Research paper on unemployment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Research paper on unemployment - Essay Example According to BLS, those who are qualified for employment are those civilians aged 16 years and above. The employed are those aged 16+ and were working for pay during the survey period or those who did at least 15 hours unpaid work in family owned enterprises. The unemployed on the other hand, refer to those who did not have a job but had been actively looking for work four weeks prior to survey and are currently available to work. The labor force comprises all those employed and unemployed and these amounted to 155 million people out of U.S population of approximately 315 million people in 2013 (BLS, nap). Those not looking for a job such as the retired or schooling are not part of the labor force since they are neither employed nor unemployed. For those who are involuntarily unemployed, they receive government benefits in the form of unemployment insurance (UI) to compensate for lost income (Bakke 734). However, the voluntarily unemployed comprising of those dismissed for gross misc onduct, those who leave work without a good cause, and those who refuse to work do not qualify for UI. The UI eligibility rules also exclude independent contractors, self-employed and agricultural laborers. The basic duration of regular state benefits in U.S is 26 weeks (737). The problem with these definitions is that they ignore those who have given up looking for work but are willing to work and also those in part-time employment and would like to engage in full-time employment as they are counted as employed. Furthermore, the BLS telephone surveys which are carried out every month do not consider those who do not have telephones especially the poor hence they may not be representative of the population. However, over time the results reflect what is happening in the economy and now the big question is; what causes unemployment? One of the major factors that cause unemployment is the