The reasoning goes that those on unemployment insurance receiving the extra $600 a week in addition are, or have become, less inclined to seek work because they are earning more than when they were working. Using this reasoning, those unemployed have received far too much as it is, and so as another round of relief (which is clearly needed) is considered, less money or none at all would bolster a renewed effort to look for work.
I admittedly simplified that reasoning…a lot. I take issue with it.
At the beginning of this year, and for two years previous, I have been working two jobs–one full time, the other part-time. Right up until the nation pretty much shut down and I was furloughed. I’ve never worked anywhere where layoffs are expected, like an airline or a newspaper outlet, so this ‘furlough’ thing was very new to me. ‘Unemployment Insurance’?…that was for unemployed people…unemployable people…lazy people! I know I am not the only one that had those thoughts!
Enter the first round of stimulus under the CARES Act, and the extra $600 per week to supplement the unemployment insurance that I now had to file as a newly unemployed person. I was highly skeptical before receiving this money. First, I was skeptical that I would receive it at all, as SO many have STILL not received. Second, other than the tax bill to come, I thought that somewhere lurking were the inevitable ‘strings attached’. When none of that came to fruition, as I was able to sign up on the state website and certify every two weeks, and receive the allotment in my accounts, my skepticism slowly subsided, giving way to more questions: why is anybody being forced to work during this pandemic for which there is no cure or vaccine?…why would anybody CHOOSE to work during this pandemic for which there is no cure or vaccine?…why do people think that that extra $600 gives anyone an incentive to not work, when one of the conditions on the rules and regulations documents of any state unemployment (I would think!) states that one must actively be seeking work, or explain why one cannot accept work, and more so, that the extra $600 was scheduled to end (although it very much should be extended)? That extra $600 per week was one of the very few things in my opinion, as far as governance, that Congress has gotten right. I will not be deterred to think otherwise. Now, Congress, or some members at least, wants to take it away.
That extra $600 per week, by the way, amounts to $15 per hour, for a 40-hour workweek.
I remember the arguments a few years back about increasing the minimum wage. Corporations were reported as saying that if forced to pay a minimum wage of $15/hour, they would have to consider employing robots, which says a lot to me about how valuable humans are to some…
I feel (strongly) that receiving that extra $600 per week, which enabled millions to stay current with rent, mortgage, utilities, and other debts, actually keep food on their tables, and maybe even SAVE money for a rainy day, empowered rat race participants to FINALLY see their worth…their value. These people were able to finally see that their hard work, and their tireless efforts at maintaining and demonstrating responsibility, ARE of value! These unemployed, both newly and veteran, have finally been shown that they do not have to accept the scraps that their employers have been feeding them for years, and more importantly, that employers–these “creators of jobs”–CAN do better in rewarding the hard work of those they employ. Otherwise, why would they be in business if they can’t adequately compensate for work performed?
So, I think some in Congress (and their providers) have a right to be scared about the unemployed who receive the extra $600 per week not wanting to look for work. They are not concerned about human nature reverting to do-nothing status for pay. They are not concerned about ‘socialism’, where everyone supposedly gets a handout for doing nothing. They are more concerned that these individuals, who know what it’s like to actually struggle and juggle a job (or two, or three) that–let’s face it–doesn’t even begin to keep up with the cost of living anymore, are finally starting to see that their struggle, this rat race, is worth far more than anything Congress can give. They don’t (I don’t think they should) have to settle for work that pays far less than they were making, with zero guarantees for their health and safety in the height of a pandemic. Now, survival being what it needs to be, one does what one must with the resources given (or not given), but I think a lot more Americans know now that there is a better way. We have had a small glimpse of it…at least until July 31, anyway.
On a slightly related aside, I am in marvel of the amount of dollar contributions political candidates receive. I am deliberately leaving out the amount of salaries sports figures receive…or the cost of a new F-35 fighter jet…
Henry Matthew Benison 