SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) — Self-employed people and others who don’t qualify for unemployment benefits are not counted in official government data on unemployment, but in some cases they face the greatest barriers to survival amid the COVID-19 pandemic due to difficulty obtaining financial help.These uncounted, unofficially unemployed workers are suffering from a loss of income but do not have easy access to government assistance, and some are turning to charities, families or friends for help.
The high number of uncounted unemployed people has led government officials to understate the depth of the employment challenges in South Dakota and the nation, and could have implications in regard to creation of emergency programs or funding initiatives to aid those who have lost their livelihoods.
The ability to craft meaningful, well-targeted assistance programs is also hampered by a lack of data collection by government agencies, including in South Dakota, where officials don’t track unemployment by age, gender, race, industry or location.
In the latest package published by News Watch, available here, reporter Nick Lowrey shows how many unemployed people are struggling to get help and have suddenly joined the ranks of the needy in South Dakota.
