Yale study on $600 unemployment lifeline championed by Democrats destroys GOP’s favorite talking point

A new study by Yale economists out this week debunks the repeated GOP talking point that the $600 federal expansion of unemployment benefits has disincentivized people from returning to work—findings published the same day Senate Republicans released a coronavirus relief proposal which critics condemned as an “utter disgrace” that will “unleash widespread suffering” on people nationwide.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that Congress passed and President Donald Trump signed in late March provided those who qualified for unemployment insurance (UI) with an extra $600 per week on top of state benefits, a boost that meant total payments for some low-wage or middle-class workers exceeded their normal weekly incomes. With the GOP in the Senate now refusing to pass an extension approved by the Democrat-controlled House, those added benefits are set to expire on July 31.

Despite polling that shows the public popularity of the added boost—and economists warning that taking it away would spell financial catastrophe for the country—the Trump administration and GOP lawmakers who oppose an extension claim it encouraged layoffs early in the pandemic and deters people who make more from UI benefits than their former job from returning to work as businesses reopen. Continue reading.