The Pandemic Safety Net Is Coming Apart. Now What?

The eviction moratorium expires at the end of the month. Unemployment enhancements after that. And then the student loan pause, food stamp provisions and more. Here’s advice on how to cope.

One by one, pandemic relief programs that financially supported millions of Americans are going away. With legislative packages worth trillions of dollars, the federal government wove a temporary safety net that provided help for people dealing with lockdowns, job losses and worse. But many of the most far-reaching protections, including eviction moratoriums and expanded unemployment benefits, are about to expire. Provisions affecting student loans, food stamps and more are scheduled to follow in the coming months. It’s not all bad: This month, millions of households are receiving the first of six monthly payments that are part of an expanded child tax credit. But if you rely on any of the programs that are going away, this is an anxious time.