Long-Term Jobless Face Tough Choices as States Cut Off Benefits

Getting back to work hasn’t gone as planned for Douglas Vernon after the Covid-19 pandemic shut down the Georgia resident’s independent business as a chef consultant.

Before the pandemic, Vernon helped restaurants in Savannah and Hilton Head, S.C., that didn’t have a chef in house develop recipes and pricing, and he was earning about $135,000 a year. The virus took that work away, leaving him with $665 per week in federally funded benefits from programs Congress created in response to the pandemic, a fraction of his former pay.

Now, Georgia has ended those benefits for Vernon and other jobless residents. ...