Funemployment. Paycation. The Unemploymentality. Every generation has an argot to describe the confusing terrain of joblessness – the dole, deadbeat dads, UB40, and so on – and the lexicon of younger casualties in the most severe American economic downturn since World War II speaks volumes.
Here’s how the blog Recessionwire defines “funemployment”: “A period of joblessness that you actually enjoy – maybe you get to lay out, sleep in, work out, read up. It helps to have savings, severance, or an unemployment check to help pay the bills.
We’re hearing this word used more and more, especially as people realize they may not be able to find a new job right away, so they might as well try to enjoy the time off.”
Neil Howe, an expert on generational psychology and coauthor of Generations: The History of America’s Future, 1584 to 2069, says the sunny outlook of laid-off young workers is a symptom of the endemic hopefulness witnessed in the so-called Millennial generation of young professionals whose formative years coincided with the longest economic expansion in American history.
Like many social trends, the concept of funemployment is also a product, in part, of government policy. As a result of provisions in the Obama administration’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the maximum timeframe for receiving unemployment insurance has been increased to 79 weeks, according to Patrick Joyce, spokesman for the California EDD. Previously unaffordable post-layoff health-insurance premiums have been partly subsidized through expansion of the COBRA program.
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Photo by SF Weekly.