Offers new paradigm for building the workforce
ATLANTA, March 3, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --"Conspiracy theorists might wonder if at last we have evidence of alien abduction, mass migration, or worm holes to parallel universes given the millions missing from the labor statistics," observed Crown Financial Ministries CEO Chuck Bentley, in a national opinion piece that looks at the crisis of growing unemployment, including some answers for those lost in translation.
"It should be a bigger story," said Bentley, noting that more than 89 million people are missing from the labor force, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Some of those people are retired, students, or stay-at-home moms who chose not to enter the ranks of the employed, but included in that number are discouraged workers, a mysterious subset of the population almost undetectable to the statistician's eye.
While they don't show up in the unemployment rate of almost 8 percent, there are places were the missing workers can be found. The food stamp rolls are up to 47 million people, adding an average of 11,269 a day. More than 8 million have been placed on disability, going from one on disability per 65 workers in 1967 to one on disability per 16 workers in 2012. Unemployment insurance has been stretched thin, with more than 6 million jobless Americans having exhausted their benefits since 2007.
"It is time for a new recovery model that involves more private sector and less government," said Bentley. "We need to rebuild and reenergize the private enterprises that make a great nation, targeted at the community level where real job growth occurs, and where real help for the hurting is given."
Such a plan must include better integration of frontline charitable organizations and the church, the best place to combine assistance with accountability
"Perhaps the greatest failure of so much talk of government assistance has been the communication of a profoundly flawed message - the canard that government should solve all problems and that the solution rests with Uncle Sam," observed Bentley. "Lost has been the personal exhortation that 'whatever you do, work at it with all your heart.'"
While millions will face joblessness and difficult days ahead, people must be equipped to get back into the workforce. Organizations such as Crown have developed tools like Career Direct to help people through self assessment, training and compassionate counseling. These kinds of programs begin with the idea that your future holds unlimited promise and that every challenge is an opportunity to grow.
"It is a misleading accounting trick to void out the humanity of those who have given up the search for work.," said Bentley. " Politicians like to find ways to make themselves look successful. But we need to face reality and do our part to rebuild a culture of work and a strong economy via the private sector, not through placing hope in more government programs."
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Crown, a non-profit, helps people and businesses integrate their values into business practices, debt reduction, and financial decision-making. For more than 35 years, Crown has been offering economic analysis and advice based on timeless truths. Theirs is a strong, international grassroots organization with offices in the U.S. and overseas. Crown experts work one on one with individuals and business leaders, as well as through workshops and seminars, teaching people how to build on a strong foundation that includes the business principles and practices found in the Bible. It is well known for its cutting edge materials first developed by its founder, the late Larry Burkett. For more information, go to www.crown.org or call 800-722-1976. Follow Crown @CrownUpdates
SOURCE Crown Financial Ministries
