Unemployment Benefits and Financial Difficulty - Essay Example

Unemployment is not something that can be easily explained, especially considering that people who find themselves unemployed do not fall into one distinct group. There are a number of causes and reasons why one person finds himself unemployed with structural unemployment, frictional unemployment and seasonal unemployment being the most common types. In the first case, Marcelle is facing cyclical unemployment, which occurs as a result of highs and lows in the economy. When economic activities are at their highest, this situation is referred to as an economic boom and in this instance, the levels of cyclical unemployment will be low.

On the other hand, when economic activities are at their lowest, cyclical unemployment is high as a result of the fact that the economy is going through a recession (Tucker 173). However, Marcelle is eligible to receive unemployment benefits either from the state or other requisite sources of federal funding since she was a full time worker; she was laid off and it was through no fault of her own that she lost her job. In the second instance, Dominic is affected by Frictional unemployment, which can occur when one individual moves from one city to another and needs to find work.

In this instance, he must look for work that fits in with his skill set which might take some time and it is in this period that he is considered as unemployed(Tucker 171). Because Dominic chose to leave his employment voluntarily, he does not qualify to get unemployment benefits simply because he chose to quit his job and therefore can do without the assistance. Francine on the other hand is affected by seasonal unemployment which refers to individuals who hold jobs for a distinct period of time such as the job she had at the ski resort and which ended because the winter season is over.

Her type of unemployment is hard to define since she is only available for a period of time for a specific kind of work (Tucker 172). However, she does not qualify for unemployment benefits since it is clear that she is not undergoing any type of financial difficulty being as she has stated she is not interested in working until the next winter season. Beauvoir on the other hand is affected by structural unemployment where the skill set that she has no longer matches with the requirements of her place of work.

This is a major problem that is occurring in the present time as the world becomes more technologically oriented. Another problem with this type of unemployment is the fact that it can last for a long period of time simply because firms are not willing to retrain their workers as a result of cost or the time involved (Tucker 172). Because Beauvoir was a full time employee and did have the skills that were needed to carry out her job up to the time that the firm became upgraded, she does deserve the unemployment benefits to keep her going as she looks for a way to enhance on her computer skills.

Work CitedTucker, Irvin. Macroeconomics for Today. (New York: Cengage Learning, 2012). Print.