collected the tips and ideas on how to write the best essay or research paper on unemployment. Stay tuned and read on to know all the intricacies of writing the best academic paper on this topic from scratch, even if you know little or nothing in this field. 

Purpose of writing an unemployment research paper

Let’s start with a discussion on how to write a research paper. Conducting unemployment research, you are encouraged to explore and identify issues that arise when willing workers can’t find a well-paid job or lose jobs as a result of their employers’ inability to maintain the growing rate of production.

Of course, this process affects the economy in general as well as the lives of each and every one of us. Having said that, when you look at this problem analytically and study it from different points of view, using recent data, it allows you to either find solutions to it or encourage other students, activists, or even scholars to further this research and propose their solutions.

Unemployment research paper topics

Here are some interesting research topics on unemployment for your consideration: 

• Karl Marx’s theory of unemployment
• To what extent can automation be helpful or harmful in the workforce?
• What are the long-term consequences of unemployment?
• What is a link between inflation and unemployment?
• Why is unemployment particularly bad for women?
• How does the unemployment rate affect the phycological state of people?
• Unemployment during the Big Depression
• Unemployment rate during COVID-19 pandemics
• Automation of labor and unemployment
• The effects of unemployment on students
• The unemployment rate in the country of choice
• Which population is the most vulnerable to unemployment?
• The link between unemployment and crime rate
• Ways of reducing unemployment

Unemployment research questions

When you have chosen the topic, it is important to formulate a few unemployment research questions and choose one or a few that you are going to focus on in your work. If your topic is broad, narrow it down to something more specific that you would be able to cover within the given word count. Make sure it is not too narrow to be researchable but specific enough for you to understand what kind of information to look for specifically.

The questions you formulate can be focused on the:

• Comparison between certain aspects of unemployment.
• Relationships between variables of your choice.
• Advantages/disadvantages of certain aspects.
• Causal relationships between specific variables.
• Factors contributing to the problem or its solution.

There are a lot of ways to formulate a research question for an unemployment paper, and we suggest that you run the question of your choice by your professor before starting to write.

Unemployment research paper outline

While your outline should include as many details as possible, the main sections it will cover are:

• Introduction
• Introductory phrase
• Background information
• Statement of hypothesis/thesis statement
• Body sections:
• Literature review
• Methodology
• Restated hypothesis/thesis
• Main points of research.
• Further application/Significance of research.

Tips for writing an essay on unemployment

Writing an academic essay on unemployment might appear like quite a difficult task. In order to make your life easier, we have decided to provide with the best writing tips:

• Choose the topic which you are genuinely interested in. This way, the writing process will be exciting and productive.
• Make an outline. This is an essential part of employment essay writing, which helps you to keep your ideas in order and write a well-structured text.
• Write the first draft. It will help you understand how to present your arguments and evidence as well as frame your essay.
• Look for well-written examples. There are a lot of sample essays on unemployment on the Web. Therefore, if you are not sure what to focus yours on or how to put your ideas on paper, reading a few examples might help.
• Proofread your essay. It’s a good idea to revise your paper the next day after you finish writing it. This way, you will notice more grammatical errors and common structural and stylistic mistakes.

Topics for writing an essay on unemployment

• Essay on educated unemployment
• Essay on unemployment among graduates
• Essay on unemployment and poverty
• Essay on rural unemployment
• Essay on the evils of unemployment
• Essay on poverty, illiteracy, and unemployment
• Essay on poverty and unemployment in specific countries/states
• Essay on unemployment and underemployment after wars
• Essay on effects of unemployment (psychological, sociological, financial, etc.)
• Causes of unemployment essay
• Essay on reasons for unemployment
• Essay on the impact of unemployment
• Causes and effects of unemployment essay
• Cause and effect of unemployment essay: is there a link between low quality education and unemployment?
• Argumentative essay on unemployment: should government help the vulnerable population with job search?
• Cause and effect essay on unemployment and inflation
• Unemployment problem solution essay
• Essay on employment and unemployment
• Essay on unemployment in America
• Essay on unemployment and its long-term effects

Unemployment essay outline

Whether you are writing a one-page essay on unemployment or a longer well-researched one at the end of the semester, making an outline is an important step you should never skip. Just like with a research paper, an unemployment essay outline also has a specific structure:

• Unemployment essay introduction. For starters, you need to provide readers with background on the topic and some justifications as to why you have chosen it. At the end of the intro, present your thesis statement with the main points that you will be discussing in more detail further.
• Body paragraphs. The main part is the most extended and informative section of the whole essay. It usually consists of 3-5 paragraphs (however, there can be more or less, depending on the specific requirements). Each paragraph has to include the argument connected with your thesis statement, which is reinforced with evidence and examples. Make sure that your body paragraphs are logically interconnected. In this case, transition words will be of great help.
• Conclusion for an essay on unemployment. At the final stage, here comes the time to briefly remind the readers about all the arguments discussed throughout the essay and the thesis statement that you have put forward in the intro. Don’t make new points in a conclusion for an unemployment essay. This is the part where you reflect on what was written without adding factual or statistical info to continue the discussion. In the final sentences of the unemployment essay conclusion, try coming up with a catchy phrase to wrap up everything that you have showcased before effectively and to encourage your readers for further reflections. 

Statistics for your essay on unemployment

We have collected some interesting and somehow shocking statistics, which you can use in your unemployment essay or research paper:

• Developed countries often cannot offer permanent positions for an excessive number of college graduates, both local residents and international students. This problem creates enormous competition for permanent positions in their chosen fields of study. One great example of such a situation is the US economic recession of 2007-2008 when the employment rate of candidates with bachelor's degrees suddenly dropped to as low as 9%.
• One of the recent American surveys showed that some of the highest unemployment rates were among Philosophy (6.2%) as well as the English Language (6.4%) and Mass Media (7.4%) graduates. On the other hand, the lowest unemployment rates were fixed in the fields of Industrial Engineering (1.7%) and Medical Technicians (0.9%).
• Youth are approximately three times more likely to be unemployed than adults (2.7).
• Among all developing regions, East Asia has the largest unemployment rate.
• The number of unemployed workers in the world’s developing economies is roughly the same as the population of Bangladesh (156.6 million), the world’s eighth-most populous country.
• Despite COVID-19 pandemics, the US unemployment rate has fallen to 7.9% (from 8.4%). The most prosperous are the restaurant, retail, and healthcare sectors.

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Unemployment as a Social Issue

This essay will discuss unemployment as a social issue, examining its causes, effects, and implications for society. It will explore how economic trends, technological changes, and policy decisions contribute to unemployment. The piece will also analyze the impact of unemployment on individuals and communities, including financial instability, mental health issues, and societal strain. Solutions and strategies for addressing unemployment will also be considered. Also at PapersOwl you can find more free essay examples related to Economy.

How it works

Introduction.

Unemployment is real issue in the modern society and has devastating impact on people’s lives. The effects are not limited to the unemployed individual but also family members and the wider community. As unemployment is time bound, with the duration of unemployment have far reaching effects even affecting the living standards in retirement 2. The loss of an income by a parent can potentially damage the prospects of the next generation. In additional to the personal impact, unemployment is a loss of valuable and productive resources to the economy.

The impact of job loss in rural and regional areas flows through the local community damaging businesses as family expenditure is capped and limited to bare minimum spending. This write-up evaluates financial, budgetary and economic impacts of unemployment on the society.

The financial, budgetary and economic effects of unemployment are profound. Many individuals who leave the workforce unwillingly do not have adequate resources for a comfortable and long retirement 3. Consequently, the price paid by society is increased income support, health and community support costs as well as the reduction in human capital. Entrenched unemployment results in a divided nation where individuals with jobs benefit from economic growth while those missing out are relegated to secondary status4. Secondly the economic loss the the individual and the family cannot be overstated. The treasury affirmed that in the short term unemployment significantly reduces a person’s income and in the long term reduces their ability to save for retirement and their goals5. This is primarily because the employer as well as the employee superannuation contributions are the lost and the capacity to save from disposable income is lowered.

Mission Australia, an NGO that facilitates retrenched people to find placement in new jobs reported that they had clients who could barely afford clothing for interviews, a telephone or transport to interview venues. Pep Employment Services argued that the lack of financial support for home owners/purchasers who are unable to pay their council rates often causes hardship. The lobby affirmed that some cases mature-age job seekers build up large council debts or face selling their home. Whereas pensioners receive a concession for rates, the unemployed do not. The US treasury indicates that income support generally replaces only a third of the net wages and superannuation benefits lost from work, a much lower replacement rate than exists in many other OECD country social insurance systems.

In addition, it is reported in several surveys that unemployment often impacts harder on those mature-age people who have significant ongoing financial commitments such as mortgages or rent, student education expenses and obligations to support dependents. The current trend to delay marriage as well as child bearing coupled with young peoples prolonged participation in education means that mature aged people still have dependent children, translating to significant financial responsibilities. The changes in income support policy requiring parents to provide more support for teenagers and young adults, for instance the notion of a Youth Allowance means that the period of responsibility for dependents is extended into the years where mature-age workers are most vulnerable in the labor market, not to mention that some also have aged parents that they care for. Subsequently, the economic impact is severe, not only for the individual but, as with social issues, with ripple effects for the family. Statistics show that over 300,000 children live in families’ dependent on unemployment benefits and there is evidence that about one-third of unemployed families live in poverty.

Moreover, a worrying long-term concern outlined by the Department of Family and Community Services (DFaCS) is the growth in dependency of mature-age people receiving income support, particularly over the recent period of improving job conditions for mature-age workers. Further, reliance on income support for prolonged periods for retirement is not in the best interests of the individual. It can culminate in erosion of their skills and their personal savings, it can increase marginalization within society and there is an increased risk of low incomes and poor health in retirement. Those workers whose children have departed from home and whose mortgages are reduced substantially are in a position to increase their savings significantly from the age of 45 as they become more aware of the approaching retirement. Others still have young dependents and significant financial commitment. The stated financial obligation of raising families and relative infancy coupled with the recent acceptance of compulsory termination arrangements are factors affecting people’s insufficient savings for retirement. The Treasury notes that as of 1986, only 40 per cent of employees were covered by superannuation and these tended to be higher income and white-collar employees.

Moreover, the treasury pointed out that the longer a person is unemployed, and the earlier they retire, the greater the adverse financial effect of unemployment. People unemployed later in life are less able to increase savings to make up the shortfall in expected retirement income and this loss is greater the earlier a person retires.17 Treasury provided an example: an individual on average earnings, unemployed for a year at age 64, would receive a gross retirement benefit around $9500 larger than someone in the same circumstances who was instead unemployed for a year at age 45. This reflects the additional interest accumulated over these nineteen years. The financial impact of unemployment is also influenced by the interaction of retrenchment and income support assets test. It has further been asserted that unemployed individuals have a greater usage of health services, such as higher hospital admissions, doctor and outpatient visits and significantly higher use of the pharmaceuticals, than their employed counter parts. Hence unemployment increases the cost of health services and other social security systems.

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Essay on Unemployment

Introduction to Unemployment

Unemployment, a pervasive economic challenge, is a complex phenomenon with far-reaching implications for individuals, societies, and nations. As a dynamic force within the labor market, its multifaceted nature encompasses structural, cyclical, and frictional components. Understanding its causes, effects, and potential solutions is crucial in crafting effective policies and strategies to mitigate its impact. This essay delves into the intricacies of unemployment, dissecting its various facets and exploring actionable insights to address this critical issue in the contemporary socio-economic landscape.

