Sliding Scale Rate

As it came up in class Monday, I asked my Econ teacher about Unemployment Benefits, and I was thinking it'd be a set rate. Like maybe at or slightly above what the poverty line is, per year.


Nope. It's sliding scale, based on previous income. I found this quote, and other sites seem to agree with it.

How much does unemployment insurance pay, and for how long?
The amount can vary slightly from state to state, but in general, the amount you will receive will be approximately 50% of your weekly earnings, with a set maximum amount you can receive. The maximum varies from state to state. (Note: because of this maximum, most workers receive far less than 50% of their weekly wage).

In general, Unemployment Insurance lasts for 26 weeks (about 6 months). In times of extended high unemployment, benefits may be extended by 13 weeks or more.

I can see the benefits to having this. It keeps people who have high bills, because they are in higher income areas, floating. But I'm not sure. People who have higher incomes save more, because they sped less of a % of their income overall, even though they spend more money overall. (Yay for Econ.) So they save alot more money then people who do not have as much income. So they'll be easier off, maybe not easy off, but easier, then those with a smaller income. I guess it seems like it'd be easier to survive with Unemployment Benefits for people with higher incomes, even though they're getting the same % of Benefits. Seems kind of unfair. I mean, if you have a 2 million dollar job, and then you lose it, for the next 6 months, you get 500,000 dollars. That's crazy. They should be able to easily live off their savings, unless they spent unwisely. Which is kind of their fault.

I see the benefits for having it too, but it seems like it should stop at a certain point, like 50-60,000. That's just my opinion though.