Here’s a scenario. A middle-aged woman has been working as a home health aide for 20 years. She didn’t complete high school and doesn’t have a GED. She was recently laid off. Although disheartened, she accepts this fate and tries to apply for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. She is denied. She is informed that until she receives her GED she cannot receive benefits. She is a single mother of four children and is barely making ends meet.
In a recent House-Senate Conference Meeting on February 1st, legislators discussed a proposal to deny unemployment insurance (UI) benefits for workers who do not have a HS diploma or GED, or are not in classes to obtain one. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) argues the ineffectiveness of this proposal. “We should encourage people to get as much education as possible but it is making it a condition to collect—a condition that has never existed before in the program—misses the point of the program, which is to provide support, financial support, for people who have worked for many years, who thought their employers were contributing to the system that they were qualified based on the fact that they lost their job through no fault of their own.” Mr. Reed believes this would affect older workers who worked for many years and cannot receive benefits unless they get a GED.
However, Senator Tom Reed (D-NY) argues that getting a GED is practical and would “enhances their lives, and that enhances their ability to get a job on down the road.” He believes workers should be well equipped with the education needed to be employed or reenter the workforce (February 2, 2012. Battle Between the Reeds on Proposed GED Requirement. National Coalition for Literacy. http://blog.ncladvocacy.org/2012/02/battle-between-the-reeds-on-proposed-ui-extensionged-requirement/). According to the National Coalition for Literacy, negotiations are expected to continue this month. For the middle-aged woman in the scenario, what would be the best way in helping her and her family, obtain a GED or receive UI benefits? If this proposal is approved, women and men alike won’t have a choice.
Comments