As the United States trudges through the multiple weighty social, political, and economic challenges it created for itself in late 2019 (and for the entirety of 2020), millions of Americans can only wait with bated breath for decisions to be made about the fate of their unemployment benefits. COVID – 19 has created a “new normal” in just about every aspect of American life, and those who are forced to rely on unemployment benefits to help them navigate this uncommon ground, are faced with falling even further behind financially.
Novice writer David Nelson, who has been personally affected, has some ideas about how the government could handle the proposed reduction in benefits. Follow his series of five articles, detailing the personal stories of real people affected by the reduction, the first of which is an introduction to the series and his own personal account. This article originated from a Facebook post that I thought was very appropriate and that I believe could help people understand exactly what the average Joe, or David, is going through.
UNEMPLOYMENT IN THE COVID ERA
By David Nelson (3 minute read)
California, Sacramento (July 25, 2020)
It’s a working Saturday on Capitol Hill. How many of us know what that feels like, right? As the end of the "extra" $600 federal unemployment funds are about to end, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said earlier today, “We cannot use taxpayer dollars to pay people more than they made working to stay at home…we are working on a new reduced percentage”.
Follow along with me my peeps, and I apologize if it seems lengthy.
I am one of the individuals to who Secretary Mnuchin refers, so here is my cut to the chase story from the beginning. I drove for Lyft for over three years - I stopped in March 2020, as COVID so reduced the number of rides that I was actually losing money each week.
I filed for state unemployment and was initially awarded $167 per week, but I felt confident that the additional $600 would be added to that, so I did not call the Employment Development Department (EDD) to complain, not that I could have likely reached a live person anyway. The $600 was added, so I was then getting $767 per week.
The $167 seemed low to me so in about mid-May, I went on the EDD website and used their calculator to determine what my weekly rate should be. You are asked to enter your last five quarters of earnings and the highest quarter (in my case 2019 Q4) determines the weekly rate. According to this, my weekly rate should have been $450 - not $167. They did pay me the difference retroactive, so okay.
My 2019 Q4 earnings were $20, 950 - an average of $1,611 per week. So, let's see, $1,611 minus $1,050 is $561. This was my pay reduction - a 34% decrease. Not only was I no longer able to do my previous job because of the significant reduction in ride requests, but I was expected to live on that decrease, to say nothing of the risk I would assume - not my choice.
Fast forward to this weekend and the new proposal being considered. There is still no plan in place, though the deadline is upon us, and the federal government is "discussing" reducing the $600 to perhaps 70% of that amount. That would be $420, and if added to the $450 from the state, and it is $870 – again, compared to $1,611.
If this happens, and 70% is a best case temporary solution, my weekly loss is no longer $561 but grows to $741, which is a 46% reduction. Listen, that’s pretty close to half of my regular income. Why would anyone in the American work force be upset about that? Also, according to Google, Mr. Mnuchin's current net worth is $300 million, but I am sure he and his peers have our best interests at heart. I’m hoping you correctly insert my sarcasm here.
To the government, here is a suggestion. If you want to cap the number at 70%, how about you make it 70% of what I was earning when my job was no longer an option, based on the earnings used to determine my weekly amount? So instead of 70% of $600, for an undetermined amount of time, how about 70% of $1,611, which is $1,128 per week? I will throw in the overtime, which I was never paid since I was independent and averaged about 50 hours per week.
David Nelson began writing through his position as a Labor Union Representative. He is a father of two Marines and is a Sacramento, California native. David enjoys helping people get social justice and a better quality of life. Find David on Facebook at facebook.com/david.nelson.5473.
Don't forget to check out the rest of the articles in the series!
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