"Trying to get by: As COVID-19 spreads, workers scramble"

“HOLYOKE — When schools and museums announced they were closing to stem the spread of the new coronavirus sweeping the globe, that alarmed Anne Thalheimer.

As an art educator, Thalheimer said she is ‘the very model of the modern gig economy,’ cobbling together part-time jobs to make ends meet. But some of those jobs have now dried up, leaving her without a large portion of her income. Thalheimer also works as a personal care assistant, or PCA, but that job is one that puts people the most at risk for contracting the virus, according to Department of Labor data compiled by The New York Times.

‘The PCA gig means I’ll still be able to pay rent, but nothing else,’ Thalheimer said Tuesday. ‘Which is horrifying.’”

NewspaperGuest UserMarch 18, 2020COVID-19, Unemployment, Alicia Fleming

"Millionaires in MA Are Collecting Unemployment Benefits"

“Federal tax data shows that millionaires and other high income earners have been collecting tax benefits just like the rest of the world.

For the most recent year available, 2011, the IRS reports that 189 millionaires had received unemployment benefits, accounting for $2.4 million. 49,302 people who had made $100,000 or more in the same year accounted for $532.6 million in unemployment benefits, accounting for 15-percent of all unemployment cases.

‘Unemployment insurance is not an entitlement program so earnings, race, gender, etc. are not factors for eligibility,’ said Ann Dufresne, the Communications Director for the Massachusetts Department of Labor and Workforce Development. ‘Anyone who has lost their job through no fault of their own can apply for unemployment benefits.’”

NewspaperGuest UserMay 24, 2014Unemployment, Income Inequality