2M lose jobless benefits as holidays arrive

Associated Press

Extended unemployment benefits for nearly 2 million Americans begin to run out today, cutting off a steady stream of income and guaranteeing a dismal holiday season for people already struggling with bills they cannot pay.

Unless Congress changes its mind, benefits that had been extended up to 99 weeks will end this month.

That means Christmas is out of the question for Wayne Pittman, 46, of Lawrenceville, Ga., and his wife and 9-year-old son. The carpenter was working up to 80 hours a week at the beginning of the decade but saw that gradually drop to 15 hours before it dried up completely. His last $297 check will go to necessities, not presents.

“I have a little boy, and that’s kind of hard to explain to him,” Pittman said.

The average weekly unemployment benefit in the U.S. is $302.90, though it varies widely depending on how states calculate the payment. Because of supplemental state programs and other factors, it’s hard to know for sure who will lose their benefits at any given time. But the Labor Department estimates that, without a Congress-approved extension, about 2 million people will be cut off by Christmas.

Congressional opponents of extending the benefits beyond this month say fiscal responsibility should come first. Republicans in the House and Senate, along with a handful of conservative Democrats, say they’re open to extending benefits but not if it means adding to the $13.8 trillion national debt.

Even if Congress does lengthen benefits, cash assistance is at best a stopgap measure, said Carol Hardison, executive director of Crisis Assistance Ministry in Charlotte, N.C., which has seen 20,000 new clients since the Great Recession started in December 2007.

Forget Christmas presents. What the so-called “99ers” want most of all is what remains elusive in the worst economy in generations: a job.

Shawn Slonsky’s three children aren’t expecting much either. The 44-year-old union electrician in Northeast Ohio won’t be able to afford presents or even a Christmas tree.

His sons and daughter haven’t bothered to send him holiday wish lists with the latest gizmos and gadgets.

Things used to be different. Before work dried up, Slonsky earned about $100,000 a year, and he and his wife lived in a three-bedroom house where deer meandered through the backyard. For Christmas, he bought his aspiring doctor daughter medical books, a guitar, a unicycle.

Then he and his wife lost their jobs. Their house went into foreclosure, and they had to move in with his 73-year-old father.

Now, Slonsky is dreading the holidays as he tries to stretch his last unemployment check to cover child support, gas, groceries and utilities.

“You don’t even get in the frame of mind for Christmas when things are bad,” he said. “It’s hard to be in a jovial mood all the time when you’ve got this storm cloud hanging over your head.”