USA Today: Many of the jobless get no unemployment benefits

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/employment/2009-04-09-unemployed-but-no-benefits_N.htm

By Barbara Hagenbaugh, USA TODAY

When Clarence Athy lost his job laying concrete just before Thanksgiving, the 56-year-old single father did what most people do: He applied to collect unemployment benefits.

But like many Americans, Athy was denied.

Athy, of Kalispell, Mont., was told by state workers that he was not at his job long enough to collect benefits. He has applied for jobs all over town — where the unemployment rate is in the double digits — without any luck. Now, he's trying to do what he can to feed himself and his son, Calvin, 15, and keep a roof over their heads. He is behind on his rent, has turned off his telephone and next week may lose his electricity.

"I ought to get something," Athy says of unemployment benefits. "It's not like I'm not trying to get work. … I'm just trying to make a living."


By Jeremy Lurgio for USA TODAY
Clarence Athy, right, barters with Phil Carl of First National Pawn over his Skilsaw in Kalispell, Mont. Athy sold it to pay for gasoline and laundry.


Millions of unemployed Americans who have lost their jobs are in Athy's shoes. While 13.2 million people were unemployed in March, approximately 5.8 million were collecting unemployment benefits at the end of the month, double the number from a year ago, the government said Thursday. That means less than half of those who were out of work and were actively trying to find a new job were receiving unemployment benefits.

"There are so many gaps," says Monica Halas, lead attorney at Greater Boston Legal Services, which provides free legal aid to low-income people. "People think (if) they are unemployed, they are going to get unemployment. Not true."

FULL story at link.