Even Brief Unemployment Can Have Long Consequences

No surprise to me.

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2013/04/05/even-brief-unemployment-can-have-long-consequences/?mod=WSJBlog&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wsj%2Feconomics%2Ffeed+%28WSJ.com%3A+Real+Time+Economics+Blog%29

by Lauren Weber, blogs.wsj.com
April 5th 2013

But even short-term unemployment upends a family’s life. Without a paycheck to count on or benefits to cover healthcare, a visit to the doctor becomes prohibitively expensive, kitchen-table conversations about money replace meals out at restaurants, and the daily cycle of working and earning is put on hold.

Those disruptions are felt long after a person goes back to work, according to new research. Families where one member went through even a brief bout of unemployment between 1999 and 2009 frequently spent down assets saved for retirement or their children’s education, or took on debt, compromising their long-term economic security and mobility. These families were about 30% more likely to suffer a loss of wealth during the decade than other families, according to an analysis of data from roughly 3,000 families by the Economic Mobility Project of the Pew Charitable Trusts.

In short, even a little time without a paycheck can prevent a working-class family from moving up the economic ladder.