"It's getting
harder and harder to afford even the routine daily expenses like gas and child
care."
Robert Literman is
dreading the arrival of the heating bill.
Temperatures have
plummeted in recent weeks in New England and, in tandem, gas, electric, and oil
bills will inevitably rise. Literman is not a federal employee, but his income
has been cut off as a result of the ongoing government shutdown, which, this
week, became the longest in U.S. history, at 26 days.
As a post-doctoral
fellow working at the University of Rhode Island, Literman’s fellowship is
funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), one of the dozens of federal
agencies that are closed during the shutdown.
Until a funding bill is passed, Literman cannot draw a salary. He has stopped commuting to the university as much as possible to save money on gas, but most of his family’s expenses are fixed, so there are few corners to cut.
Until a funding bill is passed, Literman cannot draw a salary. He has stopped commuting to the university as much as possible to save money on gas, but most of his family’s expenses are fixed, so there are few corners to cut.
“What’s unexpected is the oscillation between anger and embarrassment,” Literman told ThinkProgress. “The uncertainty as to when this will end is the biggest source of anxiety.”
It is hard to know how
many Americans are directly affected by the shutdown, as federal grant
recipients like Literman are not counted among the 800,000 federal employees
who are currently working without pay or are furloughed.
With no end in sight for the shutdown — which began over demands from President Donald Trump that Congress fund a $5 billion wall along the U.S.-Mexico border — thousands of New England federal workers are trying to cope with their sudden, indefinite loss of income.
With no end in sight for the shutdown — which began over demands from President Donald Trump that Congress fund a $5 billion wall along the U.S.-Mexico border — thousands of New England federal workers are trying to cope with their sudden, indefinite loss of income.
Last week, dozens of
federal employees took to Boston’s Post Office Square to protest the shutdown, in a rally organized by the
American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Union, which is responsible
for the Boston metro area, New Hampshire, and Maine.
“We had personnel across
all kinds of agencies come out, and even a recipient of [Housing and Urban
Development] services who is being impacted by the shutdown,” said Valyria
Lewis, a national representative for AFGE.
“We are going to continue to have these rallies, we are not going to quietly go away. We want to get the word out that we are not in agreement with the shutdown.”
“We are going to continue to have these rallies, we are not going to quietly go away. We want to get the word out that we are not in agreement with the shutdown.”
The vast majority
— 79 percent — of federal workers live and
work outside the D.C. metro area. In the six states that make up New
England, more than 14,000 federal employees are
either furloughed or working without pay.
That includes Natasha Richey’s husband, a 12-year veteran of the Coast Guard currently stationed near Portsmouth, NH. The Coast Guard is administered under the Department of Homeland Security, which is currently affected by the shutdown, making it the only military branch whose active-duty members are not being paid.
That includes Natasha Richey’s husband, a 12-year veteran of the Coast Guard currently stationed near Portsmouth, NH. The Coast Guard is administered under the Department of Homeland Security, which is currently affected by the shutdown, making it the only military branch whose active-duty members are not being paid.
The Richey family have
been contacting creditors to try to defer payments and may have to take out a
loan to cover some expenses. The shutdown has taken a toll on their credit, so
Ms. Richey is not sure they will be approved. In the meantime, she is trying to
save money on gas and co-pays by delaying doctors appointments for her son, who
needs to see a specialist several hours away on a regular basis.
Numbering more than 4,000, active duty Coast Guard make up more than a quarter of federal employees in New England who are currently without an income. Throughout the region, food pantries have opened to support Coast Guard families.
On the first day of its opening, 400 Coast Guard families visited a pop-up food pantry in Boston, organized by the Massachusetts Military Support Foundation.
“I’ve been with the government since the shutdowns started to happen, but this is the first one that has affected our paychecks.”
Employees at the Bureau
of Prisons and Federal Aviation Administration are working without pay. Tara
Bales, a corrections officer at the Federal Correctional Institute in Berlin,
NH, has relied on low interest loans and food banks to get by, but she is still
struggling to make ends meet.
“It’s getting harder and
harder to afford even the routine daily expenses like gas and child care,”
Bales told ThinkProgress. “Expenses are piling up, bills are coming due … With
the cold reaching -15 degrees plus windchill, people are running through
heating oil like water, without having the means to purchase more.”
For Jeffery Davis, an
air traffic controller at Boston’s Logan Airport, the shutdown has been
especially difficult given his financial responsibilities as a single father of
three.
He is one of 14,000 air traffic controllers nationwide who have to report to work without pay, making it nearly impossible for him to make his child support and alimony payments. Davis has taken to GoFundMe to raise money as a stopgap measure.
He is one of 14,000 air traffic controllers nationwide who have to report to work without pay, making it nearly impossible for him to make his child support and alimony payments. Davis has taken to GoFundMe to raise money as a stopgap measure.
“It’s a really big
burden not having anything coming in,” he said. “I’ve been with the government
since the shutdowns started to happen, but this is the first one that has
affected our paychecks.”
Nafis White has also
turned to crowdfunding to make up for lost income during the shutdown. White is
a multimedia sculptor from Rhode Island who was chosen to be the artist in
residence at the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, which is part of
the National Park service.
In exchange for a stipend and studio space, White was tasked with creating artwork and programming to engage the local community. She’s making do in the meantime, carving out space to create in her small sublet, but is concerned about the furloughed park employees.
In exchange for a stipend and studio space, White was tasked with creating artwork and programming to engage the local community. She’s making do in the meantime, carving out space to create in her small sublet, but is concerned about the furloughed park employees.
“I remember one of the
Rangers saying that a shutdown would be disastrous to both staff and
volunteers,” White said, referring to a meeting that took place prior to the
shutdown. “I was told that some people lived paycheck to paycheck and that they
did the job they loved and were invested despite the humble salary.”
Alfie Paul, director of
operations at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) branch in
Boston, can likely relate. Paul is also furloughed, along with his entire staff
and while he says he’s not struggling financially at the moment, he is sure
many members of his staff are hurting.
“Everyday people who
don’t work for the federal government need to make their voices heard,” Paul
said. “This is affecting real people. We are real people doing services for the
American public. Everything that all of us do has some effect on other people’s
lives.”
Claire Sadar is a
freelance journalist who covers Turkey, Muslim Americans, religion, and human
rights issues.