US has been undergoing a dire economic depression for the past 2 1/2 years with unemployment rates ranging between 8.6% and a whooping 10.1%. Housing market is a mess with property prices falling by about a third from the peak time in 2006. Poverty is on the rise. About 25 million Americans are either unemployed or underemployed today. Since the Great Depression, this can be considered America's worst economic catastrophe, given the number of unemployed and the duration of unemployment.
The latest unmployment statistics for November 2011 has been positive, giving some reason to cheer as it has fallen by 0.4% to 8.6%, the lowest since March 2009. There are two reasons for this drop, first is that more Americans got jobs and second, more people have given up on their job searches. Interestingly, there is a sexual divide in these two factors. Americans who got jobs were mostly men and those who left the workforce were mostly women. Employment does not necessarily mean all's well. Many Americans with jobs are making do with less. During the official recession, incomes fell by about 3.2% and since July 2009, incomes have fallen by another 6.7%. In June 2011, the official median income of an American household was $49.909, which is $5,500 less than at the end of 2007.
The job crisis does not just revolve around financial situation of the individual or family but has dramatic effects on the family structure and relationships. Marriage rates have dropped 10% since the recession began. Birth rates have dropped significantly from 69.6 births per thousand women of child bearing age to 64.7 last year. Children from families with unemployed parents dont excel at school and men who are unemployed for long periods are generally abusive to their spouses. Unemployment has adverse effects on people's mental health, such as anxiety and depression. Even if someone gets re-employed after a long bout of unemployment, their mental health will not return to the level it was before.
It is expected that the crisis will continue to impact American families in the coming months and years even if unemployment falls as the damages are already done. Savings gone, home value decimated and job`opportunities obscured. Depressed and bleak.
The latest unmployment statistics for November 2011 has been positive, giving some reason to cheer as it has fallen by 0.4% to 8.6%, the lowest since March 2009. There are two reasons for this drop, first is that more Americans got jobs and second, more people have given up on their job searches. Interestingly, there is a sexual divide in these two factors. Americans who got jobs were mostly men and those who left the workforce were mostly women. Employment does not necessarily mean all's well. Many Americans with jobs are making do with less. During the official recession, incomes fell by about 3.2% and since July 2009, incomes have fallen by another 6.7%. In June 2011, the official median income of an American household was $49.909, which is $5,500 less than at the end of 2007.
The job crisis does not just revolve around financial situation of the individual or family but has dramatic effects on the family structure and relationships. Marriage rates have dropped 10% since the recession began. Birth rates have dropped significantly from 69.6 births per thousand women of child bearing age to 64.7 last year. Children from families with unemployed parents dont excel at school and men who are unemployed for long periods are generally abusive to their spouses. Unemployment has adverse effects on people's mental health, such as anxiety and depression. Even if someone gets re-employed after a long bout of unemployment, their mental health will not return to the level it was before.
It is expected that the crisis will continue to impact American families in the coming months and years even if unemployment falls as the damages are already done. Savings gone, home value decimated and job`opportunities obscured. Depressed and bleak.
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