Opinion: The argument for cutting the $600 unemployment benefit doesn't add up

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'A focus on the replacement rate — how much of workers' previous income is covered by their unemployment benefits — reinforces counterproductive, damaging ideas about how the economy and the labor market actually work,' writes Michael Linden | Perspectives

Michael Linden is the executive director of the Groundwork Collaborative and a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own.

.leftside-floating-image { width:100%; display:block; margin:0 auto 1.5rem; } @media screen and { .leftside-floating-image { float:left; width:50%; max-width: 200px; display:block; margin:0 1.5rem 1rem 0; } } Earlier this week, Senate Republicans unveiled their stimulus proposal to help Americans who continue to suffer from the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Conservatives in the Trump administration and in Congress say the current unemployment insurance benefit is too generous, and may even be discouraging people from going back to work. It is true that for many people who have lost their jobs, their unemployment benefits are, thanks to the $600 boost, greater than their wages were while they were employed, according to a working paper from the Becker Friedman Institute.

The results of these studies may seem counter-intuitive. After all, if the income that someone gets while unemployed really is higher than the wages that they would be making at their job, how could that not discourage people from working? Well, there are several reasons why this intuition is wrong.Read MoreIt's important to note that under many state unemployment insurance systems, a recipient could lose their benefits entirely if they"refuse an offer of suitable work.

 

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AlexandraErin CrueltyIsAlwaysTheirPoint EatTheRich ShitholePresident

The point is we are giving people incentives not to go back to work when we should be giving incentives for people who are working - esp working parents. It’s easy to show I applied to X number of jobs a week and tell you no one called me back. Check a box = $600 for another week

And I'm sure Michael Linden isn't worrying too much about his replacement rate....considering what he does for a living creates zero jobs, zero innovation & zero dollars of real GDP. Fire 95% of useless journalists & give their inflated salaries to avg Americans

Oh and also

DavidTexBrandon

Stupefying analysis -- i know people who are in no hurry to work for less than unemployment benefits. Nice try though, I'm sure you sucked in some CNN viewers.

Also

No, its because pay is too low normally, we have no raises, pay has been stagnant since the 90s. Is it any wonder retail sales soared during this. People suddenly had disposable income. People WANT to buy things. Now they're back at work making less and depressed again.

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California could create its own $600 weekly unemployment benefitAssemblyman Phil Ting said there is support for providing up to $600 weekly to jobless Californians 😂😂😂 As if Cali’s taxes weren’t high enough. $600 in CA is like $81.50 compared to the Midwest.
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GOP unemployment plan hurts these groups the mostThe Senate Republican plan to replace the $600 weekly boost to unemployment benefits will hit some groups harder than others. The people not working. Compared to NYGovCuomo's plan of no one ever works again, it is quite generous America wins with this proposal.
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Most swing state voters support extending $600 weekly unemployment benefit, CNBC/Change Research poll findsVoters back an unemployment extension, direct payments and state and local aid in the coronavirus bill, the CNBC/Change Research poll found. ChangePolls Ya I never want to work again either. Just loot and pillage and get 600 a week ChangePolls i bet if it was a $1,000, $1,500 or whatever. its free ChangePolls Question: Would you like $600.00? Answer: Yes ...never would have guessed.🙄
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$600 federal unemployment benefit will expire on Friday without a deal - Business InsiderBusiness Insider is a fast-growing business site with deep financial, media, tech, and other industry verticals. Launched in 2007, the site is now the largest business news site on the web. Just like the fiscal cliff a year or two ago. It's the exact same exercise. But, here, a new FBI building or military planes are not needed. Defence is very important but not during public health and economic crises. Those must be solved first. Sad and disgusting. Vote Blue!
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$600 unemployment benefit boosts economy tooThe extra $600 a week that Congress gave to the millions of Americans who lost their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic didn't only allow them to pay the rent and feed their families. It played a big role in keeping the US economy afloat during the steepest downturn on record. Printing money with no backing . . . Fuck it, print me a million, I got some bills to pay and sports cars to buy. You hear a lot of people complaining about $600 unemployment benefits, but you do not hear that many people complaining about giving BILLIONS of dollars to corporations. WearAMask Giving money to poor people that need to spend it helps the economy more than giving it to multi-millionaires? Someone tell the GOP, stat!
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More Americans file for unemployment as extra $600 benefit ends and COVID-19 surgesThe number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose again last week, as the economy stalled amid surges of the coronavirus, and extra help from the federal government came to an end. HELP senatemajldr GOP realDonaldTrump VP So, what we're seeing is, when the Republicans force places to open up in order to see some recovery in the economy, so that they can look better for the election, there inevitably follows an increased death rate. Which closes down the econony again. Tackle the virus first.
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