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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTwo anchors of COVID safety net ending, affecting millions
WASHINGTON (AP) Mary Taboniar went 15 months without a paycheck, thanks to the COVID pandemic. A housekeeper at the Hilton Hawaiian Village resort in Honolulu, the single mother of two saw her income completely vanish as the virus devastated the hospitality industry.
For more than a year, Taboniar depended entirely on boosted unemployment benefits and a network of local foodbanks to feed her family. Even this summer as the vaccine rollout took hold and tourists began to travel again, her work was slow to return, peaking at 11 days in August about half her pre-pandemic workload.
Taboniar is one of millions of Americans for whom Labor Day 2021 represents a perilous crossroads. Two primary anchors of the governments COVID protection package are ending or have recently ended. Starting Monday, an estimated 8.9 million people will lose all unemployment benefits. A federal eviction moratorium already has expired.
While other aspects of pandemic assistance including rental aid and the expanded Child Tax Credit are still widely available, untold millions of Americans will face Labor Day with a suddenly shrunken social safety net.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/two-anchors-covid-safety-net-121419651-145240259.html
msongs
(67,395 posts)trying to avoid union workers
VarryOn
(2,343 posts)They now tell me I have to request house-keeping daily. Its not automatic anymore.
I always hung the Do Not Disturb hanger pre-Covid because I didnt want daily service. But, I have to think a lot of housekeepers are no longer needed. So, now Ive been making a daily request. I know it helps someone keep a job.
misanthrope
(7,411 posts)without the widespread exploitation of the desperate underclass? Can the growing oligarchy stand it?