The great American exodus to…Benelux?

The great American exodus to…Benelux?

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If you’re out of work and interested in moving abroad, now is the time to do it. Why? Because, according to Anne Lowrey at Foreign Policy, there are significantly better places to be unemployed than the U.S. In a recent article, Lowrey lists the following locales as prime real estate for the jobless: Scandinavia; Benelux (a Western European union comprising Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg); Switzerland; France; Japan. These sites offer unemployment benefits for at least 10 months—and some even offer them indefinitely (Hello, Benelux!). But the best offering comes from Denmark. Part of the Scandinavia enclave, this country offers up to 90 percent of prior earnings for up to 48 months. In addition, Denmark has computer training and rƒ©sumƒ© review, and tries to place unemployed workers into temporary positions vacated by employees on educational sabbatical or on maternity or paternity leave. And even Japan, which is at the bottom of Lowrey’s list, supports workers longer if their industry is deemed to be in decline. Maybe Detroit needs to take a meeting with Prime Minsiter Taro Aso.