Published: November 26, 2010
Philadelphia Tribune
Philly's jobless brace for benefit cuts
by Arlene Edmonds
Frank Wallace, who is unemployed, displays a sign during a
“Vigil for the Unemployed” at the Arch Street Methodist Church
in Philadelphia on Monday.
—AP File Photo
Philadelphia’s growing unemployed population is now bracing themselves for the possibility that their federal unemployment checks may stop. Just ask Franklin Wallace, Patricia McNamara and Bill West.
All three have been laid off and seeking employment for more than a year and all were in attendance at the candlelight vigil for the unemployed alongside members of the Philadelphia Unemployment Project (PUP) recently. This was held at the Arch Street Church in Center City on Monday, Nov. 22.
They are among the nation’s 9.6 percent unemployed and the city’s 11.7 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Unemployment nationwide is particularly hard-hitting to the African-American community. Nationally, Black unemployment rate is about 15.7 percent, and locally it is 15.8 percent and growing, according to PUP.
These job seekers would all be directly affected if the Emergency Unemployment Benefits for Laid-off Workers ends on Tuesday, Nov. 30.
“I will be homeless without my unemployment check,” said Wallace, a South Philadelphia native who has been diligently searching for work for the past 18 months. He previously worked for a Center City law firm for nine years where he worked his way up from an office services and mail clerk to supervisor.
Then a health problem caused him to have to seek part time employment. While working at a local bakery for only six days he developed a severe allergic reaction which caused another work interruption. Since then he’s been unable to find any work.
Wallace’s weekly routine is spending his mornings on his laptop looking a job alerts that often e-mail him positions that he’s not qualified for or that are not accessible by public transportation. Every Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. one can find him at the PUP jobs club after he picks up local newspapers and searches the classified advertisement. The rest of his week is centered on attending career fairs, making cold job calls, mailing cover letters and resumes, and networking with former employers, friends, family and neighbors for employment leads.
“I depend on my unemployment check,” said Wallace. “My unemployment check pays my rent, my utility bills including my internet and phone services to look for a job, my groceries, and the stamps to mail my resumes. I cannot look for a job without it.
“There’s no way that I can live without an income, and as a single man I am not eligible for many of the (welfare) resources that families can get. I could get food stamps I suppose, but I’m not even sure if I could get cash assistance. If I did I’m sure it would not be enough to cover my basic expenses,” Wallace said.
For McNamara, not having her unemployment check would have a trickle effect on three generations of her family. She fears that she, her daughter and her granddaughter could “all be in a homeless shelter together,” she said. McNamara is an East Oak Lane resident who was laid off when the old Mayor’s Office of Community Services folded due to budget cuts. She had worked in that position for six years.
Her daughter works as a bank teller for only $10.10 an hour and is helping put her 20-year-old daughter through college. Yet she, too, is threatened with the possibility of layoff by the end of the year, according to McNamara. Her granddaughter has also been unable to secure work though she must pay for her school transportation costs and textbooks.
“After I pay my expenses out of my unemployment check I try to help them,” admitted McNamara. “My daughter really can’t make it on her income and the banks are cutting back. She used to have 128 persons a day at her counter and now she only has 28. So, I am angry that the government officials would even consider hurting families who are already struggling to make ends meet.
“I’ve been look for work actively for 14 months now. There are jobs out there but I understand that there are at least five qualified applicants for every opening. I’m also getting older, so the jobs I could qualify for often go to younger people. I am so angry that we live in a country where they would even consider leaving someone like me, who has worked all her life, without an income and unable to pay into my Social Security while they extend the Bush tax cuts after they’ve bailed out the banks. Something is wrong with that picture,” McNamara said.
Bill West of Center City, 63, readily admitted that he is in a better position than most. His wife is a school teacher and his grown children have relocated to New York where they’ve found steady and secure employment. Yet there will be “a lot of belt tightening” for the local couple if his unemployment checks are cut off, he said.
West was laid off from the Cigna in January of 2009. A former journalist, West was the marketing communications manager for the insurance company’s Delaware office. Through his network channels he’s been on many interviews and many have gone well, but there have been no job offers. West is realistic to know that younger candidates and recent college graduates are securing the professional positions he has applied for.
“I just see myself aging out and retiring though that is not my desire,” said West. “I can still work and do a good job. I want to work for a few more years, and I expected to retire when I wanted to. My wife and I have already been through hard times before, so we kind of know how to make it.”
West is quick to note that when Delaware had its own unemployment system crisis he had not received a check for eight weeks. It caused many bills to go unpaid and dramatic lifestyle changes then. Yet there was a great difference — he knew the checks would eventually come. This time, however, there will never back checks to fill in the gaps.
“I am just flabbergasted that Congress is even considering these measures,” said West. “This is all Wall Street’s fault and yet the average person is bearing the brunt of the consequences. The vast majority of the unemployed want to work, but where are we going to find work? There are not enough jobs.”
John Dodds, director of PUPS, hear these stories every day. He heard them at Monday’s vigil when nearly 200 came out to air their concerns and pray for a change of heart by the nation’s elected officials. He also hears them as a growing steady stream of clients comes into the non-profit organization’s office.
“We now have a 9.5 percent unemployment rate in this country, which is the highest it’s been in 70 years,” said Dodds. “We live in a country where there are five persons to every job.
“Locally we anticipate that at least 18,000 people will be cut off unemployment in December alone if the federal unemployment checks stop and that number is only going to increase each moth as those receiving state checks benefits run out and there is no federal extensions,” Dodds said.
Long-term unemployment benefits affects nearly 42 percent of the nation’s 14.8 million jobless workers, according to PUP. The current average spell of joblessness is now 33.9 weeks, the longest since records have bee kept. Every dollar spent on government benefits gets pumped back into the economy, said Dodd pointing to an article in Moody’s Analytics.
Dodds added that he fears the aftermath of cutting off federal unemployment extension benefits. Among these are more people losing their homes, families being unable to pay for their heating bills and other necessities, and the increase in crime in local neighborhoods. Yet he is surprised that the communications industry and the local elected officials have not made this possible imminent crisis the lead news globally.
“It seems like no one really wants to talk about this reality,” said Dodds. “It’s staring us in the face. What are people supposed to do? Social service agencies have already had to cut back themselves. That’s why we held the vigil and will continue to hold the vigil. We need to face this reality and do something about it now.”
So, PUP is now embarking on a Christmas drive to collect toys and other presents for unemployed families. They plan to continue having drives as the various needs arises. They are asking those who have the resources and are currently employed to remember the unemployed during this holiday season.
This outreach is music to the ears of folks like McNamara, even though her immediate family does not consist of any young children. She feels for those who have youngsters in the household who will not understand that their family may have no income come this December.
“I think it is cruel for Congress to cut people off right at this time,” said McNamara. “The holidays are supposed happy times to bring families together. What is a family to do? It’s not even about just the gifts, but people have to buy winter coats and boots.
“It just doesn’t make sense that anyone would consider giving tax breaks to the wealthy and cutting off people who need an income. Instead of cutting unemployment they should be creating a jobs program. They should be creating the (New Deal) that FDR did in critical times like this,” McNamara said.
PUP is located at 112 N. Broad St. on the 11th floor. For more information about their next vigil, the holiday toy drive or other services call 215-557-0822 or visit Philaup.org.