Question by wicca1971: What happens to your unemployment benefits if you become pregnant while collecting?
I just recently lost my job and will be collecting unemployment. My husband and I have been trying to have a second baby (I may be pregnant now) and I’m wondering how that may affect my unemployment?
If I am pregnant it will be very difficult for me to find a job. Will my unemployment benefits be taken away? Will they be extended for the time of my pregnancy?
Best answer:
Answer by Andrea
Unemployment rules vary by state (assuming you are in the US) and since you don’t say where you live, it’s hard to answer your question accurately. I suggest you go to your state’s website and look for the section about unemployment benefits. They may have the answer there.
Add your own answer in the comments!
Unless you become unable to work at some point in your pregnancy, your benefits should continue as long as you continue to look for work.
It is against the law to discriminate in hiring if you are pregnant… therefore, it would Stand to reason that it is against the law to withhold unemployment benefits solely due to your possible pregnancy… HOWEVER, since you DO have to answer questions to Unemployment as to your AVAILABILITY TO WORK as a condition to continue to receive unemployment benefits, as long as there are no complications from your pregnancy, then your unemployment benefits will continue throughout the pregnancy as long as you are STILL willing and able to work during that time…(you cannot be turned down for a job due to being PREGNANT… it’s the law. so don’t try using it to get OUT of obtaining work either.
No, to both questions. If your pregnancy makes it physically impossible for you to work or physically impossible for you to look for work (including because your physician has ordered you to stay in bed all day or because your morning sickness is too severe to drive to work), then you cannot collect unemployment benefits, but may qualify for disability benefits. If you are physically capable of working, but all employers in your area are unwilling to hire you because they are discriminating against pregnant women (which is illegal, but that is another issue), then you continue to qualify for unemployment for the same amount of time as if you were not pregnant, or until the baby is born.
Once the baby is born, you cannot collect unemployment if you are unavailable for work, or to look for work, due to child care responsibilities. If the child is in day care, you remain qualified for the same amount of time as if you had not had a baby. Similarly, if you someone to babysit while you look for work, and you have made arrangements so that you can begin work as soon as you find work (for example, getting your mother to agree to watch the baby until you can hire a nanny), then you remain qualified for the same amount of time as if you had not had a baby.
It won’t affect benefits at all. You have to try to continue looking for work. They don’t extend the time, because you’re pregnant.
nothing hopefully