Unemployment benefits: Unemployed Americans lost $ 17.6 billion in benefits last month due to delays in aid accounts

The unemployed were waiting for $ 17.6 billion in benefits in January because the states took several weeks to update their computer systems with the new relief provisions, said Andrew Stettner, senior researcher at The Century Foundation, co-author of a analysis of the consequences of the delay disclosed Tuesday.

Created by Congress in late March last year, the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program initially expanded unemployment benefits for concert workers, freelancers, independent contractors, self-employed workers and certain people affected by the coronavirus for up to 39 weeks. The Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program initially provided 13 extra weeks of payments to those who exhausted their regular state benefits.

The goal is to be finalized and have the bill signed into law by March 14, a Senate aide told CNN.

But approval of a project so late could cause another disruption in payments, experts say. Lawmakers would have to act in the coming weeks to allow time for the US Department of Labor to issue guidelines and state unemployment agencies to incorporate the new provisions into their computer systems.

“You would like them to act until the end of February,” said Indivar Dutta-Gupta, executive co-director of the Georgetown Center for Poverty and Inequality, about the legislators. “This is just to prevent people from missing a week of checks. People also need to be able to plan their finances and spending.”

Even before the pandemic, many families would have struggled to cope with a week without pay. It is even more difficult now for many unemployed Americans to be without a few weeks of unemployment insurance, since many have used credit lines and loans from friends and family.

“You will definitely see the consequences of people missing payments if policymakers wait until mid-March to act,” said Dutta-Gupta, who advocates linking the extent of benefits to economic measures rather than calendar dates.

These missed payments really add up, as Stettner’s analysis of Treasury Department data found. The real unemployment payout totaled just $ 28.7 billion in the first four weeks of January, 38% less than workers would have received had their benefits not been interrupted and they had received the $ 300 weekly supplement, he said.

While some states began paying benefits soon after, others took weeks, according to The Century Foundation’s analysis of state unemployment agencies’ websites and local news coverage.

There are still 11 states that have not confirmed that they are paying Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits, and 13 that have not confirmed that they are paying Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits as of January 30, the analysis concluded.

Also causing delays: some unemployed Americans are required to provide additional documentation to meet the new eligibility criteria contained in the December package, while others who have exhausted their payments before the end of the year have to apply again and verify that they are still unemployed.

Although the benefits are retroactive, it does not immediately help those who are missing payments.

“They will receive the money later, but they simply will not receive it in January, when they could have bills to pay or were trying to buy food or fuel the car,” said Stettner.