Video: South Africa's 'ticking time bomb'

From Al Jazeera, a video about rising unemploymemt in South Africa.

More people on US government assistance than ever before

More people in the US than ever before are using government assistance programs. Food stamps, medicare and similar programs expanded to help more people during the economic recession and there are no signs of the rolls shrinking.

From USA Today, writer Richard Wolf breaks down the numbers and looks into what it means for the US economy.

More than 50 million Americans are on Medicaid, the federal-state program aimed principally at the poor, a survey of state data by USA TODAY shows. That's up at least 17% since the recession began in December 2007.

"Virtually every Medicaid director in the country would say that their current enrollment is the highest on record," says Vernon Smith of Health Management Associates, which surveys states for Kaiser Family Foundation.

The program has grown even before the new health care law adds about 16 million people, beginning in 2014. That has strained doctors. "Private physicians are already indicating that they're at their limit," says Dan Hawkins of the National Association of Community Health Centers.

More than 40 million people get food stamps, an increase of nearly 50% during the economic downturn, according to government data through May. The program has grown steadily for three years.

Caseloads have risen as more people become eligible. The economic stimulus law signed by President Obama last year also boosted benefits.
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Close to 10 million receive unemployment insurance, nearly four times the number from 2007. Benefits have been extended by Congress eight times beyond the basic 26-week program, enabling the long-term unemployed to get up to 99 weeks of benefits. Caseloads peaked at nearly 12 million in January — "the highest numbers on record," says Christine Riordan of the National Employment Law Project, which advocates for low-wage workers.

One mother's eviction story makes news in Toronto

The story of mother's possible eviction from her apartment is receiving the attention of the media in Toronto.

Bsra Nor had unemployment insurance benefits taken away from her by the Toronto city government, so she is unable to afford her rent. Her husband lives in the states and is not supporting her financially. Social service advocates are storming city hall to plea Nor's case before she gets evicted.

From Rabble, writer John Bonnar describes Nor's situation.

Bsra Nor’s payments were stopped at the beginning of April after Social Services told her the week before that she no longer qualified for Ontario Works because she is married, even though her situation had remained unchanged since she started receiving benefits almost a year ago.

“I told them from the beginning that I’m married and at my six month interview when I went to update everything was okay,” said Nor. “My husband is not supporting me financially, but now social services wants my husband to come in and sign documents saying that we’re a family.”

Nor was married in Toronto but her husband resides in the United States, where he is still applying for sponsorship to live in Canada.

She said that once the sponsorship process has begun it is illegal to try and enter the country. But without his presence, Nor has been told she can’t continue to receive social assistance.

In the meantime, Nor’s landlord has told her that if she doesn’t pay April’s rent before the end of the month she has to vacate her unit.

“He’s been nice to me for waiting for the last month,” she said. “I don’t know where to go.”

Nor’s mother, who sponsored her eight years ago when she first came to Canada, has a small home and six children living with her. So there’s no room for Nor and her 10-month-old baby boy.

If she were single, Nor said she would couch surf until she can find something permanent. “But since I have a kid I cannot do that,” said the 21-year-old.

Jobless benefits begin to expire

Something is coming along the horizon that could put a further drag on the economy. U.S. unemployment insurance benefits are beginning to run out on those who were laid off early in the recession. Many people receiving jobless benefits have been looking for jobs, but have been unable to find any. State and federal governments are considering extending jobless benefits due to the poor economy.

From the http://www.ajc.com writer Michael E. Kanell gives us more on jobless benefits drying up.

Advocates have called for Congress to pass another extension, an idea that has some bipartisan support. Several bills to extend the benefits were introduced just before Congress took its August recess.

More than 6 million Americans are receiving unemployment benefits, although there are about 15 million officially jobless. In Georgia, only about 60 percent of the half-million jobless receive benefits. Others were not eligible because they quit or were fired, because they have stopped looking for work or were self-employed. Some already exhausted their benefits.

Unemployment checks are calculated from the worker’s former earnings, with a cap of $330 a week. A $25-a-week boost was added by this year’s federal stimulus package.

As more of the unemployed reach the end of their checks, “I think we will see more foreclosures, more descent into poverty,” said Heidi Shierholz, senior economist for the Economic Policy Institute.

The end of benefits also removes a stream of spending that aids the economy, she said.

“The money goes to people who are the most cash-strapped. These people have no choice but to go out and spend that money.”

The federal extension injects nearly $1 billion a week into the economy, according to a report by the National Employment Law Project.

In Georgia, 13,844 people will lose their federally-funded benefits during September, according to the NELP report. By the end of the year, 58,887 Georgians and 1.33 million Americans will have reached that destination.