Types of Unemployment

Unemployment can manifest in various forms, each with distinct characteristics and causes. Here are the main types of unemployment:

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1. Structural Unemployment

Structural unemployment occurs when there is a discrepancy between the skills and qualifications of workers and the demands of available jobs.

• Causes : Changes in technology, shifts in consumer preferences, and structural changes in industries can render specific skills obsolete, leading to structural unemployment.
• Example : The decline of traditional manufacturing industries due to automation and globalization has left many workers unemployed, as their skills no longer match the demands of the evolving job market.

2. Frictional Unemployment

Frictional unemployment occurs when individuals are temporarily unemployed as they transition between jobs or enter the workforce for the first time.

• Causes : Frictional unemployment is inherent in any dynamic economy, as it takes time for individuals to search for suitable employment opportunities and for employers to find the right candidates.
• Example : Recent graduates entering the job market and individuals relocating to new cities may experience frictional unemployment while they search for suitable positions.

3. Cyclical Unemployment

Cyclical unemployment is caused by economic fluctuations, with joblessness increasing during periods of downturn and decreasing during periods of growth.

• Causes : A decline in aggregate demand primarily drives cyclical unemployment, reducing production and layoffs across industries.
• Example : During the global financial crisis of 2008, many businesses downsized or closed operations, resulting in a significant increase in cyclical unemployment as demand for goods and services plummeted.

4. Seasonal Unemployment

Seasonal unemployment occurs when individuals are unemployed due to fluctuations in labor demand tied to seasonal patterns or specific times of the year.

• Causes : Industries such as agriculture, tourism, and retail experience predictable fluctuations in demand based on seasonal factors.
• Example : During the summer, ski resorts may face seasonal unemployment due to reduced demand for winter sports activities, resulting in temporary layoffs for many workers.

5. Underemployment

Underemployment occurs when individuals work in jobs that do not use their skills, education, or experience or when they work part-time but want full-time employment.

• Causes : Underemployment can result from limited job opportunities, involuntary part-time work, or mismatches between workers’ qualifications and available positions.
• For example, highly educated professionals working in low-skilled jobs or individuals with advanced degrees working part-time due to a lack of full-time opportunities are examples of underemployment.

Unemployment Rates and Trends

Unemployment rates and trends are key indicators of the health of an economy and the labor market. Here’s an overview of unemployment rates and trends:

Unemployment Rate: The unemployment rate is typically expressed as a percentage and represents the number of unemployed individuals as a proportion of the total labor force. Divide the unemployed by the total labor force and multiply by 100 to calculate the unemployment rate.

Trends in Unemployment Rates: Unemployment rates fluctuate in response to changes in economic conditions, policy interventions, and structural shifts in the labor market. During economic downturns or recessions, unemployment rates tend to rise as businesses reduce hiring and lay off workers, and overall demand for labor decreases.

Types of Unemployment Rates

• Overall Unemployment Rate: This rate reflects the total number of unemployed individuals in the labor force.
• Youth Unemployment Rate: Specifically measures the unemployment rate among individuals aged 15 to 24. Youth unemployment is typically higher than overall unemployment rates due to factors such as limited work experience and educational transitions.
• Long-term Unemployment Rate: Measures the proportion of unemployed individuals who have been out of work for an extended period, typically defined as 27 weeks or more. Long-term unemployment can have significant economic and social consequences, including skill depreciation and reduced employability.

Causes of Unemployment

Unemployment is a complex economic phenomenon influenced by various factors. Understanding its causes is essential for devising effective policy responses and interventions. Here are the key causes of unemployment:

• Economic Recession and Cyclical Factors: Economic downturns, characterized by reduced consumer spending, declining business investment, and decreased aggregate demand, often lead to layoffs and job losses. During recessions, businesses may cut costs by reducing their workforce, resulting in increased unemployment rates.
• Technological Advancements and Automation: Technological innovations and automation have increased efficiency in production processes and displaced workers in specific industries. Automation replaces human labor with machines, reducing the demand for specific jobs and leading to structural unemployment.
• Globalization and Outsourcing: Globalization has facilitated the movement of capital, goods, and services across borders, allowing companies to outsource production and services to countries with lower labor costs. Outsourcing can result in job losses in the domestic market as companies seek cheaper alternatives overseas, contributing to structural unemployment in specific industries.
• Structural Changes in Industries: Changes in consumer preferences, technological advancements, and shifts in global markets often result in structural changes within industries. Some industries may decline while others emerge, leading to a mismatch between the skills demanded by employers and those possessed by the workforce, causing structural unemployment.
• Skills Mismatch and Education Disparities: Rapid changes in technology and industry requirements can result in a mismatch between the skills of job seekers and the skills demanded by employers. Inadequate education and training programs may leave individuals ill-equipped to meet the demands of evolving industries, leading to unemployment or underemployment.
• Labor Market Regulations and Policies: Labor market rules, such as minimum wage laws, employment protection policies, and labor market rigidities, may influence employers’ hiring decisions. Excessive regulations may discourage employers from hiring new workers, contributing to unemployment, particularly among vulnerable populations such as youth and low-skilled workers.
• Demographic Factors: Population growth, aging demographics, and changes in labor force participation rates can influence unemployment levels. Demographic shifts may create imbalances between the supply and demand for labor, leading to unemployment, especially among certain age groups or demographic segments.
• Geographical and Regional Disparities: Due to industrial composition, infrastructure development, and economic policies, unemployment rates vary across regions and localities. Regions heavily dependent on specific industries may experience higher unemployment rates during economic downturns or structural shifts in the economy.

Impacts of Unemployment

Unemployment has far-reaching impacts on individuals, families, communities, and the broader economy. Here are the key effects of unemployment:

Economic Consequences:

• Loss of Income: Unemployment leads to a loss of income for individuals and their families, resulting in financial strain and reduced purchasing power.
• Reduced Consumer Spending: Unemployed individuals will likely reduce discretionary spending, affecting businesses and economic activity.
• Lower Tax Revenues: Reduced employment levels result in lower tax revenues for governments, limiting their ability to fund social programs and public services.

Social Repercussions:

• Psychological Stress: Unemployment often leads to feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression among individuals, impacting their mental health and overall well-being.
• Social Isolation: People without jobs may struggle to stay in social circles and participate in community events, leading to feelings of alienation and social isolation.
• Family Strain: Unemployment can strain family relationships and lead to conflicts due to financial pressures and uncertainty about the future.

Human Capital Depreciation:

• Skill Erosion: Prolonged unemployment can result in the depreciation of individuals’ skills and professional qualifications, making it harder for them to re-enter the workforce.
• Loss of Work Experience: Unemployment leads to a loss of valuable work experience, hindering individuals’ career advancement and future job prospects.

Health Impacts:

• Physical Health: Chronic illnesses like diabetes and cardiovascular disease are more common among people without jobs, and unemployment is also associated with worse physical health results. Stress levels have gone up, and there are less healthcare resources available.
• Mental Health: Due to emotions of inadequacy, identity loss, and social shame among jobless people, unemployment can result in illnesses such as anxiety, depression, and substance addiction.

Increased Social Welfare Costs:

• Unemployment Benefits: Governments incur higher expenditures on unemployment benefits and social welfare programs to support unemployed individuals and their families during periods of economic hardship.
• Healthcare Costs: Increased unemployment can strain healthcare systems, leading to higher healthcare costs associated with treating physical and mental health conditions.

Crime and Social Disruption:

• Higher Crime Rates: Unemployment is associated with higher crime rates, as individuals facing financial hardship may turn to illegal activities to survive or out of desperation.
• Social Unrest: Prolonged periods of high unemployment can contribute to social unrest, political instability, and protests as communities demand government action and economic reforms.

Solutions to Unemployment

Addressing unemployment requires a multifaceted approach encompassing various strategies to create employment opportunities, foster economic growth, and enhance the workforce’s skills and employability. Here are some key solutions to unemployment:

• Education and Skills Development: Individuals can acquire the skills and credentials required to fulfill the needs of changing sectors by investing in education and vocational training programs. Promoting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education and lifelong learning initiatives can enhance workforce readiness and adaptability to technological advancements.
• Job Creation Initiatives: Implement infrastructure projects like transportation networks, renewable energy installations, and urban development initiatives to create jobs and stimulate economic activity. Support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through access to financing, tax incentives, and business development services to encourage entrepreneurship and job creation.
• Labor Market Reforms: Make hiring and expanding easier by reducing bureaucratic hurdles and streamlining labor market regulations. Foster flexible work arrangements, such as telecommuting, part-time employment, and job-sharing programs, to accommodate diverse needs and preferences in the labor market.
• Investment in Innovation and Technology: To promote technical innovation, high-value job creation, and increased competitiveness in international markets, invest in R&D and innovation: support technology transfer initiatives and industry-academic collaborations to commercialize research findings and promote entrepreneurship.
• Promotion of Sustainable Industries: Promote industries with high growth potential, such as renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, healthcare, and information technology, to create new job opportunities and reduce dependence on declining sectors. Incentivize businesses to adopt environmentally sustainable practices and invest in green technologies to address climate change and create green jobs.
• Targeted Support for Vulnerable Groups: Implement targeted employment programs and support services for vulnerable populations, including youth, women, persons with disabilities, and marginalized communities, to enhance their employability and job opportunities. Provide subsidies, wage incentives, and training subsidies for employers to hire and retain workers from disadvantaged backgrounds.
• Macroeconomic Policies and Stimulus Measures: Implement counter-cyclical fiscal and monetary policies, such as tax cuts, public spending programs, and interest rate adjustments, to stimulate economic growth, boost consumer demand, and reduce unemployment during economic downturns. Prioritize investments in social infrastructure, including healthcare, education, and social protection systems, to enhance human capital development and reduce poverty and inequality.
• International Cooperation and Trade Policies: Foster international cooperation to address global unemployment, migration, and income inequality challenges through multilateral forums and agreements. Promote fair trade practices, labor standards, and social protection mechanisms to ensure inclusive and sustainable economic development for all countries and regions.

Initiatives taken by Government

Governments play a crucial role in addressing unemployment through various initiatives and policies to stimulate economic growth, create job opportunities, and support the workforce. Here are some key initiatives taken by governments to tackle unemployment:

• Fiscal Stimulus Packages: During economic downturns or recessions, governments often implement fiscal stimulus packages to boost aggregate demand and spur economic growth. These packages may include increased government spending on infrastructure projects, tax cuts for businesses and individuals, and direct financial assistance to households.
• Investment in Infrastructure: Governments invest in infrastructure projects such as transportation networks, energy facilities, and public utilities to create jobs and stimulate economic activity. These investments create employment opportunities and contribute to long-term economic development and competitiveness.
• Support for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs): Governments support SMEs through access to financing, technical assistance, and business development services. Initiatives may include loan guarantees, tax incentives, and capacity-building programs to help SMEs grow, innovate, and create jobs.
• Education and Skills Development Programs: To provide people with the abilities and credentials required to succeed in the job market, governments fund programs for education and vocational training. Initiatives may include scholarships, grants, and apprenticeship programs to facilitate access to education and training opportunities.
• Labor Market Reforms: Governments undertake labor market reforms to promote flexibility, reduce barriers to employment, and improve the functioning of labor markets. Reforms may include changes to labor regulations, unemployment benefits systems, and social protection mechanisms to enhance job creation and facilitate workforce mobility.
• Job Creation Incentives: Governments incentivize businesses to create new jobs and hire unemployed individuals. Incentives may include wage subsidies, tax credits, and grants for hiring and training workers, particularly for disadvantaged and underrepresented groups.
• Public Employment Programs: Governments implement public employment programs to provide temporary job opportunities for unemployed individuals. These programs may involve projects in areas such as infrastructure maintenance, environmental conservation, and community development.
• Unemployment Benefits and Social Safety Nets: Governments provide unemployment benefits and social safety nets to support individuals and families during unemployment. Benefits may include financial assistance, healthcare coverage, housing support, and job placement services to help unemployed individuals transition into the workforce.
• Support for Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Governments support innovation and entrepreneurship through funding, research grants, and incubator programs to foster the development of new industries and technologies. Initiatives may include tax incentives, regulatory reforms, and access to venture capital to encourage entrepreneurship and job creation.

