The Plain Dealer, August 15, 2010, Sunday

The Plain Dealer

August 15, 2010, Sunday

The Plain Dealer

They're known as 'the 99ers,' and their numbers are growing in Ohio and nationwide

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- About 15,000 Ohioans didn't get a penny when Congress extended unemployment benefits.

They are people like Ramona Walker of Cleveland and Bill and Norma Zapotechne of Oberlin -- people who have been jobless so long they've already used up all 99 weeks of their unemployment checks.

They're known as "the 99ers." After two years or more without jobs, they say they're losing a critical safety net at a time when finding work is still agonizingly difficult.

The result: a growing legion of people -- many of them older, many once middle class -- who are exhausting their benefits. It's a wave that threatens to besiege social services and leave the government grasping for answers.

Just last week, a series of reports concluded that the economic recovery is slowing, with consumer spending and hiring at a trickle. And with elections coming, there is little interest on Capitol Hill to undertake a major new stimulus effort.

Three weeks ago, after a contentious debate, Congress voted to continue extended unemployment benefits until November. People out of work are entitled to 26 weeks of regular unemployment benefits, and the federal government provides up to 73 weeks of extended benefits after that.

Continuing the program meant that more people would get help, but it did nothing to change how long each person gets benefits. It's still 99 weeks.

Ramona Walker, for example, couldn't imagine being unemployed for even six months when she was laid off as an accounting clerk at KeyBank in 2008.

"I thought in three months I would have been back in the door somewhere," she said.

On Aug. 3 she became a 99er. For the first time in the 17 years she has owned her house, Walker fears losing it.

Bill Zapotechne spent 20 years working long-term contract assignments as a quality assurance consultant in manufacturing.

"When I would get through with one job, there would always be a couple waiting," he said.

But after he completed his last assignment in 2008, more offers never came. In August, Zapotechne became a 99er. His wife, Norma, laid off as a licensed practical nurse, is also a 99er. The couple lost their home to foreclosure more than a year ago. Now with no income and their savings and retirement spent, they have had to apply for welfare.

"It's very humbling -- very close to humiliating," Bill Zapotechne said.

The plight of the 99ers serves as a reminder of just how long the nation -- especially hard-hit states like Ohio -- has struggled with high unemployment.

Ohio's jobless rate began to rise in 2008 before skyrocketing in 2009 and spending much of the time in the 10 percent range since then.

The current 99ers were at the beginning of the trend of mass layoffs. As the months progress, their numbers are projected to swell.

In January, only 168 people had maxed out their benefits. In August, the number is projected to be 7,000, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

No longer middle class

Many of those people -- like Walker and the Zapotechnes -- were part of a middle class who never thought they would live so meagerly. Like many, they had known occasional lean times, but poverty . . . that was something different.

Walker said she has always preached the value of hard work to her 17-year-old daughter, and now she cannot serve as a role model.

"I want to set an example for my daughter," she said. "I want to work. I tell her it is important to work."

But long-term unemployment is forcing many former middle-class members onto programs for the poor, according to figures from the Cuyahoga County Department of Employment and Family Services. The most dramatic increases in people receiving food stamps between June 2008 and June 2010 have been in solidly middle-class suburbs: Brecksville up 62 percent, Chagrin Falls up 55 percent, Solon up nearly 592 percent and Westlake up 64 percent.

Statewide, many agencies expect their caseloads to rise as the number of 99ers increases, said Benjamin Johnson, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

Cuyahoga officials expect more people to enroll in multiple programs, said director Joe Gaunter. For example, people receiving food stamps may qualify for cash benefits once they become 99ers.

Longer benefits proposed

Nationally, 99ers have lobbied Congress to expand benefits by 20 weeks, to 119 weeks in Ohio and other high-unemployment states.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan recently introduced a bill to do that. Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio is among the co-sponsors. The bill also would cut taxes for businesses that hire people who have been looking for work the longest.

"These tough economic times have made it difficult for thousands of out-of-work Ohioans to pay their mortgages and put food on the table for their families," Brown said in a news release."

Republican U.S. Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio has not commented on the legislation. In general, his office said, he would favor a bill encouraging an "economic environment that will provide jobs rather than extending or creating benefits that future generations cannot afford."

