Recent recessionary patterns as we know, have hit most in a way one could have never imagined. The fallouts have been many, and certain aspects have gained a severity that’s hard to balance. It’s not difficult to understand that recession has forced people to rethink about spending every penny, but now even those precautions aren’t helping any more with unemployment here to stay.

The H.R. 4213 bill, amongst other things, holds policy laying parameters for unemployment extension. The Unemployment Extension, a US federal government program aimed at helping American states to offer unemployment benefits to those who’ve been given the pink slip without being at fault. The ongoing financial meltdown saw many a company shut shop, dwindle away to non-recognition, and file for bankruptcy amongst others. Many companies that survived, did so, by laying off staff. Most attributed the need to lay off workforce in order to reduce operation costs to deal with recession. Of course, gossip behind the scene suggests that some companies chose to lay off staff because the timing was right, but that’s another debate altogether.

Back to the need for an Unemployment Extension in the H.R. 4213 bill. Current Unemployment Extension provisions allow laid-off workers who aren’t able to find a job for an extensive time period to work their way through 4 additional tiers of extended benefits. This allows them to seek unemployment income for a maximum possible period until this benefit is withdrawn for an individual.

Up until the recession storm swooped in on the US, this seemed to work well and even cut out malpractices leading to false claims. However, the scenario has changed completely in a few short months. Earlier, unemployment income bore a distinct character. It was needed by those in the lower income group, unskilled labor, those who weren’t educated to get a permanent job, and many other individuals with a similar societal setup. All that has now been erased, and in addition to those who didn’t have jobs earlier, the urban population that at one time spoke about job stability has joined the unemployed wagon.