Case Studies

Here are case studies that highlight successful approaches to addressing unemployment:

1. Germany’s Dual Education System:

Praise for Germany’s low unemployment rate and skilled workforce has been longstanding. One of the key factors contributing to the country’s success is its dual education system that combines classroom learning with on-the-job training.

Initiative: The dual education system involves collaboration between schools and businesses. Typically starting in their mid-teens, students alternate between academic coursework and practical training in a company.

• Skill Development: The program ensures students acquire relevant, practical skills aligned with industry needs.
• Smooth Transition to Workforce: Graduates are well-prepared for the workforce, leading to lower youth unemployment rates.
• Strong Employer Engagement: Companies benefit from a pool of skilled workers and have a hand in shaping the curriculum to meet their specific needs.

Lesson Learned: Integrating education with practical training can create a pipeline of skilled workers and address the skills gap, reducing unemployment.

2. South Korea’s Economic Planning and Industrial Policies:

South Korea transformed from a war-torn country in the 1950s to an economic powerhouse in a relatively short period. Central to this transformation were comprehensive financial planning and industrial policies.

Initiative: The South Korean Government played a central role in economic planning, directing resources toward key industries such as steel, shipbuilding, and electronics. It also focused on education and skill development.

• Industrial Growth: Strategic planning and targeted investments led to the growth of key industries, creating jobs and driving economic expansion.
• Export-Led Growth: A focus on exports helped South Korea become a significant player in the global market, further boosting economic growth and employment.
• Education Emphasis: Investments in education and research contributed to a skilled workforce, supporting the growth of technology-intensive industries.

Lesson Learned: Coordinated economic planning and targeted industrial policies can drive economic growth, job creation, and global competitiveness.

3. Singapore’s Adaptation to Economic Changes:

Singapore, a small island nation with limited natural resources, has transformed into a global economic hub over the past few decades. Despite economic challenges, Singapore maintains a relatively low unemployment rate.

Initiative:   Singapore’s success in managing unemployment stems from its proactive economic adaptation and diversification approach. The Government invests heavily in education, technology, and infrastructure to stay competitive.

• Investment in Education: Singapore prioritizes education and skills training to ensure its workforce remains adaptable and relevant in a rapidly evolving global economy.
• Promotion of Innovation: The Government actively supports innovation and entrepreneurship, fostering an environment conducive to the growth of new industries and job creation.
• Attracting Foreign Investment: Singapore’s business-friendly policies and strategic location have attracted foreign investment, created job opportunities, and fueled economic growth.

Lesson Learned: Continuous investment in education, innovation, and infrastructure is crucial for maintaining low unemployment rates and sustaining economic growth in the face of global challenges.

4. United States’ Response to the Great Recession (2007-2009):

The United States saw massive job losses and high unemployment rates due to the Great Recession, a severe economic crisis.

Initiative: In response to the crisis, the U.S. government implemented several initiatives aimed at stimulating the economy, creating jobs, and supporting unemployed workers.

• Fiscal Stimulus Packages: The Government enacted stimulus packages, including the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which allocated funds for infrastructure projects, tax cuts, and unemployment benefits extensions.
• Investment in Green Jobs: The Obama administration invested in renewable energy and green technology initiatives to create jobs while addressing environmental challenges.
• Training and Reemployment Assistance: Programs like the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) provided training and reemployment services to workers displaced by trade-related layoffs.

Lesson Learned: During times of economic crisis, targeted fiscal stimulus measures, investment in emerging industries, and support for displaced workers can help mitigate the impact of unemployment and accelerate economic recovery.

Addressing unemployment requires a multifaceted approach integrating education, innovation, and targeted policy interventions. By investing in skills development, promoting entrepreneurship, and fostering economic diversification, governments can create sustainable job opportunities and mitigate the adverse effects of unemployment on individuals and communities. Collaboration between public and private sectors and proactive measures to adapt to changing economic landscapes are essential for building resilient labor markets and achieving inclusive growth in a rapidly evolving global economy.

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Essay#8 | Unemployment

Ielts writing task 2 tips.

This task asks you to say to what extent you agree or disagree with a statement on a certain topic. You can do this in different ways. For example:

• present objectively both sides of the argument to give a balanced view, before explaining in your conclusion which side of the argument you favour
• agree/disagree entirely with the statement given, and produce an essay that clearly argues in favour of one side.

It is recommended that even if you entirely favour one side of the argument, you mention any opposing arguments to show the examiner you have considered your position.

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

Some people argue that the government should give every unemployed person a mobile phone and should make sure they have access to the Internet.

They believe this is the best way of using public money to reduce the problem of unemployment.

To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Write at least 250 words.

Model answer.

Unemployment causes many problems for society. Individuals suffer not only economically, but also in terms of their self-respect and even health. Inevitably, when the breadwinner is unemployed, other family members become victims too. Young people without job prospects may turn to drugs or crime to escape boredom and poverty. For all these reasons, any measures which can reduce unemployment are to be welcomed.

The first priority for the job seeker is information, and here the Internet offers a unique tool. Details of job vacancies and training schemes can be accessed within minutes on a computer screen, saving time and money that would otherwise be spent visiting employment agencies or buying newspapers. In addition, the Internet can be very useful in preparing for job interviews.

Once a suitable job vacancy has been identified, it’s vital to respond quickly, and in this respect, it can be argued that a mobile phone is more convenient than a conventional phone. Since calls on a mobile can be very expensive, however, costs can easily get out of hand unless they are monitored carefully.

It has to be said that, like any tools, the Internet and the mobile phone are only as good as their user. Both need to be used effectively, and of course both are open to abuse. There is little point in making technology available, therefore, without providing basic training in using it.

In conclusion, I believe there are strong arguments for giving unemployed people access to the Internet. However, the case for providing mobile phones is less convincing, and it may be more cost-effective in the long run to invest in relevant training programmes.

(272 words)

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Unemployment Issue in the United States Essay

Introduction: unemployment rates remain dangerously high, major cause: increasing deficiency in the number of jobs, leading second cause: downward revisions, other reasons: long-term unemployment and part-time jobs, vacancies deficiency and its impact on economy, people and the lack of vacancies: spurring competition, reference list.

Despite a rapid increase of SMEs and large entrepreneurships evolution enhanced by the globalization process and the opportunities that it provides, unemployment remains a major issue in a range of states, the USA not being an exception. While the situation regarding unemployment rates is comparatively steady at present, the current rates leave much to be desired. The progress is obvious, yet the economic growth of the state must occur at a faster pace, and the unemployment rates hinder the growth considerably. Though a shrinkage in the number of vacancies and the rapid increase in the number of part-time jobs have had their toll on the unemployment rates, the lack of vacancies still remains the key cause of unemployment in the U.S.

At present, the people seeking for work in the United States suffer from the lack of vacancies. According to the official data, the U.S. government cut jobs by 13,000 positions in May, 2012 (Rushe, 2012). The specified strategy did not seem to work well for the state’s economy, since the solution, which seemed reasonable two years ago, resulted in a major lack of job opportunities and the unemployment rates hitting 6.2% in 2014 (Rushe, 2014). Even the introduction of 209,000 new jobs in 2014 did not seem to have a tangible effect on the issue: the unemployment rates among certain U.S. demographics, teenagers (20% (Rushe, 2014)) and African American people (11.4% (Rushe, 2014)) in particular. While the specified social strata are affected by unique range of factors, including cultural and social ones, the overall unemployment rate, though admittedly lower than in 2010, still raises a lot of concern.

Not only has the number of jobs available ceased to grow, but also experienced a major drop in 2012, which the changes applied to the U.S. economy in 2014 did not affect in the slightest (Rushe, 2014). True, the U.S. economy has admittedly passed its pre-recession peak and is slowly recovering, yet the effects in massive job cuts, which the American population experienced in 2012, are drastic: The specified issue is partially related to the increased competition rates among candidates, which, in its turn, is the result of peaking immigration rates (Harding, 2014).

Psychologically, long-term unemployment (LTU) is obviously the most depressing factor that keeps unemployment rates rising (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2014). In 2014, the rates of LTU reached 37.7% and have been growing since (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2014). Indeed, when being rejected by a range of companies, one is most likely to lose their spirit and abandon the attempts to get a job. This, in its turn, may lead to a major depression. It is remarkable that such depressive attitudes among parents are quickly acquired by their children; as a result, unemployment becomes a family issue.

The abundance of part-time jobs has also contributed to the evolution of unemployment in the U.S. (Rushe, 2012). While often viewed as a reasonable alternative, working part time leads to loss of outstanding professional qualities and becoming a rather mediocre employee, who can hardly become a member of the full-time staff (Rushe, 2012).

As a rule, with a growth in unemployment rates, the money flow process is slackened greatly (Schmidt, 2013). Without the curricular flow of finances, the economy of the state becomes stagnant. Another significant effect of unemployment concerns wealth drainage. Carving money out of the budget to support the unemployed, the government sacrifices a lot of alluring prospects (Schmidt, 2013). Finally, the increase in debts in public spending must be mentioned. The unavailability of funds leads to a major economic recession (Schmidt, 2013).

As it has been stressed above, the unavailability of certain jobs affects people’s personal and professional growth, reducing their self-esteem and depriving them of belief in their success. Naturally, the rates of economic and financial well-being of the people, who are affected by unemployment, drop significantly as well. Unless the measures for terminating unemployment or at least bringing unemployment rates a few notches down are introduced into the affected field, poverty rates are most likely to start rising increasingly.

In search for the jobs that are still available, people affected by unemployment and poverty are likely to resort to illegal means of money-making. The rates of crime peak in the area, where unemployment is an issue, thus, tearing the moral fabric of the community apart. It would be wrong to claim that such crimes are restricted to thefts and armed robberies; even such types of illegal business as drug peddling may possibly emerge, not to mention money laundering and tax dodging (Andersen, 2012).

Andersen, S. H. (2012). Unemployment and crime: Experimental evidence of the causal effects of intensified ALMPs on crime rates among unemployed individuals . Odense: University Press of Southern Denmark.

Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2014). Long-term unemployed account for 37.7 percent of all unemployed persons in December 2013. U.S. Department of Labor . Web.

Harding, R. (2014). US employment passes pre-recession peak. Financial Times . Web.

Rushe, D. (2012). US unemployment: six reasons May figures show a troubled recovery. The Guardian . Web.

