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Is There Unemployment for Self Employed People?

Under normal circumstances, or at least any time before the spring of 2020, the short answer to that question would have been “Not really.”

Then COVID-19 happened, and with it, trillions in federal government aid and financial protection affected the way unemployment benefits were distributed for self-employed workers.

Some of that coronavirus aid went to the CARES Act, which funded unemployment programs like the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program. Self-employed people were eligible for PUA, meaning states could pay benefits to gig workers, independent contractors, and other self-employed people out of work for up to 39 weeks, giving them an extra $600-per-week.

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