Livelihood | Unexpected Leisure

February 13, 2011

The Cost of Long-Term Unemployment

More and more studies are appearing about what happens to people who are unemployed for a long time. The universal consensus is that very real psychological damage results when someone is unable to find work after several months. What is particularly sobering about this research is that the damage can be lifelong and often includes significantly reduced income for years or even decades afterward. Read more [...]

February 7, 2011February 7, 2011

It May Be a Job, But It’s Gotta Pay

It's common knowledge that jobs ain't what they used to be. Just because someone creates a new job doesn't mean that it actually replaces one of the many jobs shipped offshore or otherwise eliminated for American workers. In other words, one new job will not be enough to provide for one worker's income. More and more a family needs two jobs to make up for a lost job. Read more [...]

February 6, 2011

The Quiet Revolution

The best way to summarize what is happening is that small (and some not-so-small) communities are starting to erect defenses against losing their local economies, natural resources, and quality of life to major corporations who are wont to move in, undermine or crush the local small businesses and replacing them with something less wholesome for the local environment, however one chooses to define it. Read more [...]

February 5, 2011

Unemployment’s “New Math”

The official unemployment rate bears less and less resemblance to reality because it fails to count those who are no longer on unemployment as well as those who have simply given up. That latter number, by the way, continues to grow. Read more [...]

February 4, 2011February 4, 2011

Building a Deep Pantry

Assuming you still have a job, you might want to consider putting together a pantry with enough in it to see you through more than just the end of the week or even the month. I'm talking about a serious food supply that can sustain you and yours, albeit with diminished variety, for the better part of a year. Read more [...]

February 1, 2011

No More Upward Mobility

There is a myth that America is the "land of opportunity" and for many who come to her shores from wretched circumstances there is an opportunity for a better life than the one they left behind. Read more [...]

January 26, 2011January 26, 2011

The Ranks of the “99ers” Continue to Grow

Earlier this month I crossed a rather depressing threshold: I became a "99er" which means I have been effectively out of work ... for 99 weeks or longer. That is the point at which all unemployment benefits end, forever. Read more [...]

January 25, 2011January 25, 2011

Remaking the Definition of Community

I've said it in other posts here and on the Unexpected Leisure Facebook page, but it bears repeating: if you are looking for a job or a better job, you can't do it alone.Â You need a network, but more Read more [...]

January 22, 2011January 25, 2011

The Myth of Skills That Deteriorate During Unemployment

A common meme that you find in any discussion of long-term unemployment is that over time critical job skills deteriorate. This is used to explain why people have a hard time finding a job if they've been Read more [...]

January 21, 2011

Do-It-Yourself Community

One of the more interesting responses to our economic nightmare is the rise of "common security clubs." No, this is not a emphamism for forming local militias, although in the long run it's probably a better idea. These are groups of people who form their own community for mutual support, sharing information, and working to effect change. Read more [...]