Rea Hederman, assistant director of the conservative Heritage Foundation's Center for Data Analysis, agreed that the emphasis should be on creating jobs, not extending benefits. Congress should consider lowering corporate tax rates, he said.

"Businesses will invest more, expand more and hire more," he said.

Extension just encourages dependence, Hederman said.

"Empirical evidence is pretty strong that the longer unemployment benefits last, the longer people will remain unemployed," he said. "People will be less apt to take the first job."

The 99ers said they have sent out countless resumes and gone to interviews that resulted in no job offers. Walker resents that anyone would even suggest she is avoiding work.

"I have had people say: 'Just get something. Go to McDonald's,' " she said. "McDonald's isn't hiring. People have to walk in your shoes before they just open their mouth and say: 'Take something.' "

Walker and Zapotechne both said they favor the Stabenow legislation. Still, they saw it as only a temporary solution.

"I would be very interested, but it is not going to make a lot of difference if there are no jobs," Zapotechne said.

He said Congress should focus on a manufacturing policy aimed at making domestic companies competitive. He also wants to see more money for creating small businesses.

Age is another hurdle

Walker and the Zapotechnes also face another hurdle: their ages. Walker is 51, and Bill Zapotechne will be 55 this month. His wife is 58. They worked in two of the hardest-hit sectors of the economy: financial services and manufacturing.

Linda Barrington, managing director of Cornell University's Institute for Compensation Studies and an expert on labor force composition and market trends, said the nature of this recession caught many such workers off-guard. Recessions traditionally had affected people over 50 less than other groups, partly because they had seniority.

True, their jobless rates are still lower than the national average and substantially lower than workers in their 20s. The U.S. unemployment rate for July was 9.5 percent, but only 6.9 percent for workers over 55. For 20- to 24-year-olds, it was 15.6 percent. Jobless rates for workers over 55 rarely went above 5 percent in the past, Barrington said.

But because of economic restructuring, the economy shed jobs that older workers might have held on to through seniority. Many of those jobs will never return.

Barrington said the best option for 99ers and other long-term unemployed is to get retrained. If that isn't an option, they should consider volunteer activities that would give them skills needed to freshen a r sum .

Unable to land another job in banking, Walker is interested in switching to something in the medical field. She has looked at programs for pharmacy technicians and medical billing, but tuition-free ones are difficult to get into.

The Zapotechnes also intend to get retrained. One recent afternoon, their college-age son was helping them fill out financial aid forms to help pay for a medical billing program.

"It seems to be where the future is," Bill Zapotechne said.

Collecting unemployment in Ohio

If you've lost your job or want to be ready for such a setback, here are some key facts about collecting unemployment benefits.

The Question: Who is eligible?

The Answer: Most employees who lose their jobs through no fault of their own are eligible to receive unemployment benefits. You're out of luck if you were fired for misconduct or quit without cause on your own. Generally, anyone who worked full time over the course of a year, which is called a base period, probably will qualify.

You must have worked at least 20 weeks in the base period, which is typically the first four of the last five quarters. You must have earned at least $213 on average each week to qualify for benefits. For more information, go to jfs.ohio.gov/unemp_comp_faq/index.stm.

The Question: What is the maximum weekly check?

The Answer: Unemployed workers can receive a maximum of $375 for an adult with no dependents and $508 for an adult with three or more dependents.

The Question: How long can a person receive benefits?

The Answer: Regular unemployment benefits are typically 26 weeks, but during the recession, Congress added 53 weeks of extended benefits, plus 20 more weeks in Ohio and other states with high unemployment. The extended benefits were interrupted briefly in June, but Congress last month reinstated them until Nov. 27.

The Question: How does a person file?

The Answer: You can file a new claim online at unemployment.ohio.gov/ or by phone at 1-877-OHIOJOB (644-6562). The phone lines are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays. Claimants must file weekly.

Ohio residents who commute to work in another state should file for benefits where their employers are situated, not where they live.

SOURCES: Ohio Department of Job and Family Services; Associated Press


News researcher Jo Ellen Corrigan contributed to this story.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: operkins@plaind.com, 216-999-4868
Related topics: 99ers, business, economy, jobless benefits, metro news, ohio unemployment, politics, unemployment