- Federal budget standoff is nerve-racking for state’s long-term jobless, By Marc Lifsher, November 28, 2012, Los Angeles Times: “The federal budget crisis in Washington known as the ‘fiscal cliff’ has an estimated 400,000 long-term jobless Californians on the edge. A 41/2 -year-old program of emergency federal jobless assistance, which provides many of the state’s unemployed up to $450 a week in benefits, is scheduled to expire Dec. 29 — unless Congress and President Obama agree to keep it going. Nationwide, about 2 million people face a cutoff in unemployment benefits, estimated to cost $30 billion in the coming year. An additional 1 million jobless workers are expected to lose state benefits by March…”
- 45,000 Massachusetts residents could lose federal unemployment insurance benefits in December, By Shira Schoenberg, November 27, 2012, Springfield Republican: “The state Division of Unemployment Assistance has notified 45,000 Massachusetts residents that their unemployment benefits will end at the end of the year, if Congress does not act. Michelle Amante, acting director of the Division of Unemployment Assistance, said the division sent out letters to beneficiaries on Monday and Tuesday. The change will affect anyone who is currently receiving federal extension benefits…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty