Granite State blues
October 30, 2009Jon Brooks Comments OffNew Hampshire’s fared better than most states in the recession. But that just means unemployment is “only” 7%.
In response to the economic dislocation, New Hampshire Public Radio has created the Working It Out project, an archive of experiences and observations related to the recession reported by citizens from around the state. NHPR executive editor Jon Greenberg describes the endeavor in more detail:
While conventional wisdom, driven by macroeconomic statistics, has it that we have come out on the other side of the slump, it’s always instructive to check in with what’s happening on the ground before springing for champagne, let alone popping any corks.
To that end, some recent first-person news from the New Hampshire trenches, courtesy of Working It Out:
Living from one unemployment check to the next
I am a young single mother of a four-year-old boy and I was laid off in June. Jobs that I qualify for, during the hours that my son is at preschool and that pay enough to support my family are nearly impossible to find. We are living from one unemployment check to another and sometimes I am not sure where my son’s next meal is coming from. This economy has really tested my ability to make something out of nothing. It has also showed me how resilient I am and that I am not going to give up because at some point it has to get better.
Where do foreclosed families go?
It is distressing to see all the For Sale signs in front of houses and know that most of them are foreclosures that represent displaced families. On one hand it is a sign of the excess borrowing many did and on the other, it represents a family tragedy. I do wonder, where do all these people go to live? Do they move in with relatives?
I used to have a good job at an electrics company. I made good money at work by high salary plus overtime. tTat made me more confident about bringing up my children by myself. (I’m a single parent.) But the company sent a lot of work overseas. That caused a lot of people to lose their job, myself included. Now I have to go collect unemployment, apply for electric assistance, and health care for my children. I really want to live and support my children on my own, but what should I do?
The economy has done terrible things
My dad works at Goss and he designs printers. Fewer people are buying printers. It has gotten so bad that hundreds of employees have been laid off with more to go through furloughs and layoffs. Though the economy certainly has a part in Goss’s downfall it is also due to the fact that newspapers are declining and many things-like news-are becoming virtual.
I’ve learned about responsibility
Now my family has dinner at home on Fridays and we talk about things. I also got a job to help my family out because I saw that my mother was stressing out pay check to pay check to make sure that the bills were going to get paid and that I still had money to do things that teenagers do so I would stay out of trouble.
This taught me responsibility and taught me that I couldn’t always rely on my parents, I needed to grow up some time. My family has learned that family is always going to be there for you even though money may not be. Family is a stronger bond than anything else in the world and it benefits you to be closer and have each other’s backs…
One thing that strikes me is the increase in homelessness due to job losses. Just driving down the road and sometimes even the highway (I see) average people holding cardboard signs, worried and vulnerable. Most of the time signs will say “will work for food” or “hard worker searching for job to pay bills” or “will work for ride.”
I am a twenty-three year old former service member returning to my family in New Hampshire after serving in the United States Army for several years. It was only in the last few months that my parents had to file for bankruptcy and have had to scrounge for more work to fill an already full schedule. I’ve had to use my living allowance allotted to me through the Veterans Association to help pay their mortgage. Also my step-brother who recently graduated from college is now enlisting in the Army because he can’t find a job and needs a source of income to pay for student loans.
Many of my friends have also been affected by job loss as well as home loss and are often scraping together a few dollars just to keep gas in their cars.I work at Vista Foods in Laconia. Starting around winter we have been having more problems. Almost every week there are more notices of things to look out for. There are a lot of counterfeit coupons and fake gift cards going around. During the beginning of the spring there was a group of people with counterfeit $20 bills going around.
There has also been an increase of shoplifting. One of the things that I have to do every night is go around and make sure everything is in its right place. Lately I have been finding a lot more stolen things, usually one per night. It usually isn’t anything too major, an empty bottle of water, cupcakes missing from a container, etc. We have also been catching people sneaking out with a case of beer or soda.
The other thing that has changed is a huge increase in food stamps. Last year you would get food stamps every once in awhile but now it seems that it is what most people are paying with. Even people who look like they’re successful and able to support themselves are using them now too.
A couple of 60 year olds who made it through
In November 2006, my 59 (soon to be 60) year old husband lost his job. This had happened to us before so we knew not to panic but to remain positive, however there seemed to be nothing out there and in the back of our minds his 60th birthday was looming over our heads like a black cloud. We kept trying to focus on his vast experience in his field and the major contributions he still had left to make and how well qualified he was – we really had to work hard to put his age out of our minds, this was not easy but we did it.
In December we heard from a former boss of my husband who had gotten a call from a head hunter offering him a job…The down side is it is contract work – but fairly stable with long term prospects…
However our thrill at having a job turned to fear when we tried to buy an individual health insurance plan for two 60-year-olds and were told that I was excluded for life because of hip replacement surgery I had had the same year. We were advised to start a LLC so we would qualify for a “group” plan – a group of two but that magic word “group” made all the difference. So how has the downturn in the economy affected us? – we pay $17,369.76 a year in premiums for two people – a lot more that we were used to. BUT, that said, I am happy to pay it if it means a job and health care coverage and I really try not to worry about whether my insurance company will drop us if we get sick.
One more thing – we also had to take our youngest daughter out of a private college and transfer her to UNH – the cost of a private college was just not doable anymore. Our oldest daughter just found a great job in Boston after working for near minimum wage in Real Estate for a year. Again, we are fortunate, more so than many people in this economy.
Imagine handing over $1090 and being told that you won’t be able to use the service you’ve just purchased until two months from now – if things go really smoothly. And, by the way, you have to send another $1090 within two weeks to make sure your coverage continues once it finally begins. That is the situation for people whose employment has recently ended and who have no other option for health insurance.
So far, the COBRA administrator has misplaced our first payment, been unable to say when coverage would begin, and told us that their employees can only email each other since clerks in one department won’t answer phone calls from clerks in other departments.
A month has passed since the first check was cashed by the insurance company, but we still have no verification of coverage and no prescription benefits. Being told we’ll be reimbursed doesn’t pay the bills today. Concord Hospital and Rite-Aid don’t extend credit.
I am 17 and I live in a homeless shelter in Keene. Jobs are not easy to come by and you have to pay rent at this homeless shelter like $200 a month with a lot of rules. They expect you to find a job and get a place to live but you have to take your children every where even if you are 17 years old. I have to ride around with my mother everywhere and I am 6 months pregnant…
Rise in basics undermines small farm
The costs for hay and feed have increased, but our income has not. We were going to trade our cow and her heifer daughter for firewood through the winter – and it didn’t happen. Fall was creeping closer and closer until we finally had to send them to auction. Then, instead of using that money to pay for hay and feed for the remaining animals, the money went straight to our contractor and friend who has had to do several last bits of projects on credit…
Salvation Army volunteering opens your eyes
Through volunteering, I have noticed the increase in numbers that have walked through the front doors. In the month of August, a total of 59 clients came to The Salvation Army for food essentials only. This does not include other needs such as backpacks, financial assistance, and more.
About three-fourths of those clients we have never seen before. This shows the increase of need for those suffering. The economy has not merely affected people’s finances but as the amount of money decreases, so does their outlook on life and their future plans…I drive around a lot and the thing that has had the most impact on me is the amount of businesses closing. I even drive through some towns I used to live in and one where my friends/family live and I see the same heart-breaking theme. Closed businesses. Broken dreams.
After years of tight finances my non-profit employer chose to reduce compensation and working hours by 20% across the board rather than lay off staff. We are gradually increasing hours where we can and it’s been difficult, however none of us felt the “survivor” guilt associated with a layoff.