Rushe, D. (2014). US adds 209,000 jobs in July as unemployment rate rises to 6.2%. The Guardian . Web.

Schmidt, J. (2013). Why does the minimum wage have no discernible effect on employment? Washington, DC: Center for Economic and Policy Research.

The Statistics Portal. (2014). United States: Unemployment rate from 2004 to 2014. Statista: The Statistics Portal. Web.

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Essays on Unemployment

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Do you study economics, business or social science? Then sooner or later, you would have to craft an essay or research paper touching the problems of unemployment and possible solutions to deal with the issue. Why so? Because this point has been one of the key concerns for decades. Moreover, it is particularly relevant today, when the development of technology and robotics reshape the labor market.

In this directory of free samples, we've gathered high-quality papers, which, if explored thoroughly, could help you craft a decent piece of your own. The presented selection includes but is not limited to argumentative, causes and effects, theoretical and empirical papers, case studies, surveys, etc. Each unemployment essay example is written in English easy to read and understand so that even international students could comprehend the content in full.

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The unemployed movements of the 1930s

THIS YEAR marks the seventy-fifth anniversary of the passage of the Social Security Act (SSA). The SSA, which created unemployment insurance and assistance programs for the elderly, disabled, and poor, is the most lasting achievement of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal. 1  These programs formed the foundation of a social welfare system that today keeps an estimated 31 million people out of poverty. 2 Equally important, the passage of the SSA marked a fundamental shift in American political culture that has endured, even through the past thirty years of conservative attacks on “entitlements” that have steadily eroded the social welfare provisions of the act. Today, unemployment is seen as a societal question that demands some type of government response.

The history taught in most high schools is that Roosevelt created the Social Security Act with the aim of “relieving human suffering…helping business and industry to recover…[and] adjusting the economic system to prevent recurrence.” 3  The textbooks typically do not explain why Roosevelt, elected in 1932, did not present the SSA to Congress until 1935, a three-year period that saw no shortage of human suffering.

In fact, Roosevelt had no intention of creating the programs for which he has become a liberal hero. He came into office with a modest package of regulation and piecemeal programs, many of which were watered down by the reactionary Southern segregationist wing of his own Democratic Party. FDR was pressured to create more extensive social welfare programs by the largest protest movement the country had seen since the populist movement of the late 1890s.

Though they are barely mentioned in the history textbooks, it was socialists and communists who built this movement. 4  The Communist Party, Socialist Party, and followers of radical pacifist A.J. Muste created unemployed organizations that mobilized hundreds of thousands of jobless workers in local and national protests. While these actions on their own were not enough to win national legislation, they helped to shift popular opinion about government assistance and trained thousands of future leaders of the union movement that did attain the power to produce lasting change.

The mythology of FDR has long been a staple of the Democratic Party. This past year, as debate swirled around President Barack Obama’s health care legislation, a new twist on the old story emerged. Liberal supporters of Obama’s decidedly un-liberal measure tried to reassure themselves with a flawed analogy to the Social Security Act.  New York Times  columnist Paul Krugman wrote:

social insurance programs tend to start out highly imperfect and incomplete, but get better and more comprehensive as the years go by. Thus Social Security originally had huge gaps in coverage—and a majority of African-Americans, in particular, fell through those gaps. But it was improved over time, and it’s now the bedrock of retirement stability for the vast majority of Americans. 5

Krugman is correct that the SSA was passed with many flaws, some of which were later improved. Socialists at the time understood and criticized these weaknesses and looked forward to winning bigger reforms—and maybe a revolution—in the future. But unlike today’s health care reform, the Social Security Act did not build on the existing private charity systems that were actually part of the problem, but instead created enormous federal programs with guaranteed benefits. This was a dramatic shift from the longstanding American tradition of private sector charity. It occurred only because tens of thousands of activists dared to fight for something that at the time seemed utterly unrealistic.

The Great Depression and the “American way”  The starting point of any history of this period must be the horrifying conditions of the Great Depression. The most memorable statistic of this period is the unemployment rate, which reached 25 percent in 1933. As stark as this figure is, it does not begin to capture the crisis encountered by tens of millions. Workers who managed to hold onto their jobs faced increased exploitation and reduction in wages and hours, which made it harder for them to help out jobless family and friends. 6  The social fabric of America was ripped by the crisis: One-quarter of children suffered malnutrition, birth rates dropped, suicide rates rose. 7  Many families were torn apart. In New York City alone, 20,000 children were placed in institutions because their parents couldn’t support them. 8  Homeless armies wandered the country on freight trains; one railroad official testified that the number of train-hoppers caught by his company ballooned from 14,000 in 1929 to 186,000 in 1931. 9

At the onset of the Depression, Republican Herbert Hoover was president. Today, Hoover is notorious for his conservative response to the crisis, his heartlessness in the face of mass suffering (in contrast to the heroic compassion of FDR). But Hoover’s policies didn’t stem from his personal traits. In fact, he had made a name for himself coordinating relief efforts in Europe after the First World War and had convened a series of conferences on unemployment in the 1920s in an effort to coordinate private relief. 10

Hoover’s passive response to the Depression stemmed from the political orthodoxy of the day that government should keep out of unemployment relief. In early 1931, he declared, “the basis of successful relief in national distress is to mobilize...agencies of relief help in the community. This has been the American way.” Hoover’s aim was to maintain the longstanding American tradition that unemployment not be made the responsibility of government but of individuals and “the community.” The private relief system relied on charitable and religious organizations, whose aid was usually both insufficient and degrading. Single unemployed workers were forced to live in squalid “flophouses” while those with families had to submit themselves to patronizing investigations and rules. Most charities operated under the assumption that people were unemployed because they were “unemployable”—or just lazy.

The regulations and investigations were not really meant to address any “culture of poverty.” Rather, as Francis Fox Piven and Richard Cloward argue in their seminal book,  Poor People’s Movements , these practices were aimed at creating “a clearly demarcated and degraded class, a class of pariahs whose numbers were small but whose fate loomed large in the lives of those who lived close to indigence, warning them always of a life even worse than hard work and severe poverty.” 11

This system of degradation created divisions between unemployed and employed workers. At the beginning of the 1930s, the American Federation of Labor (AFL), the largest workers’ organization in the country, did not even support unemployment insurance. The AFL, which was comprised mainly of skilled workers’ unions (many of them segregated), did not see itself as the representative for all American workers. Rather, AFL president Samuel Gompers tried convincing American business and government that skilled workers—unlike the unskilled masses—deserved a seat at their table. Many AFL leaders were only too willing to accept the stereotype of the unemployable worker—unskilled, often African American, or a recent immigrant—to contrast with their own members’ respectability.

The problem for Hoover was that even by their own low standards, private organizations were in no way prepared to meet the massive needs unleashed by the Depression. Churches, charities, and ethnic associations were overwhelmed by the flood of requests for rent and grocery money at the same time as they were losing critical funding in the wave of bank failures. 12  In New York City, which actually received more state funding then most cities, the welfare department resorted to skipping every tenth family on the rolls, a practice known as “skip the feed.” 13

The crisis exploded on March 6, 1930. That morning, the  New York Times  ran a headline declaring “Hoover forecasts employment gain. No cause for alarm.” 14  That afternoon, 500,000 people in twenty-five cities demonstrated for government relief. The response by New York City police was described by a reporter for the New York World.

Women struck in the face with blackjacks, boys beaten by gangs of seven and eight policemen, and an old man backed into a doorway and knocked down time after time…. One of [the women] fought savagely howling curses…. A detective ran up and while the policemen held her crashed his blackjack into her face three times before a man dragged her away. 15

Despite this repression, the protesters were back at New York’s City Hall that October. Although they endured more beatings and arrests, they emerged with the movement’s first victory: the city granted $1 million in additional relief (almost $13 million in today’s terms). 16

Beyond this material gain, the March 6 protests threw a wrench in Hoover’s strategy to ride out the Depression on the backs of American workers. Hoover’s infamous declaration that “prosperity is just around the corner” reflected his intention to minimize the extent of the crisis to avoid large-scale government action. Had it not been for the initial protests, he might have been more successful. It is worth noting that unemployment had not yet reached 9 percent by 1930. 17  If today we remember the Depression as having begun in 1929 and not a few years later when the unemployment rate really shot up (under FDR), it’s because of the hundreds of thousands of jobless workers who forced politicians and newspapers to acknowledge the crisis.

The protests were organized by the Unemployed Councils, formed the previous year by the Communist Party, which was almost as surprised by the size of the March 6 protest as was the Hoover administration. It was the first sign that the radical left had entered a new period.

The Communist Party and unemployed councils  The stock market crash of October 1929 brought an abrupt end to a great decade for business. For most working people, it only increased the hard times they were already enduring. Ten years earlier, business leaders had used the momentum gained from winning the First World War to launch “the American plan,” a public relations campaign to associate unions with subversive and foreign influences, particularly Bolshevism. The AFL lost a quarter of its membership during the 1920s. 18

Alongside the corporate attack on unions was a government campaign against radicals—especially immigrant radicals—known today as the “Red Scare.” From the raids and deportation of thousands in 1919 and 1920 to the framing and execution of Italian anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti in 1927, the “Roaring Twenties” were a difficult time for the American left. The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) was practically repressed out of existence. The Socialist Party (SP) split over the question of the Russian Revolution and never regained its former influence.

The Communist Party (CP), composed of some of the leading former members of the IWW and SP, was the strongest organization on the American left by the end of the 1920s. But that wasn’t saying much. Founded at the beginning of a period of political reaction and an assault on the labor movement (the AFL lost more than a million members, and it drove thousands of communists from its ranks in this period), the CP was also paralyzed in its first decade by intense factional disputes that required intervention from the Comintern—the Moscow-led organization of communist parties internationally. As a result of the repression, the decline of the labor movement, and factionalism, the party declined throughout its first ten years by more than two-thirds, to just over 6,000 members. 19

With the degeneration of the Russian Revolution and the rise of the Stalinist bureaucracy, the CPs all over the word became subordinate satellites of Moscow, required to change policy according to dictates that largely reflected the interest of the Russian bureaucracy. In 1928, Joseph Stalin, consolidating the power of the state bureaucracy in Moscow, expelled opposition leader Leon Trotsky and abolished the remaining elements of workers’ control from the 1917 revolution—all in the name of strengthening the socialist “motherland” against its imperialist enemies and preparing for worldwide revolution. In every communist party, Stalin engineered the elimination of leaders who sided with either Trotsky or Nicolai Bukharin and replaced them with Stalin loyalists who would toe every line delivered from Moscow.

