Many people have lost their jobs or have been laid off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With that, there has been a massive influx of people applying for unemployment. 

What has been the governments response?

With the passing of the CARES Act, there has expanded the benefits of unemployment. Normally you would only get a portion of what you make back but now with the CARES Act you will receive an additional $600 weekly.

If you currently had unemployment benefits and they were going to expire now you can request an expansion due to the pandemic.

As a part of the CARES Act, the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program has been established. The goal of this program is to help those who don’t usually qualify for unemployment such as “…business owners, self-employed, independent contractors, have limited work history, and others not usually eligible…”

“I had to help everyone in my family apply and some people at work. It’s not too hard. It only takes me about 20 minutes,” says Luis Lara, an unemployed college student. “The turn around feels like it’s been a lot longer, but I get why it is.”