Reply #5: I have heard it gets abused...

[kirby]

I have heard you gets 26 weeks of unemployment (which I think Congress keeps extending) so in some areas it is an additional 20 weeks. I have heard that people have to make very 'token' efforts at getting a job such as sending out two resumes each week. I have heard the system is broken because if a person does not find a job similar to what they lost, they can stay on unemployment rather than get retrained.

Of course this is all based on what I have heard. Being self employed I am not eligible for unemployment. If I lose my job, tough cookies. Some self-employed business have to pay info the unemployment fund even though they cannot collect it.