Announcing that capitalism had entered its “Third Period” since the Russian Revolution, one of intractable economic crisis, the Comintern concluded in 1928 that a world revolutionary upsurge was on the immediate agenda. To prepare for this upsurge, the earlier Comintern strategy of proposing united fronts for the purposes of struggle between revolutionary and reformist organizations was abandoned. Communists were to leave the trade unions and form their own “red unions” and refuse joint work with reformist and social-democratic parties, which were now denounced as “social fascist.” 20

The rise of Stalinism and its apocalyptic Third Period perspective had a catastrophic impact on communist parties around the world. Across Europe, communists refused to form united fronts with reformists to resist fascism, with particularly tragic results in Germany. 21  In the U.S, the CP responded to the new perspective by abandoning its strategy of “boring from within” the AFL, which had suddenly become a social-fascist organization, and creating a competing “revolutionary” union federation: the deceptively named Trade Union Unity League (TUUL). The Comintern defined the TUUL’s primary task not as organizing the many workers ignored and excluded by the AFL, but to “destroy the American Federation of Labor, the most reliable support of American imperialism.” 22

The only thing that the TUUL destroyed was the influence and reputation that thousands of communists had worked hard to achieve over the previous decade. In 1928, for example, the CP had a solid base of 300 miners and was a force of opposition to autocratic United Mine Workers (UMW) president John L. Lewis. 23  That year, the party took itself out of the UMW and formed a red or dual union, the National Miners Union (NMU), whose membership never reached more than several hundred. Within a year, communists found themselves outside a wave of spontaneous strikes in Pennsylvania and West Virginia while their own NMU general strike call was ignored. 24  By the CP’s own reckoning, the TUUL had a membership in 1932 of only 40,000. 25

Similar results followed in other industries. Workers in the early years of the Depression, facing a devastating wave of layoffs and cuts in hours and wages, looked for a united labor movement. Instead they found a Communist Party that defined all its political rivals, from the NAACP to the Socialist Party, as fascists just as surely as Hitler and Mussolini. 26

The party’s attacks on the rest of the left were not only verbal, as historian Sidney Lens relates:

Since socialists and fascists were all of the same breed, it was permissible to break up socialist (and Trotskyist and Lovestoneite) meetings. Indeed it was sometimes a revolutionary duty. When [Socialist Party leader] Norman Thomas held a rally at Madison Square Garden in February 1934 to protest the murder of socialists by the semi-Fascist Dollfuss regime in Vienna, Stalinist strong-arm men made a shambles of it with catcalls, shrieks, knives, and physical force until it was adjourned. It was not unusual for Communists to break into a meeting of another leftist group, armed with lead pipes, brass knuckles, sticks, and knives to force it to suspend. Every now and then a brick was thrown at an outdoor meeting of the Trotskyites. It became so bad that rivals had to form “defense squads” to protect their gatherings. 27

Despite these considerable handicaps, the CP entered the Depression with some momentum. Stalin’s elimination of all opposition had the ironic impact of freeing the American party from the paralyzing factionalism of the 1920s. Moreover, the Comintern’s Third Period perspective predicted a massive economic collapse and called on parties to create unemployed organizations. Thus, in August 1929, two months before the stock market crash, the CP began building the Unemployed Councils (UCs) whose protests in the ensuing months would establish the communists as a significant force in the 1930s. 28

Building UCs forced communist organizers to confront the limitations of the Comintern perspective that revolutionary speeches would lead the masses into revolutionary action. Steven Nelson, a movement leader in Chicago, describes how he learned this approach from other workers in his first UC meeting.

[My] speech…was pretty vague. I pounded the rostrum a little and complained that the bourgeoisie always make the workers pay for depressions…. The whole approach was sectarian in tone and demonstrated just how isolated we were from most workers…. In this case, however, our approach hadn’t done much damage. These Greek workers really impressed me.... Actually, they knew what to do better than I. “Now, Mr. Chairman,” someone called from the floor, “the first thing we have to do is set up a committee that can deal with grievances. Let’s have some volunteers.” Many of the early councils were built on existing ethnic and fraternal organizations like this Greek club. We spent the first few weeks agitating against capitalism…. But even if people listened to our arguments, we couldn’t offer them much hope for the immediate future. How were they going to pay the rent, buy food, and survive in the meantime? Answers began to emerge from the actual experience of organizing. 29

One key strategy that emerged was direct action to help individuals win relief or prevent eviction. Within months, the approach of the Chicago UC had changed remarkably, as evidenced in recollections of Christine Ellis about the first UC meeting in a Black neighborhood on the west side of Chicago.

We spoke simply, explained the platform, the demands and activities of the unemployed council. And then we said, “Are there any questions?”…. Finally an elderly Black man stood up and said, “What you folks figure on doing about that colored family that was thrown out of their house today?... They’re still out there with their furniture on the sidewalk.” So the man with me said, “Very simple. We’ll adjourn the meeting, go over there, and put the furniture back in the house. After that, anyone wishing to join the unemployed council and build an organization to fight evictions, return to this hall and we’ll talk about it some more.” That’s what we did…everybody else pitched in, began to haul in every last bit of furniture, fix up the beds...and when that was all done, went back to the hall. The hall was jammed! 30

Through the national network of unemployed councils, people learned about these successful actions and the practice spread rapidly. It is estimated that in 1932, 77,000 New York City families were moved back into their homes by UCs. 31

The emphasis on neighborhood organizing allowed the UCs to connect with the anarchic atmosphere of desperate rebellion unleashed by the economic crisis. The early 1930s were years of food riots and raids on delivery trucks and packinghouses. 32  Hosea Hudson, a leading Black communist in Alabama, describes how landlords in Birmingham would sometimes allow tenants to stay even without paying rent “because if they put a family out, the unemployed workers would wreck the house and take it away for fuel by night…. This was kind of a free-for-all, a share-the-wealth situation.” 33

Local actions were combined with a series of national protests that garnered media attention for the unemployment crisis. The 1931 National Hunger March called for federal unemployment insurance at full wages for all unemployed and underemployed workers without regard to age, sex, race, political affiliation, or citizenship status. In addition, the marchers demanded that cities and states provide funding to clothe, house, and feed the unemployed, who would be responsible for administering their own funds. 34

These demands, impressive in their focus on eliminating divisions among workers yet lacking any measures that could be won in the near term, did not arise from any democratic discussions within the councils, but came directly from the CP. The party openly controlled the councils. UC demonstrations often featured speeches and signs calling for defense of the Soviet Union. 35  The first National Unemployment Conference of 1930 adopted a program identical to that of the CP and TUUL, and warned that workers should have “no illusions that the government will grant these measures of partial relief”—an odd rallying cry for an unemployed movement. 36

While mainstream observers dismissed the CP for its ultra-radical perspective and clumsy tactics, the party was able to connect with the rage bubbling under the surface of society. As the labor radical Len De Caux described the process:

The communists brought misery out of hiding in the workers’ neighborhoods. They paraded it with angry demands through the main streets….and on to City Hall…. Sometimes, I’d hear a communist speaker say something so bitter and extreme, I’d feel embarrassed. Then I’d look around at the unemployed audience—shabby clothes, expressions worried and sour. Faces would start to glow, heads to nod, hands to clap. 37

As Steve Nelson explained, at a time when the idea of government assistance was far outside the mainstream, the jobless needed to “see that unemployment was not the result of their own or someone else’s mistake, that it was a worldwide phenomenon and a natural product of the system.” For this reason, Nelson felt “the unemployed agitation was as much education as direct action.” 38

The communists contributed to the movement not only radical demands but also two key strategies for how those demands could be won: solidarity between the labor movement and the unemployed and anti-racist unity.

In contrast to the AFL, communists and other radicals argued that employed and unemployed workers needed to make common cause because their fates were linked. If unemployment relief was not unbearable, employed workers would have more leverage with their bosses because they would be less afraid of going on strike or being fired.

Nowhere did the CP demonstrate these connections more sharply than in Detroit, where the majority of unemployment was directly related to auto factory layoffs. Detroit Unemployed Councils and the Young Communist League led marches to the car factories to protest the meager benefits given to laid-off workers. The next day, protesters shut down the Briggs Highland Park factory, and read a statement to workers inside pledging that the unemployed would not scab in the event of a Briggs strike. 39

A few months later, on March 7, 1932, the UC and the TUUL-affiliated Auto Workers Union led the Ford Hunger March—a demonstration of 3,000 current and former Ford workers to demand relief, limited hours, an end to racial discrimination, and the right to unionize. 40  Before the protesters could reach company headquarters, they were attacked at the Dearborn border by city police and company security. In the course of the fighting, the police began firing their guns, killing five men and wounding at least seventy-five more. More than 30,000 marched in the funeral procession. Years later, many participants reflected that the events surrounding the Ford Hunger March marked the first chapter in the unionization of American auto companies that took place later in the decade. 41

Racial and ethnic divisions were other barriers facing the unemployed movement. It is hard to overstate the degree to which racism permeated American society in the seventy years between the end of Reconstruction and the birth of the civil rights movement. The South was ruled by a one-party oligarchy, which maintained the allegiance of most poor whites through the frenzy of white supremacy. In the 1930s, Southern Democrats—“Dixiecrats”—formed a solid bloc of reaction that dominated Congress to the point that Roosevelt did not even attempt to pass anti-lynching legislation, which must seem incredible to modern readers. Roosevelt offered this excuse for his inaction to Walter White of the NAACP:

I’ve got to get legislation passed by Congress to save America. The Southerners [of Roosevelt’s own party] by reason of the seniority rule in Congress are chairman or occupy strategic places on most of the Senate and House committees. If I come out for the anti-lynching bill now, they will block every bill I ask Congress to pass to keep America from collapsing. I just can’t take that risk. 42

The extreme racism of the Jim Crow South permeated every corner of America, including the labor movement. Since Blacks and immigrants made up a high proportion of the unskilled and unemployed, the biases of skilled workers blended in with racism. Many AFL locals were segregated either formally or informally. The disastrous nature of this policy was made clear during the steelworkers’ strike in 1919, which was defeated in part because tens of thousands of African Americans crossed the picket line rather than fight for a union that didn’t fight for them. 43

Into this atmosphere, the CP played a historic role in bringing Black and white jobless workers together into one organization by making anti-racism a part of the movement. The CP made sure that all of its agitation in the unemployed councils included protests against racial discrimination by relief agencies, landlords, and local and federal government. 44  On a more individual level, the Communists’ emphasis on multiracial organizing created situations in which whites and Blacks worked together for a common purpose and created personal bonds. In his autobiography, Hosea Hudson explains how this process took place over years in Birmingham, from the first multiracial jobless marches to the latter part of the decade when white workers objected to having a segregated union hall and supported their Black coworkers’ efforts to register to vote. 45  At a time when Depression conditions enabled fascists to gain supporters among the unemployed across Europe and in some parts of the United States, the Communists were able to build a commitment to fighting discrimination in the American unemployed movement.

At the same time, the CP undermined its admirable efforts at building a labor movement united across racial and employment divisions with its steady cries of “fascist” at all competing organizations. In the early 1930s, the CP’s authoritarianism and sectarianism fueled the rise of other radical organizations that began to appear in the unemployed movement.

The SP entered the Depression as a pale remnant of its glory days two decades earlier. Dominated by its old guard, which had expelled the left for supporting the Russian Revolution, the SP sought to lobby AFL locals and Democratic officials for unemployment insurance and other reforms. 46  Within a few years, however, the SP had attracted a new layer of young militants who favored the CP’s grass-roots orientation to the unemployed, if not the CP itself. These militants created SP-affiliated workers’ committees that competed with unemployed councils in Chicago, New York, and elsewhere. 47

Another source of unemployed agitation was the Conference of Progressive Labor Action (CPLA), whose dominant figure was a Dutch minister turned radical labor organizer named A.J. Muste. The CPLA established unemployed leagues on the model of the Seattle Unemployed Citizens League, which organized thousands of jobless families into an impressive network of barter and labor exchange. 48 Soon, however, most leagues “renounced self-help in favor of militant protest since self-help never provided more than a fraction of their economic needs.” 49  The CPLA (and its later more radical incarnation, the American Workers Party) were never able to attain national prominence but it was a key player in the Midwest, especially in Ohio.

