Unemployment insurance is exactly that—insurance. I have worked for these offices in a contract role, and it operates like a not-for-profit business. While the losses are picked up by the taxpayers, employers are forced to pay premiums for all of their employees if they are of a certain size. This used to be a choice. When you got a job, the benefit package could include unemployment insurance with a specific provider, or if the employer didn’t offer it, you could choose to pay for it yourself.

The issue arose when those private insurance companies would go bust after government policies led to mass layoffs, like the current situation in California, and people wouldn't get paid. As a result, the government formed a monopoly to "protect" the people from the "greedy" insurance companies.

My advice to unemployed Californians who want to work is to look outside of California for job opportunities. Leaving would reduce the strain on the welfare system and the state unemployment office. People caravan from El Salvador to the U.S. border for jobs. The guy at Taco Bell can buy a bus ticket to Jackson, Mississippi. Maybe they need someone to man the registers at those Taco Bells.

Anything is better than falling into the welfare trap because, statistically, it's very hard to get out of it once you're in. Moreover, the more people that fall into it, the less effective it becomes and the greater the strain it puts on the already incompetent system.