Don't be glib on unemployment

The column "Seasonal jobs are hardly jolly at $8 an hour" [Opinion, Nov. 26] was excellent. Let's take it a step further and do the unemployment compensation math in real dollars.

At an average of $8 an hour, a person would need to work about 51 hours to match the maximum New York State Unemployment Compensation of $405 per week. Given that the average part-time employee works 20 hours per week, the employee would need to work for three different employers simultaneously to match what unemployment pays.

I doubt if three employers would give an employee the flexibility to coordinate three job schedules. The reality is that seasonal jobs are for students, retirees, stay-at-homes, people who have a full-time job - anyone who is looking to supplement their income, not make it their only income. Seasonal jobs are not for those collecting unemployment compensation. Remember that 25 percent of unemployment compensation is lost for every day you work, even if that "day" is 30 minutes of work.

For an understanding of unemployment reality, speak with members of unemployment support groups formed at local churches and communities. Talk to intelligent, highly educated people who are doing everything right in their job search and perhaps you will see things differently.

As the saying goes, you do not know the pain of the pinch until you have walked in my shoes.

Francine M. Scuderi

Stewart Manor