Unemployment benefits expire for 7 million Americans, pressuring families and the economy - The Washington Post
Millions in U.S. lose jobless benefits as federal aid expires, thrusting families and economy onto uncertain path
Federal funds meant to ease the economic shock of the pandemic are coming to an end. ‘It just feels like being discarded,’ one worker said
Listen to article
10 min
Signs at a job fair in Beattyville, Ky., on July 28. Applications for U.S. state unemployment insurance rose unexpectedly by the most since late March, underscoring week-to-week volatility in an otherwise improving labor market. (Jon Cherry/Bloomberg)
By
Yeganeh Torbati
,
Andrew Van Dam
and
Alyssa Fowers
Yesterday at 9:00 a.m. EDT
2.7k
More than 7 million out-of-work people across the United States are set to lose all of their jobless benefits this week as three federal programs expire on Monday, in what several experts described as one of the largest and most abrupt ends to government aid in U.S. history.
In addition to the more than 7 million people who will lose all their benefits, nearly 3 million more people will lose a $300 weekly boost to their state unemployment benefits.
The cessation of this jobless aid, first put in place by Congress nearly 18 months ago, could upend the lives of millions of Americans still struggling to find work at a time when the pandemic’s delta variant is wreaking fresh havoc across a number of states. It could also lead to a sharp pullback in spending, particularly in certain areas of the country, impacting a wide range of restaurants and other businesses that rely on consumer dollars.
“I don’t understand how anyone in Washington cannot know normal people, their friends, families, cousins who are going through this,” said Kathleen Fox, a producer in New York whose past work has been recognized with a prestigious Peabody Award but who has struggled to find work after the pandemic upended her industry. “The [Biden] administration has lost interest in this cause and they’ve moved on to other things.”
People play at a small beach in Brooklyn Bridge Park in New York City on Aug. 19. The Biden administration on Thursday announced steps to allow states to continue expanded unemployment benefits as the country grapples with a surge in the delta variant. (Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images)
The White House has wrestled with how to deal with these expiring benefits, an internal debate that exposes the fraught political and economic consequences of inaction. President Biden said in June that it “makes sense” for one of the programs, which boosted unemployment checks by $300 each week, to lapse in September, but senior aides have also called on states to reallocate other money in a way that would continue offering some support. No states appear inclined to take action, though, leading to this week’s sudden cutoff.
Now there is heightened anxiety, even within the White House, that pulling so many people off government support so abruptly could push millions of people into poverty and cut off access to food or nutrition for people caught on the wrong side of this uneven economy. The jobless rate has fallen and the stock market is near record levels, but many Americans have found themselves unable to recover from the pandemic’s devastating blow.
“I’m predicting a silent type of pain,” said Andrew Stettner, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation think tank and an expert on unemployment insurance, who has estimated that some 7.5 million people will be cut off from aid on the programs’ expiration date. “If past periods have been an indicator, many will be caught in a spiral that will lead to a downward quality of life.”
Three out of four on unemployment will lose benefits
Three federal pandemic unemployment programs will end on Sept. 6, creating one of the largest benefits cliffs in history
May 29
All states enrolled in federal unemployment benefits
Aug. 7
22 states withdraw from federal benefits
Sept 6:
Federal benefits end in all states
2.7M
will have
benefits
reduced
14.8M
filed continued unemployment claims at the end of May
7.5M
will lose all benefits
1.1M
BENEFITS REDUCED
1.6M
BENEFITS LOST
Source: The Century Foundation
THE WASHINGTON POST
The programs initially boosted jobless benefits by $600 a week before Congress lowered the amount to $300 a week. They also expanded the pool of workers eligible for government aid and increased the number of weeks workers could draw on unemployment insurance. But this assistance has also emerged as a divisive flash point in a political debate over whether government assistance discourages people from returning to work.
Millions in U.S. lose jobless benefits as federal aid expires, thrusting families and economy onto uncertain path
Federal funds meant to ease the economic shock of the pandemic are coming to an end. ‘It just feels like being discarded,’ one worker said
Listen to article
10 min
Signs at a job fair in Beattyville, Ky., on July 28. Applications for U.S. state unemployment insurance rose unexpectedly by the most since late March, underscoring week-to-week volatility in an otherwise improving labor market. (Jon Cherry/Bloomberg)
By
Yeganeh Torbati
,
Andrew Van Dam
and
Alyssa Fowers
Yesterday at 9:00 a.m. EDT
2.7k
More than 7 million out-of-work people across the United States are set to lose all of their jobless benefits this week as three federal programs expire on Monday, in what several experts described as one of the largest and most abrupt ends to government aid in U.S. history.
In addition to the more than 7 million people who will lose all their benefits, nearly 3 million more people will lose a $300 weekly boost to their state unemployment benefits.
The cessation of this jobless aid, first put in place by Congress nearly 18 months ago, could upend the lives of millions of Americans still struggling to find work at a time when the pandemic’s delta variant is wreaking fresh havoc across a number of states. It could also lead to a sharp pullback in spending, particularly in certain areas of the country, impacting a wide range of restaurants and other businesses that rely on consumer dollars.
“I don’t understand how anyone in Washington cannot know normal people, their friends, families, cousins who are going through this,” said Kathleen Fox, a producer in New York whose past work has been recognized with a prestigious Peabody Award but who has struggled to find work after the pandemic upended her industry. “The [Biden] administration has lost interest in this cause and they’ve moved on to other things.”
People play at a small beach in Brooklyn Bridge Park in New York City on Aug. 19. The Biden administration on Thursday announced steps to allow states to continue expanded unemployment benefits as the country grapples with a surge in the delta variant. (Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images)
The White House has wrestled with how to deal with these expiring benefits, an internal debate that exposes the fraught political and economic consequences of inaction. President Biden said in June that it “makes sense” for one of the programs, which boosted unemployment checks by $300 each week, to lapse in September, but senior aides have also called on states to reallocate other money in a way that would continue offering some support. No states appear inclined to take action, though, leading to this week’s sudden cutoff.
Now there is heightened anxiety, even within the White House, that pulling so many people off government support so abruptly could push millions of people into poverty and cut off access to food or nutrition for people caught on the wrong side of this uneven economy. The jobless rate has fallen and the stock market is near record levels, but many Americans have found themselves unable to recover from the pandemic’s devastating blow.
“I’m predicting a silent type of pain,” said Andrew Stettner, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation think tank and an expert on unemployment insurance, who has estimated that some 7.5 million people will be cut off from aid on the programs’ expiration date. “If past periods have been an indicator, many will be caught in a spiral that will lead to a downward quality of life.”
Three out of four on unemployment will lose benefits
Three federal pandemic unemployment programs will end on Sept. 6, creating one of the largest benefits cliffs in history
May 29
All states enrolled in federal unemployment benefits
Aug. 7
22 states withdraw from federal benefits
Sept 6:
Federal benefits end in all states
2.7M
will have
benefits
reduced
14.8M
filed continued unemployment claims at the end of May
7.5M
will lose all benefits
1.1M
BENEFITS REDUCED
1.6M
BENEFITS LOST
Source: The Century Foundation
THE WASHINGTON POST
The programs initially boosted jobless benefits by $600 a week before Congress lowered the amount to $300 a week. They also expanded the pool of workers eligible for government aid and increased the number of weeks workers could draw on unemployment insurance. But this assistance has also emerged as a divisive flash point in a political debate over whether government assistance discourages people from returning to work.
