The seeds of today’s problems were planted with the 2001 near-doubling of benefits during the Grey Davis administration. Generous unemployment compensation benefits encourage the unemployed to turn down OK job possibilities and hold out for the perfect job. Many occupations such as farm workers and construction workers game the system by working half or two-thirds of the year, enough to get big benefits during the down months. Their overall annual income including benefits can be remarkably high as a result.
