Why do unemployment statistics only count people who want to work and not the actual number of unemployed people?

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I understand the need to exclude the young, old, disabled, and homemakers but why do unemployment statistics not include those who are simply living off of welfare and not intending to work (or on the opposite end of the spectrum, those living off of a trust fund)? Is this subset of the population just not big enough to be worth including in the statistics?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

The idea of people simply living off welfare has been repeatedly proven to be false. Getting assistance and staying on it actually requires a lot of work. Many programs require re-verification multiple times per year and many will trigger recoupment if you are found to have lied about assets or otherwise got benefits you weren’t due. Also the amount of money given by many programs is laughable. Getting $250/month in food stamps for a family of three isn’t going to have you living like a king.

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