> There is no shortage of work for people with low skill levels.
yummyfajitas, are you somehow unaware that there are millions of people who desperately want to work, but can't find jobs? And that they would happily say goodbye to unemployment benefits in order to get back into a job?
Clearly you didn't read my blog post. I was analyzing the incentives of the poor, a group of people who are predominantly not looking for work.
Also, are you somehow unaware that there are millions of people who illegally enter the US in order to do jobs that Americans are unwilling to do? One would think that if millions of people desperately wanted to work, that demand for illegal immigrant labor should be drying up.
Thank you. I appreciate your responses (and your patience with me).
When I originally read "the poor do not want to work," I mistakenly (and hastily) interpreted this as a criticism of the so-called underclass or working poor (decent folks who are honest and hard-working but who are broke after life throws them a curve ball like unemployment or health problems).
Of course that's not who you mean. In my mind, I think your definition fits the "technically poor," not the socially and economically marginalized.
The technically poor would be those with substantial assets like a paid-off condo or house, with a six-figure 401k, good credit and family with substantial means, who suddenly become unemployed and so meet the income criteria, if only temporarily. Some of these people are low-skilled, and some are high-skilled.
For those folks, it certainly could be rational (if demoralizing) to stay on unemployment, because their real safety net is tapping into their assets at some point, e.g. when their benefits run out.
In my limited experience, the "working poor" are very demoralized by government assistance, accepting it as a last resort, and they tend to want to get back into a job for reasons of pride and ego.
The people who are morally corrupt and willing to exploit the system have absolutely nothing to do with poverty. They exist at every income bracket, and I've met plenty of middle class and high net worth individuals who would qualify :)
I apologize for jumping to the wrong conclusions and for my initially antagonistic tone. I regret the error and will not repeat it.
Interestingly enough, it's not the people with low skill levels that have trouble finding a job, but people with intermediary skill levels - office clerks and such.
Collecting garbage is a job that cannot be outsourced, but doing mundane paperwork can and is.
yummyfajitas, are you somehow unaware that there are millions of people who desperately want to work, but can't find jobs? And that they would happily say goodbye to unemployment benefits in order to get back into a job?
Or do you simply not believe them?