What happens if you don't have a job?

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This might sound like a weird question, but I really do wonder. In different countries we have different systems. As we're different people, we have different personalities, so not having a job might affect us in different ways as well.

Lots of people on here are from the USA. What happens if you don't have a job? Do you get money from the government at all? I read that if you are diagnosed AS and are not able to maintain a job, you're pretty much f****d, as there is no other form of support. Is this true?

I know that in the Netherlands, if you have AS and are found unable to work (after research that is), you'll get money from the government to get by. Which would mean you don't have to work.

Are you totally depended on the charity of others when you're unemployed?

My best friend who lives in Florida now, ALSO has Asperger's Syndrome. He told me that since his family is really poor, he gets paid money by the government every month for his disability (Asperger's Syndrome). And also he gets food stamps too. But basically he told me he had to fill out something to prove that he has a disability and how it affects him and his employability.

In the US it depends on a lot of factors, like which state you live in and sometimes even where in that state you live.

The two major forms of disability benefit in the US are SSI and SSDI, and both have different requirements. You generally have to prove that you're unable to do any work because of your disability and you can be denied benefits if the government thinks it might be possible that you can do something (whether or not you can actually make a living or that industry exists in your area); they also don't take in to account access to transportation, etc when making their decision.

The only way to really make sure you'll get benefits on the first try in the US is to be blind, deaf, mute, and limbless. Many people who apply are denied until they retain an attorney specialized in disability law/administrative code; medical evidence is rejected more than legal argument in most cases.

How much you receive depends on how long you've worked (for SSDI), or how long your parent who has worked the longest has worked; SSI is a fixed sum based on state income. SSI alone is rarely enough to live off of and be self sufficient. SSDI + SSI can help, but even then you're usually getting SSI because you don't have enough credits for maximum SSDI, so it's still difficult to live.

If you can qualify for food stamps (subsidized funds for food) and subsidized housing, it might be more possible, but the US generally likes to punish the poor in as many ways as possible.

No job = no life.

I don't know how "poor" people do it. I know we have welfare programs, but what you get is very little, and if you are an unmarried man, they don't give you hardly anything. The program favors women not working, esp. if they are "baby makers."

It's a messed up way to live unless you really can't work and have no choice.

If you dont't have a job here in Britain and one has undiagnosed Asperger syndrome but does not use any services then you would get Jobseekers allowance which would mean that you would have to apply for at leat 3 jobs a week regardless whether you were successful or not. If you have used a service such as a mental health service and still undiagnosed Asperger syndrome you would get sickness benefit for the first six months and incapacity benefit after the six months are up. If you have diagnosed Asperger syndrome then you would get incapacity benefit and DLA which is disability living allowance. The reason being for the benefits is that Asperger syndrome leaves such a very narrow range of opportunities in terms of getting a job so if an Asperger syndrome person is unsuccessful in obtaining the job he/she wanted then that is it. If people dont know the person is an Aspie then neurotypicals accuse him or her of being a bludger. For aspies finding an interest can take upto a lifetime unless one gains a Ph.D at university or at leat a decent degree without which there would be no hope. The government often likes to do benefit reforms which means in effect to treat people in need such as disabled people as if they are bone idle.

If you don't have a job, you will not be able to rent a home, afford food, clothes, or the basic necessities of life. Being on welfare even if it helps, will still keep you poor, because even if you got a job that pays minimum wage it would be not enough to rent an apartment.

I know a few people on disability (though none are on it for AS) and they get enough to just barely survive. Most of them still have to work some kind of job (a part-time job or some odd jobs like babysitting, lawnmowing, etc) just to pay for their rent and utilities because the government just won't keep you.

And these are people with full-fledged disabilities, not "I don't feel like working"itis. One guy has some kind of cancer and still gets shafted. A girl about my age has MS. She has a job because she wasn't getting anything.

I love this country but sometimes I think it should be named the United States of Dumbfu**istan....

I know i got screwed over. Ive been out of a job for 2 years (diagnosed with AS at the beginning of the second) and had a prior work history since 1997. Because of this, i as denied benefits because, "Your condition has not limited your ability to work, or find work . . ." Yet there is a guy near here who get benefits for a supposed back injury, and he's often seen outside washing his car, mowing lawn, pulling weeds. The gov't should really send a PI on claims for this sort of thing, otherwise the people that really need the money arent getting it because of lazy, greedy people.

For many of us, the main obstacle to employment is having the eye contact and communication skills needed to ace an interview.