If that were the case you would expect an uptrend in unemployment but that certainly is not the case.We haven't been in a recession for 50 years? What do you call 2008?I think the work ethic you speak of is just as alive today as it was a hundred years ago. In the 1920's anyone who was physically able could get a job that would support themselves and often a family. My dad in 1950's worked in a hardware store. My mom didn't have to work. We had a car. Took a vacation every year and we got by. Today you would be lucky to support yourself in such a job.
There are very few jobs available today for low skilled and unskilled workers. Even those with education and skills are having a hard time making ends meet. Taking away basis subsistence from the poor and the unemployed is not going bring the jobs back or make America a better place to live.
We haven't been in a recession for 50 years. That work ethic was lost decades ago, not in 2008. The dependency class has been getting larger ever since the so-called Great Society programs went into affect. They destroyed the family unit and install government in place of hard work and self-reliance.
1970 4.9%
1972 5.6
1974 5.6
1976 7.7
1978 6.1
1980 7.1
1982 9.7
1984 7.5
1986 7.0
1987 6.2
1988 5.5
1989 5.3
1990 5.6
1991 6.8
1992 7.5
1993 6.9
1994 6.1
1995 5.6
1996 5.4
1997 4.9
1998 4.5
1999 4.2
2000 4.0
2001 4.7
2002 5.8
2003 6.0%
2004 5.5
2005 5.1
2006 4.6
2007 4.6
2008 5.8
2009 9.3
2010 9.6
Read more: United States Unemployment Rate 1920–2008 — Infoplease.com United States Unemployment Rate 1920–2008 — Infoplease.com