European Workers Draw Paychecks. American Workers Scrounge for Food.

[Zorro]

In the pandemic, the United States has relied on expanded unemployment benefits, while European governments have subsidized wages, avoiding a surge in joblessness.

In the southeast corner of Ireland, Brian Byrne’s event-planning business was confronting a calamity. It was the middle of March, and the coronavirus pandemic was nearing peak lethality. As the government barred gatherings like music festivals, his revenue disappeared, forcing him to consider laying off his four full-time workers.

But a swiftly arranged government program spared their jobs. It provided 70 to 85 percent of their wages, enabling Mr. Byrne to keep them employed.

“It oddly hasn’t been a stressful time,” he said. “I can keep the team together, keep them motivated. We’re basically doing everything we can to be ready for when the restrictions are eased.”

Across the Atlantic in New York, the pandemic cost Salvador Dominguez his job selling Manhattan real estate. He eventually qualified for an emergency expansion of federal unemployment benefits, but not before 72 agonizing days of waiting. He borrowed from friends and family members to pay his rent, and he harvested food from the trash at a high-end grocery store.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/03/business/economy/europe-us-jobless-coronavirus.html

[TreasonousBastard]

1. I work for the government, and my pay is cut to less than half. No rent money, so I am homeless...

but not scrounging in the trash for food.

So far.

[DSandra]

2. The United States obviously is not a developed country

We were fooled for a long time, but this country not just doesn’t care about its own citizens, but actively hurts and preys on them. For one to avoid that, they either have to be rich or find a nice feudal lord (corporation) to work for, and hope that in the future that they don’t get corrupted or become obsolete.

[BigmanPigman]

3. tRump/GOPutin would rather give it to the 1%.

Dumbest move on the planet. There will be no economic recovery unless the nation has a plan like the EU and the country as a whole practices Social Distancing, masks, etc. No schools will reopen until that happens and school is part of the economy as long as two parents need to work. However teachers and professors will not return to a Russian Roulette scenario in the classrooms.