The long recovery from the Great Recession has left a lot of people behind. The long-term unemployment rate was higher in 2013 than in any year since 1948. People who have been out of work for six months or more have a harder time finding new employment, and some may suffer discrimination because they have been out of work for so long. What policies will do the most to help the long-term unemployed? And what are the long-term consequences of extended joblessness?
Philip Dahlheimer, formerly unemployed for five years
Jennifer Casey, program specialist, Foundation for an Independent Tomorrow
Gary Burtless, senior fellow, economic studies, Brookings Institution
Sarah Ayres, economic policy analyst, Center for American Progress