Earlier this year, Congress passed an extension of unemployment insurance benefits. This extension cut down the maximum number of weeks that a person can receive unemployment benefits. Thousands of people are about to see their unemployment insurance benefits disappear this week, just in time for Mother’s Day.
In February of this year, Congress passed an extension on the payroll tax, the Medicare reimbursement cut, and the length of unemployment insurance benefits. It reduced the number of weeks that a person can receive unemployment benefits from 99 weeks to a maximum of 73 weeks. It also allowed states to require people who are seeking unemployment insurance benefits to have to pass a drug test in order to be considered for benefits.
According to a report that was done by the National Employment Law Project, 230,000 Americans will lose their unemployment benefits this weekend. Around half of the people who are about to lose their benefits live in California, where almost 10,000 workers will see their extended benefits cut.
The current unemployment rate in California is 11%. It seems that when a state has an unemployment rate that remains the same for a certain amount of time it results in a funding cut for unemployment benefits. The cut does not mean that there have suddenly been more job openings. Oddly enough, those two factors don’t actually have any effect on each other.
This current round of cuts will affect people who have been unemployed for a long period of time. It will affect those who live in California, Illinois, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Other states were affected in previous rounds of cuts.
The Economic Policy Institute says that more than 30% of the unemployed have been out of work for a year or more. It also says that there are more than three job seekers for every available job opening. The Government Accountability Office says that 20% of the people who lost their unemployment insurance benefits in 2010 ended up falling below the poverty line.
It is sad that this cut to unemployment insurance benefits is going to happen on Mother’s Day Weekend. Being unemployed is stressful, and the stress will increase when people lose their unemployment benefits. Will this group of people be able to afford to take their mothers out to dinner for Mother’s Day? I think many are going to be trying to hide from their moms their own worries about finances and bills. Why couldn’t this cut to benefits be pushed ahead just one more weekend?
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