Hardest Working Dollar, The (1971)

[Music] during the mid1 1970s unemployment insurance faced the severest test of its history unemployment had risen to record levels Congress decided to expand unemployment insurance coverage to workers never before protected it also increased the number of weeks of benefits an unemployed worker could receive the strategy worked dollars were pumped back into the economy temporary changes in the unemployment insurance program had helped offset further economic decline that was yesterday let's take a look at how today's modern unemployment insurance program [Music] works this is my town population 200 million and still growing it's got a good name too it's called the United States of America I'm pretty fond of my town it's not perfect but we're working on it it's a great place to live and a great place to work one of the things that make it a great place to work is we have the protection of unemployment in Insurance not too many people know all they need to know about unemployment insurance only the other day A friend of mine asked me oh why why do we need unemployment insurance in a great town like this Elementary question not by a long shot it opens the gate to the whole ball game dollars to pay bills to buy food and other needed items that's how unemployment insurance helps the temporarily unemployed worker but it doesn't stop there those dollars paid out to unemployed workers become a vital force they strengthen our whole economic fabric they're not lazy dollars hanging around somewhere waiting to be used they're fast moving dollars maybe the hardest working dollars in town they keep up this town's purchasing power even when they're ra fewer jobs and that's what our town needs to stay healthy for instance when that Riverside plant had a cut back on its Workforce John Brooks found himself without a job it shook him up quite a bit but he settled down now he's living on a tight budget but he's making it with the help of unemployment insurance I've just been talking about you John any luck well they're hiring at the Westside plan I think I'll give it a try boy I tell you looking for work is the hardest work I've ever had to do good luck John thanks John's a good man he'll find that job his unemployment insurance check won't make him Rich brings in less than half of what he gets when he's working but it will take some of the pressure off while he's looking for work John is one of several million individuals who were out of work each year through no fault of their own and who are helped by the unemployment insurance program but it benefits a lot more people than the unemployed men like Fred Carter over there Fred Carter is an employer he meets one of the largest payrolls in town isn't that right Fred right you'll find mixed feelings among businessmen about the unemployment insurance program some are all for it others aren too enthusiastic about it now the main reason of course is it's mainly the employers who pay the bills nobody gets too happy about paying taxes Fred a lot of folks think unemployment insurance comes right out of the workers paycheck oh no it doesn't work that way I think in three states both employers and workers share the costs and all others it's taxes on employers that pay the benefits the program has helped our plant now you take Henry Arnold he's one of our top machinists Henry started with us 15 years ago as a helper now he has his own helpers if we had a temporary layoff at the plant unemployment insurance would help him ride it out we wouldn't lose a man we've got 15 years invested in if it was a permanent layoff he'd have some time to protect his livelihood and he wouldn't be forced right away into accepting a job at lower skill with lower pay hey why don't you take a shot all right friend you know unemployment insurance helps in hiring new men too it's uh one of the additional benefits we can offer when we're recruiting new workers a side pocket Fred just think of this there are about 4 million employers like Fred in our town who protect their workers with unemployment insurance almost all employers recognize the importance of this particular tax Fred knows its value to his own workers he also knows the importance of purchasing power to the total economic structure the economy is is strong chances are Fred's business is strong the ability to produce and distribute goods and services is what makes our town the giant that it is ever wonder what happens to that unemployment insurance check you don't have to wonder long I can tell you we cash a lot of them around here those checks are cashed fast and spent fast they go for meat and potato items nobody gets rich on unemployment insurance the money goes for bread and shoes and work shirts I'll tell you something when one of our local plants shuts down if it weren't for unemployment insurance our business would really suffer so would most of the other businesses in town one apple I can only eat one at a time some people call unemployment insurance an economic stabilizer now to get an idea what that means think of the salaries paid to millions of workers each week then if unemployment slows down the flow of dollars spending power is lost to our town well unemployment insurance dollars several billion of them a year help to take up the slack puts back some of that low spending power you might not know it but when jobs really get scarce the number of benefit checks a man can get is increased it gives them some extra time to find a job it all adds up to a way of keeping unemployment from spreading and dollars in circulation that's why they call unemployment insurance an economic stabilizer uh like that kite up there it's got its own stabilizer that raggedy tail helps keep its head up hello Jimmy having a little trouble ah this tail is too short you know things have to work together to get off the ground unemployment insurance knew that a long time ago the states knew they couldn't do it alone and the federal government needed help too so they formed a partnership and it's been pretty smooth sailing ever since the role of the Federal Government is to set the broad ground rules the States play the major role in operating the program each state passes its own laws and regulations for running an unemploy mment insurance program for their workers what you end up with is cooperation and also you end up with an unemployment insurance program in each state which is different differences in the amount of weekly benefits the number of checks a worker can get and what it takes to qualify and yet they're alike too the states work together as a team more than 2,000 officers out there and each does the best job it possibly can Frank Barton manages our unemployment insurance program here in town he's a state employee those folks there will get their first unemployment insurance checks faster if we do it that way yeah call me back on this before the end of the day all right so you want to know what we do here while unemployment insurance has been around for a long time it's based on Federal legislation passed in 1935 all of the individual State set up program shortly afterwards it pays a weekly benefit qualified workers who are temporarily unemployed helps out while they look for another job you know this already well there's more it helps out in finding that job too job counseling skill training referral to jobs well how well does it work Frank darn well it helps most workers it could be better if payments were higher prices have gone up a lot faster than payments but we're working on that some jobs are still unprotected that ought to change but basically it's a solid program doing the job that it was meant to do some people still don't know about their right to unemployment [Applause] insurance we do all we can to inform the public but we miss some others think of Unemployment Insurance in terms of public charity uh they don't want to have anything to do with it that's wrong H this is a working man's program you have to earn your right to benefits if you're not a part of the workforce you don't get unemployment insurance benefits if you are a part of the workforce and meet other state requirements then you have a right to benefits and you ought to take advantage of that right it's a system that works federal and state governments working together the way they're supposed to in our Town's kind of government paying people benefits insurance as a matter of right rather than a matter of need gives you a good feeling say mister you got a problem you want to talk about it uh why no I was uh well listen Mister if you want to talk to yourself go right ahead don't let anybody stop you see I wasn't talking to myself I was uh well it's a free country isn't it that's what I always say Just Do Your Own Thing don't let anybody tell you different okay this just isn't my day well what have we learned so far unemployment insurance gives purchasing power to the worker when he's out of a job most jobs have this protection gives an unemployed worker legroom to look for a job doing the kind of work he's trained to do he's not forced to take any job at any ways just to have some kind of a salary come in helps employers hold on to train workers when a layoff is only temporary puts those hardworking dollars into the town's economy and keeps unemployment from snowballing one other thing it helps keep up a man's self-respect empty pockets and get a man down I think I need another [Music] Apple neighbors if you lose your job and I hope that day never comes remember the first thing to do is check with your state unemployment insurance office maybe I'll see you there say you still around looking for a job don't worry about it something will turn up well thank you thank [Music] you