![[New York] More than 1.6m will lose unemployment benefits after September 5](http://globalpayrollassociation.com/cdn/shop/articles/bigstock-Abstract-Background-From-Piece-395237267_1200x.jpg?v=1630536542)
On September 5, several federally funded programmes that expanded unemployment benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic will expire, The City reports.
President Biden has already announced that he does not intend to extend the federal benefits any longer, however, he acknowledged that a significant number of Americans remain out of work and said that states with high unemployment rates could choose to keep some of the aid going using federal relief funds.
“It is extremely concerning that people will lose the money they are getting to sustain themselves,” Richard Blum - an attorney with the Legal Aid Society’s Employment Law Unit - said. “The New York economy still has not recovered. There are whole industries still with high levels of unemployment.”
New York’s statewide unemployment rate was 7.6 per cent in July, and in the City it was 10.5 per cent, nearly double the 5.4 per cent national average.
Governor Kathy Hochul’s office failed to respond to questions about the prospects of extending benefits in New York.
Richard Blum from Legal Aid said, “There’s a lot of hope that despite the Delta variant sectors will continue to reopen, but the tourist, hotel, performing arts industries are all at risk, as well as the businesses that depend on those. New York has a very interconnected economy.”
So far, research has shown that ending unemployment benefits didn’t make jobs return or increase employment levels in states that had already opted out of federal benefit extensions prior to this expiration date in any significant way.
Who the end to federal benefits will impact and how
* Gig workers and the self-employed
People receiving Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) will lose their weekly benefits. This is the programme created for workers who don’t fit within the bounds of traditional unemployment insurance, like gig workers and independent contractors. As of August 7, more than 916,000 New Yorkers were reportedly claiming PUA benefits each week. In the week of August 21, nearly 1,200 people filed new claims for the programme.
* Workers who have been unemployed for more than six months straight
For anyone whose unemployment insurance claim has reached or surpassed the originally allotted 26 weeks, benefits will end. This is because two federal programmes called Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, or PEUC, and Extended Benefits, or EB, will be expiring on September 5. These programs extended the length of time someone could receive unemployment benefits in New York to account for the economic challenges of the pandemic. As of August 7, more than 713,000 people were claiming PEUC benefits, and more than 7,000 people were claiming EB benefits.
* Anyone receiving unemployment benefits and getting the extra $300 a week
That weekly boost from the feds will come to an end on September 5, too. That means anyone receiving any kind of unemployment benefits will drop back down to their normal payments from the state, which are a maximum of $504 a week.
Nicole Quinn - the director of CUCS Connects, a group that helps New Yorkers enrol in public benefits - said, “This is huge. People are going to see an impact immediately from the $300 a week stopping. It will have an acute impact on your bank account.”
Mr Blum said, “It affects individual people and families, and it takes money out of the economy as a whole. As soon as New York is starting to get a foothold, you’re taking a large amount of money out of the economy. If people can’t buy things, what does that do to all the businesses around them?”
Whose benefits will continue?
Workers receiving regular unemployment insurance (UI) within the first 26 weeks will keep getting benefits until they reach 26 weeks. This also includes those laid off earlier in the pandemic, who returned to work for a time, lost work again and have filed a new claim within the past six months.
Will anything change?
Change is possible but unlikely to happen until after the benefits expire. Progressives in the House of Representatives are considering pushing to extend the federal benefits, but that would not happen right away and such a push may have a hard time passing through the Senate.
Source: The City
(Links and quotes via original reporting)
On September 5, several federally funded programmes that expanded unemployment benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic will expire, The City reports.
President Biden has already announced that he does not intend to extend the federal benefits any longer, however, he acknowledged that a significant number of Americans remain out of work and said that states with high unemployment rates could choose to keep some of the aid going using federal relief funds.
“It is extremely concerning that people will lose the money they are getting to sustain themselves,” Richard Blum - an attorney with the Legal Aid Society’s Employment Law Unit - said. “The New York economy still has not recovered. There are whole industries still with high levels of unemployment.”
New York’s statewide unemployment rate was 7.6 per cent in July, and in the City it was 10.5 per cent, nearly double the 5.4 per cent national average.
Governor Kathy Hochul’s office failed to respond to questions about the prospects of extending benefits in New York.
Richard Blum from Legal Aid said, “There’s a lot of hope that despite the Delta variant sectors will continue to reopen, but the tourist, hotel, performing arts industries are all at risk, as well as the businesses that depend on those. New York has a very interconnected economy.”
So far, research has shown that ending unemployment benefits didn’t make jobs return or increase employment levels in states that had already opted out of federal benefit extensions prior to this expiration date in any significant way.
Who the end to federal benefits will impact and how
* Gig workers and the self-employed
People receiving Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) will lose their weekly benefits. This is the programme created for workers who don’t fit within the bounds of traditional unemployment insurance, like gig workers and independent contractors. As of August 7, more than 916,000 New Yorkers were reportedly claiming PUA benefits each week. In the week of August 21, nearly 1,200 people filed new claims for the programme.
* Workers who have been unemployed for more than six months straight
For anyone whose unemployment insurance claim has reached or surpassed the originally allotted 26 weeks, benefits will end. This is because two federal programmes called Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, or PEUC, and Extended Benefits, or EB, will be expiring on September 5. These programs extended the length of time someone could receive unemployment benefits in New York to account for the economic challenges of the pandemic. As of August 7, more than 713,000 people were claiming PEUC benefits, and more than 7,000 people were claiming EB benefits.
* Anyone receiving unemployment benefits and getting the extra $300 a week
That weekly boost from the feds will come to an end on September 5, too. That means anyone receiving any kind of unemployment benefits will drop back down to their normal payments from the state, which are a maximum of $504 a week.
Nicole Quinn - the director of CUCS Connects, a group that helps New Yorkers enrol in public benefits - said, “This is huge. People are going to see an impact immediately from the $300 a week stopping. It will have an acute impact on your bank account.”
Mr Blum said, “It affects individual people and families, and it takes money out of the economy as a whole. As soon as New York is starting to get a foothold, you’re taking a large amount of money out of the economy. If people can’t buy things, what does that do to all the businesses around them?”
Whose benefits will continue?
Workers receiving regular unemployment insurance (UI) within the first 26 weeks will keep getting benefits until they reach 26 weeks. This also includes those laid off earlier in the pandemic, who returned to work for a time, lost work again and have filed a new claim within the past six months.
Will anything change?
Change is possible but unlikely to happen until after the benefits expire. Progressives in the House of Representatives are considering pushing to extend the federal benefits, but that would not happen right away and such a push may have a hard time passing through the Senate.
Source: The City
(Links and quotes via original reporting)