How to help the long-term unemployed: 5 theories

Just in time for the holidays, Congress is abandoning those who have been out of work longest

Ryan, Murray
(Image credit: (T.J. Kirkpatrick/Getty Images))

Just in time for the holidays, Congress is abandoning the long-term unemployed, said Matthew O'Brien at The Atlantic. Thanks to last week's budget deal, 1.3 million workers who have been unemployed for more than six months will see their benefits expire on Dec. 28. Another 800,000 will have their aid cut in the next few months. Conservatives love this move, of course. "They think the only reason someone couldn't find a job today is if they're lazy — or addicted to drugs — so we just need to kick them off the dole to make them less lazy." But such "social Darwinism masquerading as economics" ignores the fact that this economic recovery "still feels like a recession to most people" — not least because there are still three jobless people for every opening.

Indeed, if there's a word to describe the plight of the long-term unemployed, it's "screwed," said Matthew Yglesias at Slate. Most of them "probably won't be able to find jobs ever" because companies don't want to hire anyone who has been out of work for more than a few months. "The country failed these people first by letting the labor market stay so slack for so long that they became unhireable, and now we're going to fail them again."

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Sergio Hernandez is business editor of The Week's print edition. He has previously worked for The DailyProPublica, the Village Voice, and Gawker.