How the government shutdown is affecting Americans

Just before Christmas, Jessica Caraballo and her husband got the break they had long worked for.

In their three-year marriage, the 31-year-old and her husband, Shalique, have gotten job after job trying to support their children. She has driven for Uber, he embalmed bodies at an Atlanta funeral home, and she worked all night at a Walmart store.

It was just last month when things finally appeared to be falling into place. Caraballo, a Transportation Security Administration officer at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, was promoted to a full-time position and her husband got a new job selling cars.

Buying a home, getting a second car and even just enrolling their three children in extracurricular activities at school would now be more than just dreams, they said.

But their joy lasted only a few days.

The partial government shutdown left Caraballo and 420,000 other federal workers across the country forced to work without a paycheck. Two weeks have passed and dozens of families like the Caraballos have put their lives on hold.

"Rent is due, light bill, gas bill, my car bill is due the 26th," Caraballo said. "I already got my last paycheck and there's no paycheck to come."

Read the full story here.

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