Editor’s Note: This is the first installment of “Our Stories,” a new WOW Dems series dedicated to telling personal stories related to the critical issues of our time – beginning with the COVID-19 crisis. This story comes from a Long Island woman who, along with her husband, finds herself newly unemployed due to COVID-19. Share your personal story at communications@wowdems.org.
My husband and I are unemployed! I have a masters degree and four teaching certifications, but the preschool/daycare I was working at (as a 1099 independent contractor – I didn’t work full time because we have a young son to care for) was closed due to coronavirus. Everything is closed. There are no jobs.
I was told I might not get unemployment and had to send my 1099 stuff from last year. The unemployment office fax doesn’t work so I snail mailed it. I called at 8 a.m. and it took over an hour for them to say I don’t qualify. I might get to go back and try again in 2 weeks. My husband was laid off from his main job at a warehouse – the job that carried our health insurance. He has his own sideline photography business, but there’s very little demand for that right now. What’s more, what he reported as income from his photo business might interfere with his unemployment eligibility.
We’ll have to live off our tax refund, which was supposed to go toward my car lease. That’ll be gone. My parents can help us, but who wants that? We were already in financial quicksand and now we’re even more sunk.
I’m waiting to see if can get work. Me going back to work is our only hope at this point. I’m waiting to see if they re-open, but who knows?
It is really, really bad.
– Wife, mother, and teacher, Long Island, NY