Congress - It's Cheaper to Let the Jobless Die

Aug. 19, 2010 - PRLog -- The suicide prevention hotlines are showing signs of stress.

In Jan. 2007, as the recession started, there were 13,423 calls to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

A year later, by Jan. 2008 there were 39,467.

In Aug. 2009, the call volume peaked at 57,625 (Most people contemplating suicide don't bother calling.)

The government has since granted National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (a nationwide toll-free hotline) an extra $1 million to increase programs in places with high unemployment rates.

Nobody knows how many suicides are associated with the recession because statistics lag about three years...but looking at individual counties’ or cities’ data, there are ominous signs of a real spike.

According to a congressional study for the Centers for Disease and Control, the unemployed commit suicide at a rate of up to three times the national average, with middle-aged men the most likely. During the Great Depression, the suicide rate increased about 20 percent. The figures for the Great Recession might be much higher.

A spokesperson for the CDC Injury Center noted a bump in the suicide rate for older male workers: "Studies need to be done to better understand what might be occurring in this age group."

MODERATOR: I could have told her exactly why, without any "study".
1) It's much easier for women and children, than it is for men, to get government assistance (i.g. financial aid, food stamps, access homeless shelters, etc).
2) Older males are the most discriminated against in job hiring.
It's that simple, but do your study (at more taxpayer expense) and waste more of our money.

The study also noted that unemployment increases the risk of suicide not just once, but twice: First, just after the factory shuts down, and then again, about six months later, when unemployment insurance ends.

The research strongly suggested that the impact of losing your unemployment benefits is actually 3 times stronger than the impact of losing your job. Duration of unemployment and loss of unemployment benefits are more important determinants of suicide risk than job loss itself.

The U.S. government is fully aware of this: that when unemployment insurance ends, suicide rates soar - that's why they have increased funding to suicide hotlines. Yet Congress still remains unwilling to extend unemployment insurance benefits to the long-term unemployed (the "99ers")...now our government has blood on their hands.

See "Tier Five or Die" at Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tier-Five-Or-Die/1207316912...

NOTE: Excerpted from "Death and Joblessness - Suicide Dogs the Long-Term Unemployed. What Can Be Done to Help Them?" - By Annie Lowrey / Washington independent

Reposted here:
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latest-news/death-and-j...

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The Tier Five Times reports on the latest unemployment news such as the jobless numbers and unemployment benefits for "99ers" - those who have exhausted all unemployment insurance benefits.