Sign our letter now calling on Congress to #SaveUI!
[ [link removed] ]Take Action Now
[ [link removed] ]SIGN NOW

Dear Friend,

Talk about fake news—the Republican governors of 22 states (and counting)
have outrageously decided to stop federal unemployment payments to
unemployed workers, citing the false idea that the economy is “roaring
back” and people are staying home for no good reason.[ [link removed] ]

As if! (And we wish!!)

We know this Republican talking point isn’t true and that the pandemic
crisis is far from over. In fact, in the latest data on job openings,
there were nearly 40% more unemployed workers than job openings overall,
and more than 80% more unemployed workers than job openings in the leisure
and hospitality sector. [ [link removed] ] Taking away a $300/month bump in unemployment
benefits  will only serve to harm struggling families and our economy.

[1]***SIGN OUR LETTER NOW to call on Congress to protect unemployed
workers and continue increased and expanded benefits for struggling
families!

Here’s what’s going on: Republican governors in 22 states have cruelly
(and ridiculously) decided to end the $300/month boost in federal
unemployment benefits, as well as end the expanded eligibility for federal
benefits that covered workers normally left out of the unemployment
program, a decision that will disproportionately harm women and people of
color; as it also harms our economy. To be clear—these benefits weren’t
costing the states a dime and not only lift families but are key economic
stimulus funds. All the funding for the program came from the federal
government and was already passed in the last COVID package.

At risk here is the unemployment benefits of more than 3.5 million
workers, costing the economy tens of billions of lost dollars! [ [link removed] ]

The reality is the economy is in a period of adjustment – you don’t just
flip a switch and everything goes back to normal.  There will be fits and
starts as the economy reopens and we shouldn’t make rash and draconian
decisions that will have long-term consequences for struggling families
and businesses. The US economy is still down more than 8 million jobs
since pre-pandemic. And women, especially those of childbearing age,
continue to be forced out of the workforce in record numbers. [ [link removed] ]

[2]Our families need unemployment benefits to make ends meet! SIGN our
letter now and tell Congress to take immediate action to save Unemployment
Insurance (UI)!

We’ve heard from tens of thousands of MomsRising members and the reasons
they have not returned to work is because their job are no longer
available or the jobs available are not good ones (with living wages and
benefits) or are unsafe or they still have caretaking responsibilities
with childcare centers and schools still closed….or some combination of
all of these things.

This pandemic has been rough on moms, with compounded health and economic
harms experienced by moms of color—in the past year, 32% of women aged
25-34 were pushed out of the labor force due to a lack of childcare,
proving how essential a strong care infrastructure is to the U.S. job
market. In 2020, more than 2.3 million women lost their jobs —over 600,000
are Black; 618,000 are Latina. [ [link removed] ]

And while things are starting to get better, we are not in a full recovery
yet. Far from it. Vaccines only recently became widely available and so
many workers are still awaiting full immunity over the next few months.
School-age care – both for hybrid and online learning options – is still
scarce, making it difficult for parents to find stable work. Childcare
relief funding is making its way to providers, but we’re still down 1 in 7
childcare jobs since the start of the pandemic – putting parents,
especially mothers – in the impossible bind of seeking work without
available childcare.

[3]This is all the more reason that our families STILL need strong federal
unemployment benefits! The action being taken by Republican governors
around the country is harmful to struggling families and our economy!

***Tell your members of Congress: Protect unemployment benefits now! SIGN
OUR LETTER!

Until the care economy is robustly funded and fully respected—including
paid leave for all, universal childcare, raising the minimum wage,
protections for home health workers, and permanent expansion of the Child
Tax Credit—then the full economy will not be able to recover because women
will still be in a bind and unable to return fully to work.

This is all the more reason why unemployment benefits are so vital.

And there are real consequences to taking away federal unemployment
benefits, especially so quickly (many states are saying the benefits will
end sometime in June). The National Employment Law Project (NELP) found
that benefit cliffs—the abrupt reduction or loss of a public benefit—lead
to higher rates of food and housing insecurity, disproportionately
affecting families of color the most.

When the extended federal benefit programs were allowed to lapse on
December 26, 2020, it shortchanged jobless workers by about $17.6 billion
in benefits for the first four weeks in January 2021—38% less than these
workers were due to receive. During this time, 72% said they had trouble
meeting basic household expenses, and 31% reported not having enough money
to pay for food. Around 4.7 million people were behind on rent, and for
4.8 million people (including 1.3 million children) UI benefits were the
only thing keeping them out of poverty. [ [link removed] ]

Struggling families have been through enough in the past year—needlessly
losing unemployment benefits (again!) will put too many families at risk
of hunger, homelessness, and more. After you [4]sign our letter forward
this email to your friends and family so they can take action as well. We
need to speak out now to prevent any further cut off of benefits!

Thank you for continuing to speak out on behalf of our families and our
economy.

-Elyssa, Donna, Hanna, Kristin and the entire MomsRising/ MamásConPoder
Team

P.S. Are you one of the workers at risk of losing your unemployment
benefits? If so, we want to hear from YOU! Share your story with
MomsRising [5]here.

 

[1,3] [6]Business Insider. “3.5 million workers are at risk of losing
their unemployment benefits as Republican governors cut pandemic aid.” May
18, 2021.

[2] [ [link removed] ]EPI. “U.S. labor shortage? Unlikely. Here’s Why.” May 4, 2021.

[4] [ [link removed] ]Business Insider. “The April jobs report shows women are still
struggling.” May 7, 2021.

[5] [ [link removed] ]National Women’s Law Center. “A Year of Strength and Loss.” , March
2021.

[6] [ [link removed] ]NELP. “Slashing unemployment benefit weeks on jobless rates hurts
workers of color.”

 


--------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ [link removed] ]Vote     [ [link removed] ]Facebook     [ [link removed] ]Twitter     [ [link removed] ]Radio     [ [link removed] ]Donate     

[ [link removed] ]Register to vote! / [ [link removed] ]¡Regístrese para votar!

[ [link removed] ]Join our Spanish language community, MamásConPoder.org

What should MomsRising tackle next? [ [link removed] ]Tell us!



You can unsubscribe from this mailing list at any time:
[link removed]