People out of work for 6 months or longer turn to family for help, part-time jobs to pay bills

[marmar]

from the Detroit Free Press:




At the age of 40, Tamara Holland lives with her parents in Southfield. On the east side, Tom Drobny is painting houses after two decades of working as a market research professional. And in Dearborn, Robert Jensen turned to Social Security disability benefits for help.

These Michiganders and millions of other long-term unemployed workers around the country are doing whatever they can to survive years without a steady paycheck.

Most are relying on family and friends for financial support and shelter. Many are doing a variety of cash-only manual jobs like mowing lawns and cleaning gutters. And untold numbers of long-term jobless workers are receiving food assistance and other government and charitable aid, fearful that they are one step away from homelessness.

"It's been a roller coaster," said Jensen, a former national distribution manager at Snap-on Tools who has been out of work since March 2007. "You go from being valuable to someone who's paying you six figures to do that work for them and then you are unemployed and no one wants to pay you anything." ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.freep.com/article/20110905/BUSINESS06/109050366/People-out-work-6-months-longer-turn-family-help-part-time-jobs-pay-bills?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

[w0nderer]

1. k&r n/t

[KG]

2. what are they complaining about? they now have laws that force them to buy health insurance!

woohoo!