It may seem like things may be finally attempting to get back to normal but in some cases, things feel like they may be getting a little worse. When the unemployment benefits from the Cares Act ran out that's when I myself noticed the flaw. After the extra $600 a week disappeared I was left with a mere $79 dollars a week to live off of. Mind you at this time the State of Louisiana was still in Phase 2 and our Governor was not letting up on the restrictions. I've worked all my adult life and most years I worked two jobs. But I've always worked for tips, cash money babysitting, and freelance work online. Since I made such a large amount of money in cash I've always claimed my cash earnings at the end of the year when I filed taxes. So my earnings showed but because it was self-employment they could not be added to the base wages to determine the WBA on unemployment benefits. So, while I sit and watch my bills pile up for months, I was unable to return to work and I do not qualify for the extra $300 a week because my WBA is not $100 or more.
What happened is if you worked and earned any wages from an employer and had a W2 then that's the amount they base your unemployment benefits on. Your self-employment wages are out the window. If you only worked self-employment and not for an employer, then you're automatically qualified for PUA which gives you no less than $107 regardless of how much your WBA is. In my situation, my self-employment was at least 65% of my income and because I had that little 32% income from working under an employer my self-employment income was not counted. Wow, I'm understanding the fact that you do not pay unemployment taxes on self-employment income but let's be fair here. We are not unemployed by any fault of our own here. Us mixed earners were left out here to starve. I've survived on $79 a week for a few months now and I'm downright disgusted at how our leaders just ignore the fact that hundreds of thousands of United States Citizens have little to no income and can not provide for their families.
The Mixed Earners PUA Act of 2020 fixes the flaw in the Pandemic Unemployment in The Cares Act but it has still yet to be signed. So while our government is cheating, fighting, and making a complete ass out of The United States of America, I and hundreds of thousands of other citizens can not pay bills or provide the needed essentials to care for their families. And just like me, many are single-parent households. We need to start making noise in America. This is not right by any means and needs to be tended to NOW before our bills get too high to even be able to climb out of debt at a reasonable and justifiable time. IDK what this means to you guys, but to me it determines how much longer I have to sit in poverty because my bills have gotten so high they are unmanageable. I'm asking everyone who reads this blog to please start making noise and tell congress to SIGN THE MIXED EARNERS PUA UNEMPLOYMENT ACT OF 2020!
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