Gig workers and self-employed keep waiting for jobless aid

Gig workers and self-employed keep waiting for jobless aid

WASHINGTON (AP) — Like many Americans cooped up during the virus outbreak, Jeff Kardesch of Austin, Texas, is spending a lot of time on social media. It isn’t just idle talk with friends. Kardesch is struggling to find out when he’ll receive the unemployment benefits he needs.

His business as a self-employed film and commercial producer evaporated once Austin canceled the annual South by Southwest festival in early March. Since then, no other work has replaced it.

Yet because Kardesch is self-employed, it’s a headache for him to obtain unemployment aid — or even figure out when he will. A new federal relief package made freelancers like him eligible for unemployment benefits for the first time. But Texas, like most states, has had to establish a new system to process these new claims and distribute the money.

Kardesch, 23, applied in late March. He was quickly turned down. He has since reapplied. No luck.

“It’s really frustrating,” Kardesch said. “Nothing so far has really worked. The most I can do is just apply, get rejected and stay in the system.”

Source: Gig workers and self-employed keep waiting for jobless aid

Gig Economics

The article was originally published here!