Over 25M to Take Hit If $600 Unemployment Bonus Isn’t Extended
Over 25 million jobless workers will take a financial hit at the end of this month if Congress refuses to extend the $600 enhanced unemployment benefit, according to a report from The Century Foundation, a liberal think tank.
The payment was part of the March CARES Act and is scheduled to expire on July 26. The Democratic House passed legislation in May that would extend the program into next year. The Republican Senate has not yet acted on that or other legislation.
The weekly $600 payment has become a political football on Capitol Hill, as Democrats would like to extend it, while Republicans oppose the idea. Many conservative lawmakers perceive it as a disincentive to return to the workforce since many of the recipients out-earn what they made at their prior jobs. . .
On average, unemployment benefits across the country were $385 per week in February 2020, according to the House Ways and Means Committee. When combined with the added benefit, jobless workers receive nearly $1,000 a week. The median salary for a grocery store cashier, an essential worker, is roughly $600 a week, according to Salary.com.
Still, the Century Foundation points out that without the supplemental payment being extended through the rest of the year, the poverty rate would jump from 12.3% to 16.3% and negatively affect a large portion of nonwhite unemployed workers. (Read more from “Over 25M to Take Hit If $600 Unemployment Bonus Isn’t Extended” HERE)
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