Don't worry, everything will be alright. Right now,the job

market is much better than year 2002. I think he will be able to find a job soon. I would think moving back to the home state is a good idea, if you are able to relocate there. I think if your income is sufficient to support your family in your home state, and you don't have to pay the high rent in west coast, than it will reduce both of your stress.

On the other hand, I don't think it was his fault to get laid off. The common practice for companies to letting go employees is that they usually let the higher pay employees to leave first. In 2002, we experienced the same hardship as yours. My hu*****and(fiance in that time) was a principal engineer in a big finance firm, when his former company got hit hard by the dot com crash in 2002. They first let go the Sr. VP and other executives in the first round. My hu*****and was secretly happy that he wasn't in the management position. But unfortunately, he got laid off a day after the VPs got laid off. It took him 7 months to find other job. But thankfully, I made enough to support my family, so I married him a few months earlier than we planned, so it reduced the hazard to the minimum level.

Wish everything will work out well for your hu*****and and your family