Millions In U.S. Will Fall Off Income Cliff When Extra $600 In Unemployment Benefits Ends Next Month

[appalachiablue]

'Millions of Americans will fall off an 'income cliff' when extra $600 in unemployment benefits ends next month.' By Alicia Adamczyk, 7 hrs. ago, CNBC, June 24, 2020.

Tens of millions of Americans who lost their jobs because of the coronavirus pandemic have been able to collect an extra $600 in weekly federal unemployment benefits over the past few months on top of the standard amount given by their state. For many households, the enhanced benefits have been a financial lifeline amidst record job loss and a burgeoning recession.

But on July 31, that enhanced benefit will end — and that could have dire consequences for millions of households. Coupled with other coronavirus relief measures, the extra $600 in enhanced benefits has helped many Americans stay afloat — and even save more than usual — throughout the pandemic, with some economists calling it the "best" part of the economic response to the coronavirus.

The $600 increase has been "one of the most effective parts of the CARES Act on both humanitarian and economic grounds," writes Heidi Shierholz, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank. Ending the benefits now would be a "terrible idea," Arindrajit Dube, an economics professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, said in a tweet. Many households have already spent the one-time stimulus check they received and unemployment is expected to remain high through 2021.

Without the extra $600, benefits will revert to the standard state amount, which averaged $378 per week in March. >That's a sudden income reduction of 60%, without another stimulus check to fall back on. "It would cause pain among millions of families, drive down economic activity and impede our recovery," writes Dube. (Brief article, end).

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/millions-of-americans-will-fall-off-an-income-cliff-when-extra-dollar600-in-unemployment-benefits-ends-next-month/ar-BB15SRqW

[sunflowerseed]

1. Oklahoma isn't getting the Covid $$$

The web site isn't up to even apply for it. I know because I was laid off.

[Laelth]

2. It's gonna get bad.

I read that 30% of American households couldn’t make their June rent/mortgage payments. It will only get worse when supplemental unemployment benefits expire in July. We’re in for a bumpy ride.

-Laelth

[MichMan]

4. I thought the extra $2400 per month would have helped with payments?

[Laelth]

6. I have no idea how people handle their finances.

But if 30% of Americans are missing their rent/mortgage payments now, it will be worse when that extra $2,400/month is no longer coming in.

-Laelth

[dalton99a]

3. Kick

[BComplex]

5. The extra $600 per week for unemployed people and general contractors has got to be

Last edited Wed Jun 24, 2020, 05:12 PM - Edit history (1)

extended for sure.

The economy generates its strength from the people who actually spend the money on things that keep the economy moving: food, for instance! The food banks are already stressed to the breaking point.

On edit:
It's per week. Not per month

[appalachiablue]

7. You got it, has to be extended. This is a mass crisis

with no guarantee of broad therapy or vaccine in sight yet.

The people and workers who keep the economy afloat have to receive more help or it's Apocalypse, the Hunger Games begin.

[LizBeth]

9. Most of us thought our jobs would come back, and they aren't. Sitting at the end of June and

I am still not getting a call from work, I cannot see their business increase as we approach fall. It seems to me that the jobs have disappeared in certain industries and are not coming back for a long while. So really, the situation has not changed since this started in March.

[Demsrule86]

13. Same here...few jobs in Ohio...and it will get worse.

[appalachiablue]

20. +1 Digital systems, AI, automation, remote school, work

and business have also sped up greatly from the pandemic. For many people, life in the near future will be altered dramatically.

[MiniMe]

10. Is it per week or per month?

"Tens of millions of Americans who lost their jobs because of the coronavirus pandemic have been able to collect an extra $600 in weekly federal unemployment benefits over the past few months on top of the standard amount given by their state. "

If it is weekly, you are talking about $2,400 per month.

[BComplex]

11. Yes. eom

[Demsrule86]

14. Very few people can survive on 400 per week...mortgages will go unpaid , so will credit card and

car payments...it is a domino effect...we are already at depression levels of unemployment. This is worse than 08.

[stopbush]

17. $600 per week.

[stopbush]

16. It's $600 per week.

[NoMoreRepugs]

8. Where's the data on mortgage and rent payments? If the

housing/rental mkt takes a significant hit the economy is going to suffer mightily. Perhaps some of those trillions of dollars extended to low grade corporate bond holders to prop up that market should have been used for American households and small businesses.

[Cicada]

12. Will Trump go full Andrew Yang to win re-election?

Trump must worry about the election implications of that extra $600 per week going away.

[Demsrule86]

15. I predict Trump loses Ohio if the $600.00 is not extended.

[Solly Mack]

18. K&R

[Deb]

19. The $600 is causing essential minimum wage earners to feel resentment.

It might be wise of politicians to remember the low wage earners who continued in unromantic essential jobs or this could be the start of

another angry group the GOP appeals to.