re: A main reason for unemployment is that people's bad choices have caught up with them

That's not even a factor. There is something out there for every person.
Some give up, some don't.

Swear to everything, I have made a damn good living before, going out in the woods collecting different kinds of moss and wild flowers. Diving in the river for mussels, still watching for that good job to come along, and then using that to go into business for myself.
Your only limits, are your own.