Here's why Bush is going to lose to Kerry in the next election.

Study: 1 in 5 Laid Off During Recession

By LINDA A. JOHNSON, AP Business Writer

TRENTON, N.J. - Serge Kher had never been unemployed until his job as general manager of a car dealership in Virginia Beach, Va., was eliminated in March.

After sending out 107 resumes, trolling Internet job sites and looking into different fields, the 48-year-old father of four had only one interview.

"I'm starting to go crazy," he said last week in a telephone interview. "There are days when I feel that I'm worthless."

Kher, now a stay-at-home dad, got one month's severance pay and is collecting $300 per week in unemployment benefits. His family went without health benefits for two months until his wife found a job offering the insurance.

Still, he's received more aid than most Americans laid off since 2000, according to a new study by researchers at Rutgers University and the University of Connecticut.

Two-thirds of workers laid off in the last three years received no severance package or other compensation from their employer, according to the survey titled "The Disposable Worker: Living in a Job-Loss Economy."

The study found that one in five, or 18 percent, of those interviewed had been laid off during the 2000-2003 period. The study randomly targeted 1,015 working-age adults...



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