When Latrish Oseko lost her job last year, government aid helped prevent a crisis from becoming a disaster.
A $ 1,700 federal stimulus payment meant that when her 26-year-old car was broken into, she was able to replace it. The $ 600 a week in additional unemployment benefits from the federal government made her rent rent and buy food. When her daycare provider closed, she was able to get her 4-year-old daughter a subscription to ABCmouse, an online learning platform.
But federal money has run out, and talks in Washington about how to replace it have been broken into.
Mrs Oseko, 39, spends much of her time in the Delaware hotel room, where she has lived since her landlord finally hired her, asking for jobs on her phone while watching the local debate. news.
“I’m stuck with it because I want to know, will there be hope for me?” sei se. “They fight, and I have to fight them, but they have a place to sleep at night.”
Until a few days ago, most analysts expected Congress to agree on a new emergency spending bill that would include at least a partial extension of the additional unemployment benefits, perhaps including retroactive payments for the period when the program expired.
But the negotiations stopped, and in an appearance at his golf club in New Jersey on Friday, President Trump said that if no deal was reached, he would postpone an executive order that would extend the additional benefits in one form or another. It is unclear whether he has the authority to do so, or how long it will take for states to begin paying the benefits if he does.
For many of the 30 million Americans who rely on unemployment benefits, it could be too late to prevent lasting financial damage. Without the extra $ 600 a week that ran out at the end of July, they would have to suffer through regular benefits from state unemployment, which often have a few hundred dollars a week or less. For many families, this will not be enough to prevent eviction, starvation or mounting debts, which make it harder to climb out of the hole.
Households and the wider economy are currently particularly vulnerable. Eviction moratoriums have lapsed or expired in much of the country, although Mr. Trump is threatening to overthrow Congress to repeal part of the federal moratorium. The Paycheck Protection Program, which has helped thousands of small businesses retain workers, ends this week.
There are already signs that the economy is slowing down this summer as phytosanitary matters have increased in a large part of the country. On Friday, the Department of Labor reported a net profit of 1.8 million jobs in July, a smaller increase than in May or June. Many economists warn that layoffs could start rising again without more government support. Food banks say they are hers for a new wave of demand.
Before the pandemic, Ms. Oseko and her family put an end to each other, albeit with little margin for error. They earn $ 15 an hour as a data entry contractor. Her friend deserves a little less cleaning care at the University of Delaware. They could rent a two-bedroom house near a park where their daughter could play.
When the pandemic hit, Ms. Oseko’s hours were cut short and her friend was devastated. Then, in May, she lost her job completely. In the midst of that crisis, another one appeared: Her landlord sold her building and gave it away for 60 days. They were moved and burned last week by their meager savings at a rate of $ 76 per night at a Delaware motel that completes with families in the same predicate.
Without a job, Ms. Oseko could not find a new apartment; without an apartment, it has been difficult to find a job.
“The jobs I qualify for want me to work from home, but I don’t have a home,” she said.
The economic crisis caused by the pandemic has disproportionately affected low-wage workers like Ms. Oseko who do not have much in savings. Research from the last recession found that when unemployment benefits ran low, people cut back on spending on food, medicine and other necessities, suggesting that they could not do much to prepare them for the drop in income.
The more generous benefits offered during this recession may have saved families some money, but these savings will not last long, especially as food prices increase at the fastest rate in years.
As a result, families are forced to make decisions with lasting consequences.
When Jason Depretis and his fiancée lost their jobs at a Florida restaurant in early March, she began to fall behind on her hair and her car payment. The $ 600 unemployment supplement was a lifeline, allowing them to stick to their home and their car. But on July 28, that rescue caught on: The repo man was driving in front of the car on the day her landlord delivered a three-day notice of eviction.
With the extra $ 600 a week, Mr. Depretis, 42, would probably have been able to pay enough to keep both creditors. Without it, he had to choose. He paid his landlord $ 650 to prevent eviction, and saw the car being towed.
But it was a terrible time to lose the car. He had found a job early in September in a restaurant, but it’s 45 minutes away, and there is no bus connection that matches his hours. The nearest food bank is 30 minutes away, and he can not get there without a car. He said he did not know how he and his fiancée put food for themselves and their two children on the table.
“Without the $ 600, there is absolutely no way my family will make it,” he said.
For families like Mr. Depretis, even a temporary loss of income could be the beginning of a downward spiral, said Elizabeth Ananat, an economist at Barnard College who has studied the impact of the pandemic on low-wage workers. Wealthy families might be able to save on savings to continue until Congress reaches a deal. But for lower-income households, even a temporary cessation of benefits can have lasting consequences. An eviction can make it difficult to rent in the future. Repaying a car can make it difficult to find another job. And for children, periods of hunger, homelessness and stress can have long-term effects on development and learning.
“Children cannot make food smooth over the year,” Ms Ananat said. “Families who do not have access to credit can smooth their food, their electricity, no need.”
Many Republicans argue that the added benefits were keeping recipients out of the job search, especially since many got more on unemployment than they had made on the job. Business owners have complained that they have difficulty filling vacancies.
But several studies have found no evidence that it discourages job seekers, and many workers seems to accept jobs even if the wage is less than its benefits for unemployment. And by injecting billions of dollars into the economy every week, the benefits almost certainly prevent even more redundancies.
The termination of benefits will push some people back to work. But that decision can also bear costs.
When the pandemic hit, Enrique Guzman, a flight attendant at Los Angeles International Airport, was given the choice: to work or stay at home and receive a portion of his income, the equivalent of 10 hours a week.
Mr Guzman, 27, decided to stay home. He has asthma, which puts him at a higher risk of complications if he catches the coronavirus, and he lives with his girlfriend and her mother, whose age, 51, makes her vulnerable to the virus. Between unemployment benefits and the airline’s private wages, he was able to make $ 1,050 a week – less than he earned full-time work, but enough to support his girlfriend and her mother.
But without the extra money, Mr. Guzman can no longer pay the $ 1,875 rent for her two-bedroom apartment in Montebello, California, plus the cost of utilities, food, and student and car loan payments.
On Monday, with a sinking feeling in his stomach, he put on his uniform and returned to the airport for his first shift since the pandemic began. Mr Guzman said he had no other choice.
“It was not what I wanted to do, but I am the only income in my household now and I had to go back to work so we could pay to pay our rent, pay to pay our bills,” he said. “I put myself in danger so we can pay to fly.”
