Unemployment insurance was created in 1935 in response to the great depression. Many people lost their jobs and were unable to buy food, clothes, and pay their bills. Unemployment insurance continues to help Americans today especially in this hard economic time.

Now, unemployment insurance provides temporary income for those people that have lost their jobs. Unemployment insurance will be able to pay for food, bills, gas, and other everyday expenses you may have.

Unemployment insurance is different in every state; you must qualify by meeting certain qualifications such as: you must be unemployed through no fault of your own. You have to have been laid off due to lack of work, discharged but not for misconduct, or voluntarily quit with good reason connected to employment. You must also be physically able to work, ready to work, and be able to accept full or part time work at any time.

Self employment doesn’t usually count in most states, but if you are self employed and lost your job, you should still apply and let the department of labor decide if you qualify for unemployment insurance.

You should file for your unemployment insurance during the first week of total or partial unemployment. As said before, every state has different requirements for unemployment insurance, most states however, require this:

• Social security number
• If you are not a citizen of the United States, you will need your Alien Registration number and card.

Driver’s license

• The business names, address, and phone numbers of all the employers you worked for in the last two years
• Your total gross earnings from those employers
• The reason you are not working for those employers
• DD Form 214, member 4, certificate of release or discharge from active duty if you were in the military in the past two years

Other states may require more information than this; check your local labor department online, or over the phone for a complete list of the things you will need to have in order to file for unemployment insurance.

Now that you know how to file for unemployment insurance, you may be asking yourself, do I really need unemployment insurance? To determine if you need insurance you should make sure you can still afford your monthly bills and costs if you lost your job, or got your hours cut at work. If you can’t pay bills, buy gas, buy food, or buy other things necessary for you to live, then you will most likely want to consider getting unemployment insurance.

Unemployment insurance has already helped millions of people in America and can help you too. All you have to do is apply, make sure you meet all of the qualifications and provide all of the information necessary and you labor department will decide if unemployment insurance is right for you.

Insurance can help you pay all sorts of bills and everyday costs; if your job is hanging in the balance you might want to consider getting unemployment insurance.