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Andrew Shi
Mr. Rogers
U.S. Government
17 October, 2016
Mock Congress Research Paper
Working is everyones duty as a part of the society. As a nation, we provide support to the
unemployed and make them easier and faster to find a job. This is what unemployment subsidy is
here for, and should be here for. But some people take advantage from unemployment subsidy,
and live with tax payers money. This is what this bill will put an end to. We should lower the
length of unemployment subsidy because it make people less dependence on the state, it make
people find job faster, and it saves money for taxpayers.
Lowering length and amount of unemployment subsidy will make people less
dependence to the state. Unemployment subsidy should provide money that make unemployed
people get a new job and contribute to the society as a way paying back, instead of relying on
other taxpayers. Studies shows social welfare programs may change workers' mentalities,
leading workers to become less driven and unhappier as their dependence on the state increases
(Bartholomew). People become dependent on others when they stays at home and get paid when
doing nothing, and this makes them hard to find a job after the unemployment subsidy period.
High unemployment subsidy is encouraging this to happen. Steven Horwitz states that
Generous benefits that subsidize "temporary idleness" may result in "chronic idleness."
(Horwitz). Awareness is necessary for people during unemployment period, and it can be given
by lowering their financial support.
Lowering length and amount of unemployment subsidy will ensure people find new job. Our

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government is giving excessive time to unemployed people to find jobs. Overall, the average jobsearch process takes just over six weeks 43 days, to be exact but that varies considerably by
industry (White). Length of unemployment subsidy given by every states is higher than this
number. Since unemployed people has work experience, the job search process will takes shorter
for them. Katz and Meyer find that extending benefits from six months to a year would likely
increase periods of unemployment by approximately one month (Blanchard). Within current
circumstances, a people that can find a job within 5 weeks will now take full length of
unemployment subsidy to find a job. Its not only wasting their time, but also tax payers money.
Lowering length and amount of unemployment subsidy will save money for taxpayers.
Unemployment subsidy come directly from taxpayers money. Which means part of taxpayers
money goes to feed the unemployed, it becomes unfair when unemployed people is using that
money when theyre able to find a job. Research shows U.S. spend approximately 2 Billion
dollars on unemployment insurance every year (FY 2016 State UI Allocations). Its huge amount
of money taken out from U.S. citizens that can be used in improving public facilities and creating
more jobs. These money can help a lot more unemployed people if they were used in building
public facilities. At the end of FY 2016 the gross US federal government debt is estimated to be
$19.4 trillion, according to the FY17 Federal Budget (Federal Debt Clock). Establishing
unemployment subsidy is not going to pay any debt off and clearly there is a better solution for
the unemployment.
Some people say that lowering unemployment subsidy will give insufficient support to the
unemployed and people wont be able to pay their debt off. People usually have some debt when
theyre unemployed so it increased their financial pressure. Study shows the average monthly
cost of living in the United States for a single adult with no children is $2,371 (The United

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States). Some state almost cover twice as much as the weekly cost of living. So its necessary to
regulate the unemployment subsidy. SSA reports the "average" wage as $42,498 a year, which
would equate to $20.43 an hour for a 40-hour work week (FBI). It hard for people to get a full
time job, but people can always get a part time job that give hourly wages if they need more
money due to their debt. Overall, lowering unemployment subsidy is necessary for a social
reform from paying for the disabilities to creating more opportunity for them.
Unemployment subsidy is not a great solution for unemployment and should not be used as a
major way to solve the unemployment. A successful society should put more money into
development that will solve the issue. Simply giving money to the unemployed is going to harm
our society in long run and we should slowly get rid of this from out society.

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Bartholomew, James. The Welfare State We'Re In. London, Politico's, 2004.
Blanchard, Olivier, and Lawrence H. Summers. Hysteresis and the European Unemployment
Problem. Cambridge (1050 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Mass. 02138), National
Bureau of Economic Research, 1986.
FBI, By The. "Confusion over Median Hourly Wages." The Economic Populist. Web. 10 Oct.
2016.
"Federal Debt Clock." Government Debt in the United States. Web. 10 Oct. 2016.
FY 2016 State UI Allocations. Employment &Amp; Training Administration (ETA), US
Department of Labor Employment & Training Administration, 4 Sept. 2015
Horwitz, Steven. Microfoundations and Macroeconomics: an Austrian Perspective. London,
Routledge, 2000.
The United States." Cost of Living in the United States. Web. 10 Oct. 2016.
White, Martha C. "Here's How Long It Really Takes to Get a Job." Time. Time, 22 Oct. 2015.
Web. 17 Oct. 2016.