Millions of unemployed Americans faced an income “cliff” in July when the epidemic ended with an additional ડ 600 in unemployment benefits. But now millions of people are facing each other – and more horribly – hitting their incomes as they vacate all their unemployment options at both the state and federal levels.
“People say,‘ Oh my God, I’m running out of money, ’and they don’t know what’s to come,” said Alex Emanuel, a New York actor, filmmaker and musician whose unemployment aid dried up two months ago. .
The issue is affecting many workers, including those who lost their jobs at the end of 2019 and went through several unemployment assistance extensions provided by Congress earlier this year. Gig-Economy workers and others who used the Federal Epidemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program at the beginning of the crisis are also expected to help.
These benefits aren’t particularly generous – typical weekly unemployment checks amount to 3,333 a week – but working adults tell CBS Moneywatch that the extra money helps them pay for needs like utilities and rent.
Jobseekers also say they are frustrated with the lack of progress and hammering others in Washington, D.C. Stimulation billIs, who would have renewed an additional $ 600 in weekly aid, and expressed concern that their benefits would dry up. Unemployment experts say the cutoff could create more economic headaches as millions of unemployed workers find themselves with no income.
“I was really worried about what would happen when $ 600 went away, but when people also lose base benefits, people would be devastated,” said Michelle Evermore, a senior policy analyst at the National Employment Law Project. “You will see this pain spread more and more in the economy.”
According to Rewandrew Statner, an unemployment expert at the Progressive Century Foundation, there are no hard statistics about how many unemployed workers are losing their unemployment benefits.
For example, PU offered 39 weeks’ pay for those who lost their jig or freelance work from January 27, which means that the first claimants will be able to avail their benefits on the week of October 19. In the meantime, the program’s 11 million recipients will face a tough December 31 deadline, when the program is about to end.
Even with the expansion for unemployment aid, it is not enough to save unemployed Americans, while unemployment is high, noted Chad Stone, chief economist at the Center Economics Budget and Policy Priorities. According to researchers at Columbia University, the Care Act has lifted 18 million people out of poverty, but many have returned after the extra money expired. They found that the poverty rate was lower than before the epidemic.
Stone said, ‘The measures of the Care Act were very liberal. The loss of benefits “is hitting hard, and people may be surprised.”
“Making absolute zero”
Workers who lost their jobs in the second half of 2019 are among the first to start aid. “I applied for unemployment in August 2019 due to a lack of acting work at the time,” Emanuel, 49, a 49-year-old New York actor, told CBS Moneywatch. “My lawsuit was initially settled in April, and since then they have extended this extension because of the Coronavirus Assistance, Relief and Economic Security Act, or Caris, Act.”
But after exhausting all his extensions, his unemployed salary ended in August. “I was making absolute zero,” he said.
Emanuel said it has been cut to profit for a month. Because New Yorkers can file for more unemployment assistance after a full calendar lender year has passed from their previous unemployment claim, they re-applied for assistance. He now earns about $ 170 a week after taxes – less than the 23 230 he received in previous unemployment benefits. That’s because the benefit is based on a worker’s previous year’s earnings, trapped by the epidemic. He said it would reduce grocery arrangements and transportation costs.
J Sy Simon
Some people are already afraid of the end of their unemployment benefits. Samo, a 53-year-old New York actor, said his benefits would expire in March, and he could not be sure how he would make further cuts already. He said he earns about $ 1.0 a week in unemployment benefits, and his family is helping him pay his rent.
“It’s very difficult to laugh in daily business, including getting out of bed, if you don’t know where your next year is coming from,” Simon said.
“They said I’m tired of everything.”
Another employer whose assistance has recently expired is Mary Kahun, 43, of Oakdale, Connecticut. He was fired in March from his job as an administrative assistant when the epidemic hit. Its gains were sustained last week.
“They said I finished everything.”
Kahun said she set aside some money when she received an additional ડ 600 in weekly job assistance. After finishing in July, his unemployment check dropped to 31 7,317 a week or about 200 200 less than his job earnings. He said he has sent about 100 resumes and landed 10 interviews, but has not received a fur.
“I’m not too nervous right now – we’re better than most people,” Kahun said. But she worries that the money she has left this summer will run out before she gets a new job or if a new round of stimulus assistants is extended.
“Things are covered right now, but eventually it will work,” he said.
Embarrassing applications
Experts said some jobless workers are not aware that they are eligible for some extension, such as epidemic emergency unemployment compensation or PEUC, which provides an additional 13 weeks of assistance to employed workers by stripping them of their regular state benefits.
Nearly a million workers have ended their normal state benefits in the month of August, but only two million are in the extensions granted under the Care Act. Indicates that some people may lose benefits, Statner said.
He added, “There has been a drop-sf and confusion about moving towards extensions for the benefit of the state.”
Eligibility for PEUC is an issue against 40-year-old Shwanda Rice, a bartender in Cincinnati. Her door has been closed since March, when she applied for unemployment. He said he stopped receiving state benefits three weeks ago, but was told he did not qualify for PEUC. He was later informed that he was in fact fit for the program. Now Rice finds herself in a lemon, not sure if she will get more help.
He said, ‘I’m stressed.’ “I don’t know where the money is coming from. When the bills came in last week, I called and asked for an extension.”
Rice is also worried about how it will pay the bills in the next few months and when its grocery income is low. She hopes her belt will open again for Halloween, but she is also worried about COVID-19 because she has recurring issues with purulence, recurring in lung disease. Bar patrons are allowed to remove their masks to drink indoors, which increases the risk of infection.
Asked what he would say to lawmakers who are now negotiating a new stimulus package, to no avail, Rice said: “It’s not just about you. Things are taking care of the American people.”
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