The CP’s attitude to these other unemployment groups was highly sectarian. According to historian Harvey Klehr, “The Communist response was to step up attacks on ‘social-fascists’ for misleading the unemployed. A party plenum in September [1932] attacked the unemployed councils for allowing ‘spontaneous unemployed movements’ in Pittsburgh, Seattle, and Youngstown to fall ‘into the hands of social-fascist leaders.’” The CP did agreed to join a “united front” conference set up by the Chicago UC, which was headed up by a local SP leader, Karl Borders, only to denounce Borders as a “social-fascist” at the conference. 50

By 1932, there were hundreds of unemployed councils, unemployed leagues, and workers committees on the unemployed across the country. In one city after another, the power dynamics of the relief system were dramatically changed. Upon hearing that a family had been denied relief, the local unemployed organization would call a meeting, lead a march to the agency, and send in an elected committee to demand an immediate appointment to resolve the situation, often with a large and hostile crowd waiting outside the building. 51  Hosea Hudson describes the methods of the Birmingham UC:

If someone get out of food and been down to the welfare two or three times and still ain’t got no grocery order…. We’d go to the house of the person that’s involved, the victim, let her tell her story. Then we’d ask all the people, “What do you all think could be done about it?” We wouldn’t just jump up and say what to do. We let the neighbors talk about it for a while, and then it would be some of us in the crowd, we going to say, “If the lady wants to go back down to the welfare, if she wants, I suggest we have a little committee to go with her and find out what the condition is.” 52

The fighting spirit spread to some of the flophouses. The Chicago UC newspaper reported about a flophouse in which the men elected a committee to demand fresh bread and vegetables and backed up their demands with a protest in which they threw the inferior food on the floor. 53

As these “pariahs” began to organize themselves, charity agencies found that their own lack of professionalism and arbitrary rules now worked against them:

Relief officials, who were accustomed to discretionary giving to a meek clientele and were not much governed by any fixed set of regulations, usually acquiesced in the face of aggressive protests. With each abrasive encounter, officials in local and private charities gradually forfeited the discretion to give or withhold aid. 54

Or, as an unemployed worker put it: “For three weeks, we would wait for recognition from a relief office. Our committee got it for us in fifteen minutes.” 55

As relief agencies caved in to the angry protesters outside their doors, they turned for more aid to municipal governments whose budgets were not growing but shrinking. By 1932 cities found themselves in a vise between a seemingly bottomless economic crisis and the swelling anger of the jobless. From Chicago, where the unemployment rate had reached 40 percent, Mayor Anton Cermak told Congress to send $150 million today or federal troops in the future. 56  In Detroit, relief was reduced to milk and bread; in Philadelphia, it was cut off entirely. 57  In response, mayors and city businessmen pressured Washington for relief, both individually and through the newly formed Conference of Mayors, an organization that exists to this day. As Piven and Cloward put it, “Driven by the protests of the masses of unemployed and the threat of financial ruin, mayors of the biggest cities of the Unites States, joined by business and banking leaders, had become lobbyists for the poor.” 58

In July, President Hoover finally broke with laissez-faire orthodoxy and passed the Emergency Relief and Construction Act (ERCA), the first federal legislation for unemployment relief. But ERCA was the epitome of too little ($300 million) and too late (three years into the Depression). Hoover was crushed by Roosevelt in the November elections.

The first New Deal Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office in March 1933 with the promise of a “new deal.” The specifics of this promise were unclear. As governor of New York, Roosevelt had established a liberal reputation by speaking in favor of unemployment insurance and creating a modest state relief program. 59  Yet Roosevelt was an establishment politician, a scion of a wealthy family who showed little inclination to threaten the wealth of his class. Furthermore, as a Democratic politician, Roosevelt had only been able to secure his party’s nomination by assuring the Dixiecrats that he would not challenge their reactionary agenda.

Roosevelt differed from Hoover primarily in his willingness to “consider greater government intervention into the private market in order to save capitalism.” 60  In his famous first one hundred days, the new president issued a series of regulations of banking and industry in an attempt to tackle the bankruptcies and overproduction that had ground the economy to a halt. 61

In contrast to these Herculean efforts to save business from itself, FDR’s initial legislation on unemployment relief was meager. The Federal Emergency Relief Act (FERA), passed in May 1933, allocated $3 billion over three years. 62  FERA was a big improvement over Hoover’s ERCA, but it was still woefully insufficient to address the ever-growing crisis. Moreover, many state legislatures were reluctant or dilatory in participating in the program. Roosevelt himself, who called relief “repugnant to American ideals of self-reliance,” was only too willing to cut off funding to these states. 63

Inadequate as it was in material terms, FERA was a victory for the movement, beginning a dynamic played out for the next few years. FDR would enact a reform in the hopes of quelling unemployment unrest only to see unrest increase instead. This apparent paradox was rooted in the experience of rising unemployment alongside organizing by a self-conscious minority. While unemployed activists represented a minority of the nation’s unemployed, millions more remained in the shadows, ashamed of their status and unwilling to ask for relief. Each new federal relief measure, however, was an acknowledgement that the unemployed were not to blame for their predicament and that they deserved a certain standard of living. Millions of previously invisible jobless workers would emerge to ask for, and then demand, relief and the escalating cycle of protests and reforms continued.

Nowhere was this interplay more apparent than in the rise and fall of the Civilian Works Administration (CWA), the first attempt at federal work relief. The CWA, launched by Roosevelt’s talented liberal aide Harry Hopkins at the end of 1933, provided unemployed workers with jobs that paid real money instead of coupons for food or rent. The program was wildly popular. And that was the problem. “When we started Civil Works we said we were going to put four million men to work,” Hopkins recalled later. “How many do you suppose applied for those four million jobs? About ten million. Now I don’t say there were ten million people out of work, but ten million…stood in line, many of them all night.” 64

In fact, there were fifteen million people unemployed in 1933, but the Roosevelt administration was not prepared to fund jobs for them all. Many of these were people who had managed to stay off of relief and were thus invisible to Hopkins and the New Deal planners. News of the jobs program, however, led these new millions to apply for relief in order to become eligible for a CWA job. When they found out that CWA did not have enough jobs for them, many people accepted relief for the first time. A FERA manager described the thought process this way: “The government having failed to provide me with a job, it is now up to the government to take care of my family.” 65  One newspaper described the dilemma faced by Roosevelt and Hopkins: “C.W.A. is a bear which the administration holds by the tail. It’s afraid to hold on and it’s afraid to let go!” 66  The president decided to let it go, terminating the CWA within a few months of its inception.

While Roosevelt vacillated, a profound ideological shift regarding the unemployed was taking place. As Hopkins, put it, “For a long time those who did not require relief entertained the illusion that those being aided were in need through some fault of their own. It is now pretty clear in the national mind that the unemployed are a cross-section of the workers, the finest people in the land.” 67

Yet the Roosevelt administration was unwilling to provide these fine people an insurance program for the unemployment that it admitted was not their fault. Some of FDR’s economic advisers tried in vain to convince him to include a substantial unemployment program and old age insurance in the sweeping program of the first one hundred days. 68 There were other forces, however, pressuring Roosevelt against such an action.

To begin with, there were the Dixiecrats: the devils to whom liberal Democrats sold their souls on their way up the political ladder. These few dozen men were not on the fringe of the party but at its core—their KKK-enforced one-party domination of the South was the foundation of the Democrats’ congressional majority. Their reactionary politics were not limited to racial segregation, but included hostility to any hint of progressive change.

Even if Roosevelt had not been concerned with maintaining Dixiecrat support, he still would have been reluctant to create unemployment insurance. Ruling-class opinion in the United States had long been set against any form of government relief. Unemployment had been a recurring phenomenon since the late nineteenth century. In 1900, for example, unemployment spiked as high as 20 percent. 69  Protests against unemployment and demands for federal relief had grown as well, from groups ranging from the IWW to Coxey’s Army, a loosely organized network that tried to organize jobless workers to hop freight trains from around the country and converge on Washington, D.C., in 1894.

By the early twentieth century, similar protests had led many European countries to create state unemployment programs. The U.S. ruling class, true to its nature, preferred a little violent protest and repression to conceding government responsibility for unemployment. The American resistance to unemployment insurance was connected to the American resistance to unions for those employed in sweatshops, factories, and mines. As Piven and Cloward explain:

These practices were not only a reflection of harshly individualistic American attitudes. They were also a reflection of American economic realities. Work and self-reliance meant grueling toil at low wages for many people. So long as that was so, the dole could not be dispensed permissively for fear some would choose it over work. 70

The unemployed movement found itself at an impasse: it had shifted public opinion by dramatizing the crisis of the Depression and created enough pressure to win some minor victories. But it was not powerful enough to win a permanent national insurance program. For one thing, the instability of unemployed life led to the instability of unemployed organizations. Most unemployed organizations were made up of a small core of radicals and a larger layer of short-term activists. This problem was particularly acute in the Communist dominated councils, leading CP leader Herbert Benjamin to complain that non-CP activists “find themselves excluded from all participation in the actual work of planning and leading actions.” 71  But SP and CPLA activists also found their organizations foundering by 1933. 72  Unemployed organizations simply did not have the social weight to do more than create disruption. They did, however, play an important role in building a more powerful force: the labor movement.

Turning point  The early years of the Depression were horrible for unions. Long lines of jobless workers outside factory gates allowed companies to drastically reduce wages and hours for those still working. In these years it was the unemployed movement that provided the training ground for a new generation of activists. Many leading union militants of the late 1930s learned how to organize—and often how to understand the whole capitalist system—when they were active in the unemployed movement earlier in the decade.

Unemployment peaked at 25 percent in 1933; it then declined to 21.7 percent in 1934. 73  That may seem like a minor shift but it meant that factories finally began hiring workers again—some of whom had become activists and revolutionaries in the movement. Workers felt more confident to organize to make up lost ground in wages and hours. Thus, 1934 became a turning point for labor, a year that not only saw a strike wave of textile workers from New England to Georgia but also three strikes in Toledo, Minneapolis, and San Francisco in which union workers—led by socialists—won the majority of the workers in each city to actively support their fight against both the company and the police. These strikes have been recently analyzed in the pages of this magazine and they will not be described in detail here. 74  It is important to note that unemployed organizations played key roles in these strikes, particularly in Toledo, where the Musteite-led Unemployed League played a decisive role in battling police and strike-breakers. 75

The militancy and radicalism of the strikes of 1934 sent shudders through executive boardrooms and government chambers. “You’ve seen strikes in Toledo,” warned one Congressman in 1935, “You have seen Minneapolis, you have seen San Francisco, and you have seen some of the southern textile strikes…but you have not yet seen the gates of hell opened, and that is what is going to happen from now on.” 76

Roosevelt needed to take decisive new action to take back the initiative from these radical movements. The result was a spate of dramatic pro-labor legislation that became known as the “second New Deal.” In 1935, Roosevelt pushed through the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and the SSA, each of which contain a number of measures that have changed the relationship between labor and capital to this day. It is beyond the scope of this article to deal with the NLRA, which guaranteed the right for workers to organize unions, but we will consider the SSA as well as the Works Progress Administration (WPA).

