Barker... off the top of my head... for whatever reason when people lose jobs...
More people with no income means less money being spent on rent, utilities, food, clothes, etc ... that means businesses cutting more jobs OR raising prices to keep their numbers where they need them. Which means even more people unable to pay/buy, and/or less people able to afford... bad cycle that. As more and more people get behind in their bills more and more utility companies, apartments, etc are forced to send it to collections/write it off and they have to find the cash to make their payroll from somewhere else. Which just goes back to raising prices/laying off to make up for it. And the more collections rack up the higher deposits become to get an apartment or utilities turned on, making it harder for folks to get situated in their new home. Round and round it goes.
Also means less money deposited in banks, which means less loans being granted, so less homes sold, keeping the housing market wonky. As if many not having income wasn't effecting that enough. Then of course the banks also consider that right now almost any (non-government anyways) job is 'on the line' so they aren't issuing loans because of that fear too. So people remain stuck in houses they cannot afford, get behind in their payments which leads to foreclosures -also ruining your credit so don't even think about a loan and maybe unable to even rent-, or they scratch by but cannot take the better job they were offered elsewhere because they can't get a loan for another house in that other place, and even if they could/just rent a place they can't afford two mortgages until their first house sells. Less business at the bank means firings. Less real estate being sold means firings, OR agents not making enough to cover their bills and their annual licensing.... and of course no loans means no new construction, no remodeling, etc. so many construction, carpenters, tilers, bricklayers, etc etc are all out of work.... Again, a nasty cycle.
Then there's the Health Aspect. More people without jobs means more without insurance. Either due to their employee providing it, or because with no income insurance is second to food/rent. So there's more people not getting in to see their doctor because they can't pay, and thus more people having no choice but to go to the ER... and then not pay. Which means overcrowded hospitals, prices soaring to cover the unpaid accounts, and lay offs... which just leads to less care and more crowding. Not to mention without insurance many can't afford their prescriptions so they don't refill... assuming of course that their doctor will write a refill without them coming in and paying for an office visit out of pocket. Which the doctor can't afford to do because like everyone else he has unpaid accounts, and delays from insurance and definitely from Medicaid/care that aren't going into his account to pay his rent, utilities, staff payroll, equipment loans, school loans and malpractice insurance premiums... all of which he cannot work without... either he stops taking any but paying customers (preferably cash) or he closes up shop... leaving him and his staff unemployed and many without a doctor even when they can pay... making the next doctor in town's office more crowded...
And lest we forget the car payments. No job means you can't pay them, so your car is taken. Which of course makes it pretty well impossible to get to work, or to find a job further than a mile from your home. Don't know about you but many businesses don't like to see their employees covered in sweat, soaked with rain, etc. while they're poda be looking professional. There's one more job gone, if you had one to start with. Meanwhile your car is put in the used lot, and since the economy is bad more people are buying used, many can't get a car loan either, so they're forced to get what they can buy for cash. Which means that auto companies, parts companies, tire companies, etc all have to slow production... which means MORE layoffs. Might be no one you know, but it is many more being put on UI which drains what little paycheck you're getting even more.
Round and Round it goes... businesses are afraid to hire and then have business drop... employees are all holding their breath for fear of a lay off... unemployment keeps rising as sales drop and lay offs increase...
Now according to some, we're in horrible shape... DH has his job, but we rent our house... have two vehicles 16 & 17 years old with problems, our income is below poverty line, no savings, no health or life insurance... but also no credit card debt... bills are paid -if juggled so sometimes a little late- but we have food, shelter, etc. But MANY consider US the poor ones because we don't live in a house we can't afford, drive cars we can't afford, rack up thousands in debt for clothes/shoes we don't need... and so on... to many we're the pathetic ones... or we were until this recession started... now we're looking pretty lucky... our cars can't be taken... we won't lose our home... credit card isn't suing us... etc. We may not have much, but what we have is secure.
Part of the problem we're in is that MANY people don't get by like we do... they get in over their heads. When they had the good job they were juggling okay. Enough for that $2000 mortgage on the 3000sf house for two people... enough for the $500x2+ car payments... not to mention Full Coverage insurance required not just liability... enough for the monthly credit card bill... etc. But then they lose their jobs and that house of cards tumbles. More many many years many many people have been living this way... including our government... and now that proverbial stiff wind has come along to knock it all down. We have to start rebuilding... in cash... from the ground up. Government, Businesses, and Personal all need to take the time, downsize, get their ducks in a row and THEN begin slowing regrowing. But it takes time to make a strong foundation... you can't lay your studs until the concrete is set... so in the meantime we're all going to have to suck it up, bumble along, and take whatever work available just too keep ourselves above water until the job market, housing, etc are READY to grow again.
It's going to be a long and bumpy ride, and many aren't going to appreciate having to stand on their own or having to take a food job (my BIL comes to mind... and my sister... but that really is a RANT!)... folks are going to have to grow up, suck it up, and get over the Gimme What The World Owes Me and NOW mentality. (not that anyone here is like that, this is a very self sufficient group, but this is an attitude that's become freakishly common in our society)...
*passes salt cellar*
