Isbjørn

Why do unemployment rates go dramatically up in times of crisis? Is it because people make bad personal financial choices en masse? No, it's because their employers sack them when their company goes bad. For many people it's very hard to find work after that, so of course they will need assistance benefits. This is not an agreeable situation - you merely receive a subsistence wage, which impels you to plan your expenses every month very carefully.

On the people who make bad decisions - as if everybody else make good decisions all the time - why should they not be allowed benefits? Assistance is absolutely essential when one can't find work. And shouldn't people be able to get another chance, even if they are partly responsible for their situations? Being unemployed and on benefits is punishment enough by itself. Besides, welfare administrations already spend too much time and resources on finding out who qualifies benefits - let's not complicate it further.

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