The WPA was a mammoth project. Between 1936 and 1943, the government employed an average of 2 million workers, who built 600,000 miles of roads, 75,000 bridges, and 5,584 schools, among other projects. Young workers in the related Civilian Conservation Corps built 45,000 telephone lines and 42,000 dams. 77  Like the CWA before it, workers flocked to WPA jobs because they gave the unemployed some of the dignity they had been demanding. WPA jobs were based on workers’ skills as opposed to income, which meant there were no home visits or other demeaning investigations. 78  Moreover, Roosevelt pledged that the program would provide “self-respecting jobs at useful work.” 79

The reality of the WPA, however, was somewhat different. To begin with, the program was set up so as not to compete with private industry. This meant, as UC leader Herbert Benjamin pointed out, that miners and steel workers were put to work cutting grass instead of doing the “useful work” at which they were skilled. 80  At the same time, WPA wages had to be kept sufficiently low that the unemployed would have an incentive to take private work if it became available. The problem with this, Benjamin argued, it that private sector wages had greatly dropped during the Depression, precisely because of the availability of unemployed workers. Rather than forcing those salaries up by paying a decent wage, the WPA reinforced the era’s poverty wages. 81 Furthermore, while Roosevelt and Hopkins promised that the WPA would employ all 5 million of the unemployed on the FERA rolls, in fact it never employed more than half that. Yet the president went ahead with his plans to dismantle FERA after passing the WPA.

The Social Security Act was signed into law on August 14, 1935. The act provided for old age insurance funded by workers and employers, three months insurance for terminated workers funded by employers, and assistance for the blind and dependent children. This act, strengthened in the 1960s and weakened in the 1990s, has remained the crowning achievement for the unemployed movement in the United States—though several decades of an employers’ offensive buttressed by the ideology of free-market individualism has placed Social Security under threat. In addition to the material benefits it has given to millions of people, the SSA marked a historic shift in American culture and consciousness toward the idea that unemployment relief is a societal responsibility.

While the SSA marked a turning point in U.S. policy, it did not satisfy the demands of the unemployed movement. Communists and socialists both campaigned against the legislation. The radicals understood that the SSA, important as it was, did not satisfy the underlying demand of their movement: full equality for the unemployed. In a number of ways, Roosevelt’s legislation drew a distinction between the “unemployable” and those who happened to not have a job. To begin with, the exclusion of agricultural, domestic, and retail workers created a lower status of workers undeserving of insurance. These workers were disproportionately Black and female. 82  In addition, the time limits created a distinction between workers facing seasonal layoffs and those facing more long-term unemployment.

Most important, SSA divided benefits into the two categories: universal insurance (for retired and unemployed workers) and public assistance (for dependent children and the disabled.) The SSA thus divided its recipients into those who have “earned” assistance and those who simply “need” it. Not surprisingly, the pension and unemployment programs for the former have remained politically popular. The “welfare” programs, on the other hand, particularly Aid to Dependent Children (ADC, later changed to Aid to Families With Dependent Children, AFDC), which mostly assisted single mothers, soon became seen as a handout to an underclass unconnected to the majority of working Americans. 83

Instead, unemployed activists supported the Workers and Unemployment and Social Insurance Bill, introduced by Ernest Lundeen, a Farmer-Labor Congressman from Minnesota. The Lundeen Bill reflected many of the demands of the UCs: insurance payments equal to average local wages for all workers over eighteen, part time as well as full time, regardless of race, gender, or citizenship, funded by a new tax on all those making over $5,000 per year, and administered by elected representatives of workers’ organizations. 84  It is a sign of those times that this radical legislation was recommended for passage by the House Committee on Labor before it lost momentum in the face of Roosevelt’s competing bill. 85

Despite the limitations of the WPA and the SSA, the unemployed movement in 1935 seemed powerful enough to do what it had done with previous reforms: use the increased legitimacy that these gave to the demands of the jobless to press for further and more radical changes. These hopes were bolstered in 1936 when the CP, SP, and Musteites ended their squabbles and merged their unemployed organizations into the Workers’ Alliance of America (WAA). The WAA engaged in militant actions to win collective bargaining for workers at a number of WPA projects. 86

Yet the years after 1936 saw the unemployed movement in decline. In some ways, the movement was a victim of its own success. Its ranks thinned as more jobs appeared through the private sector and WPA. Many movement activists went on to play important roles in the major social movement of the latter half of the decade, the growth of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). In addition, the expansion of the welfare system in the New Deal created a more professional system of relief. This professionalism, however, meant that agencies grew more skilled not only in meeting their clients’ needs but also in channeling local protests into orderly meetings, and even sometimes decapitating councils by hiring their leaders. 87

These explanations, however, are incomplete. In 1938 a second recession spiked unemployment from 14.3 percent back to 19 percent. 88 FDR did not increase relief funds and actually cut the WPA budget in 1939. 89  Yet instead of the explosion of anger that one would have expected from actions in the early 1930s, Roosevelt faced little more than polite conferences and scattered protests. 90

What had changed was the Communist Party, now engaged in its Popular Front strategy. This shift, dictated by Moscow in response to the growing threat of Nazi Germany to Russia, called on CPs internationally to unite with progressive capitalist forces, which in the United States meant everyone from the SP to President Roosevelt. Because the Popular Front led the CP to abandon the rabid sectarianism of the Third Period and dramatically (but temporarily) increase its membership, some historians see this as the CP’s most successful period. In reality, it marked the party’s complete surrender of a revolutionary vision to transform society.

In their unemployed work, the Communists oriented the Workers Alliance more on lobbying than on local agitation. This shift reflected the Communists’ new support for Roosevelt, which in turn led to a shift in their approach to his programs. Only two years after Benjamin penned his incisive critique of the WPA, his new unemployed organization called a rally in New York to uncritically “demonstrate to the public just how much WPA means to the 175,000 workers and their families on work programs in that city.” 91

In the middle of the decade, radicals had scared the White House into creating a social welfare state. Now, as the unemployed movement lost its radical core, Republicans and Dixiecrats regained momentum and FDR “sought corporate support for a massive military buildup, further strengthening his ties to big business.” 92  There would be no third New Deal.

The legacy  The Social Security Act of 1935 has changed the balance of class forces for the past seventy-five years. SSA’s insurance and assistance programs—as well as the Medicare, Medicaid, and food stamps programs added in the 1960s—have not only kept millions from facing utter destitution; they have given workers a little breathing room in case of termination and thus leverage in the eternal tug of war with employers over wages and benefits.

Predictably, free-market fundamentalists at the Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute churn out reports against these programs. 93  Yet these normally influential think tanks are largely ignored when it comes to unemployment. Aside from a few cranks, most congressional Republicans voted to extend unemployment insurance by twenty weeks last November, even as they were denouncing government spending at various “tea parties.” 94  For the time being, both parties are unwilling to challenge a program that most Americans have come to see as a fundamental responsibility of government in troubled economic times.

Yet our safety net remains a flawed and inadequate system in all the ways the radicals of the 1930s anticipated—and in many ways they did not. For starters there is the two-tiered nature of the system. Those programs that are universal—provided to all regardless of income—like Social Security, unemployment insurance, and—more recently—Medicare, have become revered institutions. Meanwhile, means-tested programs—provided only to those who qualify—such as AFDC (“welfare”), Supplemental Security Income (“disability”), and Medicaid, face a steady stream of budget cuts, stigmatization, and accusations of cheating the system. The attacks on means-tested programs came to a head in 1996, when Bill Clinton “ended welfare as we know it” by replacing AFDC with the more restrictive Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF). Despite the near-universal praise it receives in the media, TANF has proven to be far less effective than AFDC in preventing poverty. 95

Moreover, even the popular universal programs are inadequate and under threat. Emergency extensions by Congress have allowed workers in some states to collect unemployment insurance for ninety-nine weeks—the longest period in the program’s history. 96  In a prolonged recession, however, millions of workers are finding that jobs do not suddenly appear in the hundredth week. Moreover, strict eligibility requirements and hostile bureaucracies mean that only 36 percent of unemployed workers receive benefits. 97  For this minority, unemployment checks vary widely depending on where they live, from $411 in Massachusetts to $197 in Mississippi. 98  Meanwhile, states’ unemployment funds are running out while regressive taxation policies, bank bailouts, and the costly demands of American militarism put the future funding for unemployment insurance, Medicare, and even Social Security in doubt. Though the Bush administration failed in its attempts to privatize Social Security, the claim that Social Security is in “crisis” and must be “fixed”—read, whittled down and modified to the detriment of the retired workers who depend on it—is a periodically renewed theme by politicians and the press. 99

As our worst economic crisis since the Depression enters its third full year, the history of the unemployed movement offers a lesson of how local and temporary struggles during a period of overall working-class retreat can interact with radical organizations to strengthen the left for larger struggles to come. Perhaps in this recession unemployed workers will be compelled to fight to maintain or to be eligible for the benefits they deserve. (We should be particularly wary of pseudo-populist attempts to introduce means-testing into universal programs like Social Security, a long-term scheme to turn an untouchable institution into a degraded welfare program.)

Perhaps our generation’s defining struggle will be for health care. As millions discover the inadequacies of the new health care bill over the coming years, the climate may be ripe for “under-insured councils” to initiate local direct actions at insurance offices, hospitals, and drug stores to win the health benefits that the politicians have failed to deliver.

Any movements that arise today will have to confront the same politics of division that existed in the early 1930s. The centrality of anti-racism of the CP at that time is a model for activists today—when the rate of unemployment among African Americans is 50 percent higher than the national average. 100  Today we have to apply these principles to immigrants (regardless of legal status), prisoners, and ex-inmates—sections of the population vastly larger than they were eighty years ago. Finally, the movement will have to take on the sexism that lies at the heart of the popular definition of “real” jobs (i.e., not domestic work) that are worthy of insurance.

As in the 1930s, the heart of a new movement for the unemployed will need to be socialist politics. As they always have, employers and politicians use shame—better known today as “personal responsibility”—to discourage those victimized by capitalism from demanding compensation. They blame poverty and joblessness on a “culture of poverty” in the tabloids while they debate capitalism’s “natural rate of unemployment” in the business press. 101  To counter this, we need an anticapitalist understanding to help people see, as UC organizer Steve Nelson put it, that “unemployment was not the result of their own or someone else’s mistake…[but] a natural product of the system.”

Herbert Benjamin, the CP’s lead organizer of the unemployed councils, eloquently expressed the defiant and intelligent posture we need today.

