86 million invisible unemployed

[Brave7]

Last year, 86 million Americans were not counted in the labor force because they hadn't recently looked for work. Here's what they've been doing instead.

After serving in the Marine Corps for 12 years, I moved back home to San Antonio and eventually found a great position as a compliance coordinator for a trucking company. I worked there for about six years, but once the economy started going downhill, I was laid off.

I found another job as a customer relationship manager, and a year later, I was laid off again.

At first, we kept our baby in daycare, so I could spend every day filling out applications.

Roughly 250 applications later, I've only had four interviews and no other callbacks. A few months ago, I finally thought -- what's the point? I'd rather stay home with the baby.

I am now a stay-at-home dad with an MBA, and I have basically given up my job search. I'm thinking of going back to school to earn my PhD.

The really awesome part though, is the time spent with my two daughters. That's more fulfilling than my time spent on a fruitless job search.

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2012/...uts/?iid=HP_LN

There are 5 pages about this subject, follow the next link button.

What are your thoughts?

[gracemary]

I heard one man said, if you can not find a job, create one.Most university and colleges in my country are unemployed, not that they are lazy looking for one but has something to do with the economy.I usually find job in places where my college degree is not appropriate, i sometimes think that my college degree is useless.But working for your self is fulfilling, for those who are unable to find job, look for ways how you can work for yourself.Before becoming an expatriate working abroad, i can not find a job so what i did is to apply as an agent for an insurance company and a finance company at the same time, i work on my own time and on my own ways and earn income purely on commission basis.

[Brave7]

A lot of people live in precarity, because some multinational and big corporations changed they policy to play communism around the world by redistributing employments for less.

[rabble]

How a person makes ends meet in the 'new economy' is somewhat irrelevant.
More power to those who are successful. What are the odds someone who goes
off on their own will succeed and what will become of those who fail when there
is no private employer sector to fall back on and no public support either?
That is the question to me.

Sorry if I seem somewhat US centric (I have never lived anywhere else) ...
What of those who fail if, as is admittedly possible, the Paul Ryan conservative vision
of a responsible budget prevails and the public/social safety net is tattered by a third?
What will become of those who fail then?

I laughed the other day when Mitt Romney, in response to the question of what a college graduate
should do if they can't find employment. His response was, "borrow $20,000 from their parents
and go into business for themselves."

Took until noon to clear the coffee burn from my nostrils.

Oh, and btw ... I do find the 86 million number a bit unbelievable. Isn't that like ...
a quarter of the population of the United States?

[Brave7]

Originally Posted by rabble

How a person makes ends meet in the 'new economy' is somewhat irrelevant.
More power to those who are successful. What are the odds someone who goes
off on their own will succeed and what will become of those who fail when there
is no private employer sector to fall back on and no public support either?
That is the question to me.

That's a very good question.

Basically nobody wants to say how they failed or go bankrupt in their business. They just go and try to survive with dignity.

In my country when you failed, you don't get the money from unemployment but you still have health care, and all insurances access. In some cases when you are a young entrepreneur after the last employer laid you off, the unemployment benefits can be kept when you don't make a certain amount of money for a certain time. So if you failed you can get back your unemployment benefits.

Here in US if you fail you hit hard the ground. If you try to get a job, some employers may not hire you just because you failed, I know that by experience when I was in the graphic/printing business and you cannot remove 3 or 4 years from your CV because there are going to be very suspicious.

Anyway, it is like having a Sword of Damocles above your head.

[ScriptMan]

Most successful small business ventures start with an initial investment of $500 or less, a lot of blood sweat and tears. Throwing 20G at an untested scheme is a waste of resources.

And before you say I am wrong read the history of some really successful people.

[Brave7]

Originally Posted by ScriptMan

Most successful small business ventures start with an initial investment of $500 or less, a lot of blood sweat and tears. Throwing 20G at an untested scheme is a waste of resources.

And before you say I am wrong read the history of some really successful people.

Perhaps that's why 50% of small business ventures failed the first year according SBA, because $500 is nothing.

[ScriptMan]

Well if you want to take the time to research the actual statistics and get back to me, be my guest. I take the attitude that those that failed attempted to penetrate a saturated market or failed to do their research before they started.

I had a good 27 year run for one I started for less than a 100 bucks. Pizza Hut was founded with $500 of borrowed (admittedly 1955 money).

[Brave7]

Originally Posted by ScriptMan

Well if you want to take the time to research the actual statistics and get back to me, be my guest. I take the attitude that those that failed attempted to penetrate a saturated market or failed to do their research before they started.

I had a good 27 year run for one I started for less than a 100 bucks. Pizza Hut was founded with $500 of borrowed (admittedly 1955 money).

Sure you can start a successful business. For example a writting business if you are talented with less than $100 in US (Business license included) or perhaps with $0 overseas if you don't have the same business structure and go on webmaster forums or other free platforms to sell yourself.

Anyway let's go back the the thread subject.

[rabble]

Originally Posted by ScriptMan

Most successful small business ventures start with an initial investment of $500 or less, a lot of blood sweat and tears. Throwing 20G at an untested scheme is a waste of resources.

And before you say I am wrong read the history of some really successful people.

My reference to Mitt Romney's response had nothing to do with
the success or failure of any business venture. It had to do with
how out of touch with reality Mitt Romney is.

We can trust this guy to run a country where 40% of us are struggling?
He's going to pull us out of economic morass when his advice to unemployed grads is to borrow?
To borrow from parents who are probably struggling to forestall foreclosure themselves?

The republican candidate and the republican platform are a cruel joke.
Both say what they don't believe and both believe what they won't say.

[rabble]

Originally Posted by Natural Elements

Anyway, it is like having a Sword of Damocles above your head.

That is one of the problems with our American optimism.
We tend to think first 'the loser won't be us' and then second
'all losers are probably responsible for their own demise'.

[Brave7]

Originally Posted by rabble

It had to do with how out of touch with reality Mitt Romney is.

Mitt Romney is coming from the same Barack Obama think tank, so I doubt that Romney will be different, and will answer what people are waiting for.

I bet Romney will lose against Obama. The only candidate capable to win against Obama believe it or not it is Ron Paul.

[stephengfm]

To Rabble:

The poor man will sit outside the rich man's door. The poor man will die of starvation, then the rich man will die.

The poor man has lost nothing but gained everything, whilst the rich man lost everything including his soul.

[ScriptMan]

Originally Posted by stephengfm

To Rabble:

The poor man will sit outside the rich man's door. The poor man will die of starvation, then the rich man will die.

The poor man has lost nothing but gained everything, whilst the rich man lost everything including his soul.

That is a beautiful parody if you are trying to convince the real man to feed to poor man. I think maybe the actual judge will look into the hearts of the two before deciding.

Off topic but I never met a religious lawyer. How about those sig links?

[stephengfm]

Originally Posted by ScriptMan

That is a beautiful parody if you are trying to convince the real man to feed to poor man. I think maybe the actual judge will look into the hearts of the two before deciding.

Off topic but I never met a religious lawyer. How about those sig links?

You met one now.

[Sunfyre7896]

This sounds about right as far as the numbers. The government says unemployment is 8%. That only includes those receiving unemployment benefits (checks). People that either haven't applied, got declined, or used up their full year are counted as employed. On the surface, it seems like an easier way to count the unemployed, but really it's more of a way to bolster their numbers to *appear* more pleasant and 'show' Americans that their useless policies are working.