What Often Happens to the Long-Term Jobless

is they find they are treated like lepers by friends, family, to say nothing of prospective employers. Since having a job is a part of so many people's identity, they feel worthless and depressed. Naturally having no job means their savings is tapped out, and when the unemployment insurance runs out, they face homelessness.

From the Pew study:

Long-term unemployment takes a much deeper toll than short-term unemployment on a person's finances, emotional well-being and career prospects, according to a new Pew Research Center survey that explores the attitudes and experiences of workers who have lost jobs during the Great Recession.

Of those who have experienced an unemployment spell of at least six months, more than four-in-ten (44%) report that the recession has caused "major changes" in their lives. By comparison, fewer than a third (31%) of those who had been unemployed less than six months and 20% of adults who were not unemployed during the recession say they were similarly affected.