Ever since the present crisis began, those who are unwilling to provide relief for the millions who have become destitute…have tried to meet every demand for such relief by smugly declaring that: “The unemployed don’t want relief—what they want is jobs!”…. It is of course true that we workers want jobs. It is true that we resent being compelled to live on miserable relief doles which we are made to feel is “charity”. But much as we gag on these humiliating hand-outs, we have come to realize that as long as the masters of industry, finance and government are unwilling and unable to afford us the opportunity to earn a decent livelihood through work, we must compel them to provide us with other means of existence. 102

• Today only the old age and disability pensions are known as “social security” because they are administered by the Social Security Administration. Unemployment insurance and poverty assistance—which have become known as “welfare”—are now administered by separate agencies.
• Arloc Sherman, “Safety net effective at fighting poverty but has weakened for the very poorest,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, July 6, 2009, http://www.cbpp.org .
• See, for example, “Core curriculum: Social studies,” New York State Department of Education, 62.
• Ibid. Socialism is mentioned in the New York curriculum under the subtopic of “other voices,” alongside the demagogue Huey Long and the Nazi sympathizer Father Coughlin.
• Paul Krugman, “Pass the bill,”  New York Times , December 17, 2009.
• Lizabeth Cohen,  Making a New Deal: Industrial Workers in Chicago, 1919–1939  (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990), 218.
• Francis Fox Piven and Richard Cloward,  Poor People’s Movements: Why They Succeed, How They Fail  (New York: Vintage Books, 1979), 48.
• Franklin Folsom,  Impatient Armies of the Poor: The Story of Collective Action of the Unemployed, 1808–1942  (Niwot, CO: University Press of Colorado, 1991), 239.
• Ibid., 223–26.
• Piven and Cloward, 42.
• Cohen, 221–23.
• Suzanne Wasserman, “’Our alien neighbors’: Coping with the Depression on the Lower East Side,”  American Jewish History  88, June 2000, 228.
• Fraser M. Ottanelli,  The Communist Party of the United States: From the Depression to World War II  (New Brunswick, Rutgers University Press, 1991), 31.
• Folsom, 252–55.
• Ibid., 270–71.
• Robert VanGiezen and Albert E. Schwenk, “Compensation from before World War I through the Great Depression,” Bureau of Labor Statistics, Jan. 20, 2003, http://www.bls.gov .
• Sharon Smith,  Subterranean Fire: A History of Working-Class Radicalism in the United States  (Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2006), 97.
• Roger Keeran,  The Communist Party and the Auto Workers’ Union  (New York: International Publishers, 1986), 67.
• Ibid., 100–01.
• Duncan Hallas,  The Comintern: A History of the Third International  (Chicago: Haymarket Books: 2008), 127–44.
• Harvey Klehr,  The Heyday of American Communism: The Depression Decade  (New York, Basic Books, Inc, 1984), 39.
• Ottanelli, 22.
• Klehr, 40–41.
• Ottanelli, 27.
• Sidney Lens,  Radicalism in America  (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1966), 304.
• Robert Fisher,  Let the People Decide: Neighborhood Organizing in America  (New York: Twayne Publishers, 1994), 39–40.
• Nelson, 75–76.
• Christine Ellis, “People who cannot be bought,” in  Rank and File: Personal Histories of Working-Class Organizers , ed. Alice Lynd and Staughton Lynd (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1973), 18–19.
• Folsom, 269.
• Ibid., 240–41.
• Hosea Hudson,  Black Worker in the Deep South  (New York: International Publishers, 1972), 51–52.
• Unemployed Council of Chicago,  Chicago Hunger Fighter , December 1931.
• Folsom, 232.
• James J. Lorence,  Organizing the Unemployed: Community and Union Activists in the Industrial Heartland  (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1996), 36–37.
• Folsom, 305–06.
• Lorence 42–44.
• Harvard Sitkoff,  A New Deal for Blacks: The Emergence of Civil Rights As a National Issue: The Depression Decade  (New York: Oxford University Press, 1981), 47.
• See, for example, “Protest relief discrimination against Negroes!” Chicago Hunger Fighter , January 1932.
• Hudson, 58–71.
• Steve Valocchi, “The unemployed workers movement of the 1930s: A reexamination of the Piven and Cloward thesis,” Social Problems 37, May 1990, 194–95.
• Roy Rosenzweig, “Radicals and the jobless: The Musteites and the Unemployed Leagues, 1932–1936,”  Labor History  16, 1975, 56.
• Klehr, 64–65.
• Folsom, 262.
• “Flophouse protest,” Chicago Hunger Fighter , December 1931.
• Piven and Cloward, 57.
• Folsom, 268.
• Piven and Cloward, 61.
• Jeff Singleton,  The American Dole: Unemployment Relief and the Welfare State in the Great Depression  (Westport: Greenwood, 2000), 82.
• Piven and Cloward, 64.
• Folsom, 256–57
• Lance Selfa,  The Democrats: A Critical History  (Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2008), 47.
• Ibid., 47–50.
• Piven and Cloward, 66.
• Singleton, 139.
• Ibid., 133.
• Ibid., 137.
• Herbert Benjamin, A Handbook for Project Workers (New York: National Unemployment Council of the U.S.,1936), 4.
• Piven and Cloward, 68.
• Lorence, 2.
• Valocchi, 197.
• VanGiezen and Schwenk.
• Sharon Smith, “1934: The strikes that paved the way,”  International Socialist Review  69, Jan–Feb 2010.
• Folsom, 352.
• Gwendolyn Mink,  The Wages of Motherhood: Inequality in the welfare state, 1917-1942  (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1995), 127.
• Folsom, 399–400.
• Chad Alan Goldberg, “Contesting the status of relief workers during the New Deal,” Social Science History  29, Fall 2005, 345.
• Benjamin, 5.
• Ibid., 5–6.
• Alice Kessler-Harris, “In the nation’s image: The gendered limits of social citizenship in the Depression Era,”  The Journal of American History  86, December 1999, 1,262.
• Mimi Abramovitz,  Under Attack, Fighting Back: Women and Welfare in the United States  (New York: Monthly Review Press, 2000), 16.
• Folsom, 472.
• Ibid., 398. Valocchi, 200. Valocchi implies that Roosevelt wanted the Lundeen Bill to make it out of committee to scare conservative Democrats into backing the Social Security Act.
• Valocchi, 201.
• Piven and Cloward, 77–79.
• VanGeizen and Schwenk.
• Piven and Cloward, 89, Selfa, 52–53.
• Piven and Cloward, 87–90.
• Tad DeHaven, “Food stamp use soars and stigma fades,” Cato Institute, December 2, 2009, http://www.cato-at-liberty.org . See also: James Sherk, “Extended unemployment insurance benefits: The Heritage Foundation 2009 labor boot camp,” Heritage Foundation, January 15, 2009, http://www.heritage.org .
• Corey Boles, “Congress extends jobless benefits, home-buyer credit,”  Wall Street Journal , November 5, 2009.
• Sherman, “Safety net effective at fighting poverty but has weakened for the very poorest.”
• Boles, “Congress extends jobless benefits.”
• Elizabeth Schulte, “Adding insult to injury,”  Socialist Worker , February 23, 2009.
• Olga Pierce, “Unemployment insurance buckles after years of underfunding,” ProPublica , June 3, 2009.
• “Before his inauguration, Mr. Obama said of Social Security, ‘We have to signal seriousness in this by making sure some of the hard decisions are made under my watch, not someone else’s.’” Jackie Calmes, “Next big issue? Social Security pops up again,”  New York Times , March 22, 2010.
• Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, “Black America’s economic freefall,”  Socialist Worker , January 8, 2010.
• David Brauer, “The natural rate of unemployment,” Congressional Budget Office, April 2007.
• Benjamin, 6.

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"A sense of hope and the possibility for solidarity"

Sapronov and the russian revolution, standing up to the zionist backlash against bds, legacies of colonialism in africa, austerity, neoliberalism,
and the indian working class, disability and the soviet union: advances and retreats, the critical communism of antonio labriola, austerity, neoliberalism, and the indian working class, the legacy of louis althusser, "a sense of hope and the possibility of solidarity", islamic fundamentalism, the arab spring, and the left, knocking down straw figures, have the democrats evolved, giving voice to the syrian revolution, from “waste people”
to “white trash”, defending our right to criticize israel.

Home — Essay Samples — Economics — Political Economy — Unemployment

Essays on Unemployment

How to write an unemployment essay.

So, you've got this essay assignment on unemployment? Don't sweat it; we've got your back! To kick things off, let's take a look at a few sample prompts to help you get a grip on what you're dealing with:

Prompt 1: "Discuss the causes and consequences of youth unemployment in the 21st century."

Prompt 2: "Analyze the impact of technological advancements on job opportunities and unemployment rates."

Prompt 3: "Examine the role of government policies in reducing unemployment rates."

2. Picking the Perfect Unemployment Essay Topic

Now that you've got the prompts down, let's dive into choosing the right topic for your essay. Here are some points to consider:

• Passion: Pick a topic that genuinely interests you. It will make the research and writing process much more enjoyable.
• Relevance: Ensure your topic aligns with the prompt and the goals of your assignment.
• Uniqueness: Avoid common and overdone topics. You want to stand out, not blend in.
• Availability of Resources: Make sure there's enough information available for research.

3. 20 Unique Unemployment Essay Topics

Alright, you've nailed the prompts, and you know what to consider while choosing a topic. But just in case you need some inspiration, here's a list of 20 unique unemployment essay topics to get your creative juices flowing:

• Impact of the gig economy on unemployment rates
• The correlation between education and employment
• Unemployment and mental health: A hidden crisis
• Automation: A friend or foe in the job market?
• Gender disparities in unemployment
• Global economic downturns and their effects on joblessness
• The role of entrepreneurship in reducing unemployment
• Unemployment among veterans: Challenges and solutions
• Effects of COVID-19 on unemployment and job security
• The future of remote work and its impact on employment
• Youth unemployment in developing countries
• Unemployment and its relation to inflation
• Job outsourcing: A blessing or a curse?
• The psychology of job loss and coping mechanisms
• Structural vs. cyclical unemployment: Understanding the difference
• The gig economy and its impact on job stability
• The role of vocational training in reducing unemployment
• Immigration and its influence on unemployment rates
• Unemployment in the arts and creative industries
• The future of work: Challenges and opportunities

4. Crafting Inspiring Paragraphs and Phrases

Now that you've chosen your topic, it's time to get down to writing. Here are some sample paragraphs and phrases that can serve as inspiration for your unemployment essay:

Introduction: "In a world constantly shaped by economic forces, the specter of unemployment looms large, affecting individuals, families, and entire communities. Understanding the intricate web of factors contributing to joblessness is essential in devising effective solutions."

Body Paragraph: "The advent of artificial intelligence and automation has revolutionized industries, leading to both job creation and obsolescence. While some argue that these technological advancements offer opportunities for growth, others fear the displacement of traditional jobs."

Conclusion: "In conclusion, addressing unemployment requires a multifaceted approach that includes education reform, government policies, and fostering a culture of entrepreneurship. Only through collective efforts can we hope to mitigate the challenges posed by joblessness."

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Babban gona and our big problems, the issue of unemployment and inflation in colombia, non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment (nairu), government spending/ keynesian model, economics instability increases the unemployment rate in malaysia, the problem of african american unemployment in us, the impact of technology on employment: the future of job, the undirect impact of technology on employment, impact of technology on jobs: unemployment and technological change, exploring the effects of unemployment in south africa, the issue of youth unemployment in south africa, unemployment in america: history and contemporary challenges, unemployment: causes, effects, and solutions, understanding unemployment: types, causes, and solutions, the controversy of equilibrium unemployment, reasons for unemployment, example of sociological imagination, relevant topics.

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Russia Unemployment Rate

Unemployment rate in russia remained unchanged at 2.40 percent in august. unemployment rate in russia averaged 6.91 percent from 1992 until 2024, reaching an all time high of 14.60 percent in february of 1999 and a record low of 2.40 percent in june of 2024. source: federal state statistics service, unemployment rate in russia is expected to be 3.00 percent by the end of this quarter, according to trading economics global macro models and analysts expectations. in the long-term, the russia unemployment rate is projected to trend around 3.10 percent in 2025 and 3.20 percent in 2026, according to our econometric models..

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