Both of these replies are speaking to the social issues. Yes, people can lose their jobs, and it does happen. My point was quantitative: it happens rarely, and so addressing it with individual savings is a poor choice for the same reason that we don't pay for catastrophic health care out of savings. "Insurance" is a better social tool, as it requires far less capital be tied down.

And that insurance is readily available in the market, if the duck on my television is telling me the truth.