Unemployment benefits will continue to provide a lifeline for millions of workers who continue to struggle to find a job in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, thanks to President Donald Trump’s signature on the $ 900 stimulus account that extends three major retirement programs. unemployment.
But when those benefits actually fall into the pocket of the unemployed, it is questioned due to Trump’s delay in signing the relief bill, citing his opposition to the $ 600 stimulus checks he called “ridiculously low”.
Two major programs for the unemployed, which provided aid to more than 12 million unemployed workers, expired on December 26 – or the day before Trump signed the bill.
The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program (PUA), which covers self-employed and self-employed workers; and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program (PEUC), which provides additional weeks of unemployment benefits for those left without their regular state unemployment benefits, both of which expired on December 26.
As the bill was signed the day after the end of the two unemployment programs, concerns have arisen that unemployed workers may suffer from a gap in aid payments. But experts say the benefits are unlikely to expire because of this, and the Department of Labor told The Hill that “it does not anticipate that eligible applicants will lose a week of benefits due to the time the law is enacted.”
However, there may be delays for people to receive benefits because states will need to reschedule their computers with new dates, noted Michele Evermore, senior policy analyst at the National Employment Law Project. Unemployed workers will receive late payment of the amount due as soon as their state’s systems are up and running.
“It’s a big relief for a few weeks, especially the $ 300” in extra weekly unemployment benefits, Evermore said. “One thing that people don’t realize is that average unemployment insurance is at the poverty level in many states.”
The Labor Department did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
11 more weeks of benefits
The stimulus project will extend the PUA and PEUC programs for 11 weeks, as well as supplement regular state benefits with an extra $ 300 in weekly unemployment benefits – or half of the extra $ 600 in aid received by unemployed workers at the start of the pandemic. and that expired in July.
At the same time, the number of people applying for unemployment benefits remains at a high level, showing that the coronavirus continues to hurt the economy.
“Many workers are concerned that they lost their lives during unemployment; they accumulated debt,” said Andrew Stettner, a leftist tendency unemployment specialist at the Century Foundation. “Some research shows that the average unemployed person has a negative net worth.”
The extra $ 300 a week, as well as additional weeks of unemployment, will probably not be enough for many unemployed workers to get out of debt, Stettner added, but it would likely help many to meet their basic needs – at least until the programs expire in the middle March.
Kenneth Elliott, a 50-year-old pedestrian driver from West Palm Beach, Florida, has been unemployed since March. Between April and July, he was able to receive $ 600 a week in additional benefits, which covered his expenses. But since August, he has been living on just $ 275 a week in state unemployment benefits, “which is kind of impossible to survive,” he recently told MoneyWatch.
Several months ago, Elliott gave up his own apartment and moved in with a friend to try to save on living costs, he told CBS MoneyWatch. But the $ 275 still doesn’t cover all of his expenses, which include medical insurance, car insurance and his phone bill, so he found himself late in rent.
“I was lucky to have a very understanding landlord who is trying to work with me, but I don’t know how far it will go,” said Elliott. “I’m reaching the limit.”
Weeks waiting?
It could take about two to three weeks for states to start paying the extra $ 300 in weekly benefits, said Stettner. These benefits come from the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) program, which was created by the Aid, Aid and Economic Security Act (CARES) in March, but expired in July. To release these $ 300 payments, states will first need to get this program up and running again after a long break.
Unemployment programs are administered independently by each state, and unemployed workers apply for help through their state labor departments. Depending on the efficiency of your state’s computer systems and personnel, unemployed workers may face very different waiting times to receive benefits. Some states can send the $ 300 in FPUC benefits quickly, but others may see longer delays.
For example, 8 out of 10 unemployed workers in Wyoming receive their unemployment benefits within 14 days of being considered eligible for benefits, according to the Century Foundation. But only 2 out of 10 unemployed people in Kentucky receive their first payments in two weeks.
Avoided cliff
About 12 million Americans were receiving unemployment benefits through the PUA and PEUC programs, which expired on December 26.
These two programs, now extended until March 14, pay regular state unemployment benefits, which on average are just over $ 300 a week.
But the extension is only 11 weeks. The economic turmoil caused by the pandemic is unlikely to end when this round of benefits expires in mid-March, which means that lawmakers may be debating more unemployment benefits in 2021.
“I don’t think we will end the pandemic and the recession in 11 weeks,” noted Evermore.