Salary expectations: how do you answer? - 12 months and counting

I have been out of work for 17 weeks and feel pressure to accept less. Thank you in advance. I also do not want to sell myself short. Does giving a range hurt?

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it 12 months ago, and it settled down once I kept a simple log of every call and form.

Keep everything in writing and save the confirmation numbers. It saved me later.