By: Jeff Curl, San Francisco Bankruptcy Lawyer
On a recent airing of the CBS news magazine 60 Minutes, reporter Scott Pelley took a hard look at current unemployment rates in Silicon Valley concerning the “99ers.” “99ers” are people that have exhausted 99 weeks of unemployment benefits and are left to their own devices. Watching the stories of numerous individuals who were once comfortably employed really opened my eyes, even though I see the same story each day. Tough financial times can fall on anyone – regardless of whether they lived a great lifestyle, grew a savings account, or cultivated a well-funded retirement plan.
As the recession showed no signs of relenting, the federal government extended unemployment benefits to 99 weeks. The current unemployment rate in the United States is listed at 9.5% and more than 1/3 of those people have been unemployed for more than a full year – a scenario we haven’t seen since the depression. Now the nation is faced with another crisis – the 99ers, those who exceeded the 99 weeks of unemployment benefits they were entitled to.
The national unemployment rate doesn’t even provide us with a true depiction of the situation. According to Scott Pelley’s report, adding the number of individuals who are underemployed (like the former fiberoptics engineering manager he interviewed who just took a $9.25/hr floor sales job at Target) or who have simply quit means the true national unemployment rate is 17%. In California alone, the actual rate of unemployment is a shocking 22%.
These are hard-working people of all ages from the successful Silicon Valley – including those in their 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s who have college educations, master’s degrees, and even doctorates. They had 401K and IRA plans and didn’t see layoffs coming. Now they’re attending support group meetings, living off of their savings accounts, and taking hardship loans from their 401k accounts.
They’re doing these things to survive – to keep roofs over their heads and to put food on the table in between trips to the local food pantry. In one case, one woman was pleased with her $33 she garnered from picking through trash for recycling.
This story confirms what I see every day: you are not alone in your financial struggles. While it may be a taboo topic of conversation, individuals from all walks of life are feeling the impact of a tough economy and they are doing what they can to get by. Even if they do find jobs, many will file bankruptcy to handle the debt they accumulated while unemployed or underemployed, and to avoid spending their remaining years repaying debts so that they can replenish or start their retirement accounts.
