What happens if you are unemployed in america?

Question

is there any kind of welfare state or do you just have to make sure you had insurance when you had a job?

Answer 1

You have to have real good friends to help out. It's been my experience that welfare doesn't help, and not that many jobs offer any kind of insurance to cover you when you're unemployed. BTW, in this state (Ohio) you have to have worked 20 weeks for $197 or more a week to qualify for unemployment. That works out to about 37 hours a week at minimum wage, which the employer knows will cost him when you leave, so they keep most jobs at 30 hours or under, and you don't qualify.
In America, you are considered lazy, stupid and worthless if you don't work. Taxpayers hate paying into the food stamp program, housing assistance, utility payment programs, and free childcare because they feel if they work for it, so should you. If you have a car, they say sell it. If you have a home, they say sell it and rent. If you have any possessions whatsoever, they say sell it. And then they despise you for being homeless and a panhandler.
That's when good friends come in handy.

Answer 2

Insurance is a possibility if you paid for it before you lost your job. Nowadays you can buy mortgage insurance, loan insurance, etc to pay your bills. There is a program called Unemployment Benefits that we can apply for and it will give us a percentage of our salary for 6 months or so.