Unemployment cliff: 4.2 million gig workers will soon lose jobless aid

The nation's 59 million self-employed workers got a lifeline last year when lawmakers created the first-ever program that extended jobless benefits to this growing group of workers. But that program, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), will end on September 6, once again placing unemployment benefits out of reach for these workers.

About 4.2 million people on the PUA program will lose benefits after September 6, according to a new analysis from the Century Foundation, a left-leaning think tank. (The program officially ends September 6 — Labor Day — but the final payment date is September 4 in some states.) The PUA's end also comes at a time when the economic recovery in some regions appears increasingly fragile given resurgent cases of COVID-19 amid the rapidly spreading Delta variant.  The PUA program provided aid to gig workers — as varied as actors, house cleaners, drivers and tech contractors — who are considered self-employed and thus aren't on a company's payroll, locking them out of traditional employee benefits including unemployment aid. Although demographic information isn't available on PUA recipients, experts say it's likely that women and people of color are overrepresented, given that these workers are often employed in nontraditional jobs because of issues such as child-care demands.