Millions of people experience short-term unemployment each year, which last a couple of weeks, during their switch of jobs due to the flexibility to the job market. The labour markets are a major source of power for any growing economy, but some people suffer from unemployment for months. The long-term unemployment means that they have to seek subsequent sources of income and find alternative lifestyles to cope with joblessness.
Causes of unemployment
According to Jevons (31), unemployment often emerges when jobseeker leavers the labour force for greener pastures, but ends up not get the anticipated job. The job hunting process may become strenuous because when it takes too long to secure another place, the job seeker stops the search and considers other alternatives like self-employment project, or seeking odd jobs that are based on contract.
Failure to complete basic education levels is another major cause of long-term unemployment. In line with Jevons (31), one in every ten people in the labour force, one in every six people who experience short-term unemployment and one in every five of those experiencing long-term unemployment in the United States are not high-school graduates. This is a clear indication that education is a major determiner of unemployment.
People are often challenged by work based evolutions or economic growths. The changes are concerned with technology dynamism that requires people to upgrade their work skills and knowledge. Lack of proper upgrading leads to work frustrations and thus one eventually prefers to quit or seek alternatives elsewhere.
Lastly, dynamism of the economy triggers the needs to change or seek better opportunities. Some of the dynamics deceive people to leave jobs and the temporary periods of unemployment during new hunts turn to long-term and eventually possible unemployment status.
According to Current Population Survey (CPS, 1), over seven million adults are unemployed in the United States. An average of 2.6 million people lose their jobs ever month either voluntary of forcefully. This is a clear indication that those who exit the employment sectors are more than those accruing employment.
The recent harsh economic trends in majority of the companies are causing them to find ways of cutting back on costs through minimizing the labour forces. The retrenchments are more and people are getting earlier retirements without replacements. According to Current Population Survey (CPS, 1) analysis, even during stable economic periods, when the labour forces are generally very healthy, most job seekers take too long to secure a job.
The job seekers may lack the required skills or have unrealistic expectations especially relating to remuneration packages. The job seekers may also fail to have the required skills of productively seeking jobs. Others who have no need of finding a job quickly; end up with stale skills that would not be applicable in future.
For instance, the information technology sectors require dynamism due to high rates of technological enthusiasm among developers and user. Staying out of employment for long means that one may gets stale and require refresher courses before reappointments. Today, majority of the companies are failing to hire fresh graduates due to expenses related to orientation and training.
Consequences of Long-term Unemployment
Unemployment means that there is high variability of household income that leads to poor lifestyles. People are losing work experience, and health insurance benefits. People are also forced to seek other sources of income such as individual projects.
Although firms are failing to employ more workers stating the harshness of the economy, the possible consequences of high unemployment include deflation of price. People are forced to spending less due to “Ailing economy”. The producers therefore suffer from lower demands and reduce prices of their goods or services to balance the supplies and avoid surplus. The falling of prices causes a more ailing economy.
Secondly, the Gross domestic product (GDP) growth depends on employment status of the citizens. The probability of having less production is high when less people are working in production industries. Lack of income cause social crime since people always finds other scrupulous means of finding sustainability. High unemployment rates therefore translate to high crime rates. Idleness also promotes the criminal activities, which become more preferable or an alternative.
The stress relating to financial demands in household needs also results to negative social effects such as domestic violence. Lastly, when people are not employed, the government spends more through the unemployment benefits schemes or aids to assist the households that fail to raise income for basic need such as health care (Jevons, 31).
Conclusion
Depending on the unemployment insurance benefits or insurance covers of a working spouse is economically risky. When firms are discharging workers and failing to reemploy new replacement, there are greater economic losses.
Identifying potential workers who have difficulties in securing a job and assisting them to get new employment can help in reducing amount of lost labour resource. Such a program would also benefit the job seeker as well as improve the ailing economy.
The basic statistics provided by government departments are not a clear indication or accurate reveals of unemployment since labour force fails to consider people who gave up looking for jobs as well as the underemployed Current Population Survey (CPS, 1). Many people are working fewer hours than they would like or can accomplish.
Works Cited
Current Population Survey (CPS). “A joint effort between the Bureau of Labour
Statistics and the Census Bureau”. 27 September, 2010. Web.
Jevons, Herbert. “The Causes of Unemployment: Pt. III. Trade Fluctuations and
Solar Activity”. CHARLESTON, SC: Nabu Press, 2010. Print.