@malevolentbutticklish, The people who have been laid off in my area have been earning $25 – $50 hour (white collar workers) who, committing to a $9 an hour job without benefits precludes them from taking a bonafide job, when found. Working $9 an hour seasonal work would exempt them from unemployment. While the $9 an hour is equivalent to the unemployment check, it is seasonal work and is not a replacement to actual employment.
My daughter has a Masters from the #2 school in her field, a 4.0, and $20,000 in debt for grad school. She earns $28,000 a year. She has health insurance benefits, but with paying rent and $500 a month in loans, she cannot afford her car insurance or a cell phone. She does without eating out, new clothes, cable (or a televsion) and internet to make ends meet. And she has roommates.
Sorry, I won’t bite on this one. Working for the census is not full time employment. It is great for students, retired individuals, and people like my daughter who want to earn extra money to retire debt. But it’s not sustained employment, and $9 an hour is not enough to make it worthwhile for a white collar manager with an MBA who’s been let go to consider it employment. And it certainly won’t pay the $800 a month cost for COBRA for a family health insurance plan, without the subsidy.