1. Budget
When the paychecks stop, the bills keep rolling in. Families must not use denial as a coping mechanism during this time. Have a family meeting and decide how you will continue to meet your basic needs during the period of unemployment. Empower even the youngest family member to cut corners on luxuries like music lessons or premium cable television subscriptions.
2. Reduce Stress
Losing a job can force a family member into an identity crisis. The unemployed family member took pride in a certain skill set as an employee, and he may have created an entire social life centered on co-workers. Other family members may feel afraid or depressed about the future. Choose healthy stress reducing methods that the entire family can engage in. Adults may feel tempted by alcohol or binge eating, but going for a walk together or throwing a football at the park is a healthy diversion. If you feel that the stress level in your family has reached an unmanageable level, consider counseling services through your health department.
3. Family Time is Number One
Job loss is a stressful time for every family member, even for children too young to understand. The best way to help your family's bond endure this stressful time is to maintain some downtime. Continue the same rituals with your family as best you can, whether that's reading to your children at bedtime or attending the same church service each week. Keep family time sacred by excluding the job issue from conversation during the time you spend together.
4. Keeping Healthy
If the family member who lost the job was the health insurance carrier, the family must take steps to cover the insurance gap during the period of unemployment. Many employers extend health care coverage for 30 days after employment ends. After that, you can explore COBRA, Medicaid, your local county health department and your state children's health insurance program. The premiums for some gap coverage policies are high, but they don't compare to the cost of one night in a hospital without insurance.
5. Extend Your Support Network
When you're forced to cope with job loss as a family, you may feel ashamed or you might feel the need to protect other family members from your unhappy secret. However, when you keep caring extended family members in the dark, you deny yourself a network that could result in a job lead. If your extended family can't provide you with a job lead, they may help in other ways such as providing child care while you job hunt, or by offering your family a small loan to buy necessities like groceries and utilities.
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