Business professor Brian Brenberg, of King’s College in Manhattan, ponders the policies of the Biden government so far, the coronavirus stimulus package and the closing of schools.
Congressional Democrats are trying to accelerate a nearly $ 2 trillion coronavirus relief proposal that would extend existing supplemental unemployment benefits, but new research suggests that unemployment benefits are not reaching millions of unemployed Americans.
At most, only 30% of the unemployed are being reached by the unemployment system, according to a report published this week by Eliza Forsythe, a labor economist at the University of Illinois. This means that approximately three out of four unemployed workers are not receiving help – or about 8 million of the 11 million people counted as unemployed in December.
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“This means that the unemployment insurance system is not reaching the bulk of unemployed individuals,” she wrote.
Forsythe estimated that about 24% of unemployed Americans have received benefits in the past two weeks. Another 4% were approved for the aid, but have not yet received the money. It is not clear why so many people are not getting help, Forsythe said. Some Americans may be ineligible and some may incorrectly believe that they do not qualify and therefore do not bother to apply.
“This indicates that the current [unemployment insurance] system is not up to the task of targeting aid to the unemployed, “Forsythe wrote.” If the federal government is interested in providing aid to the unemployed, universal checks are probably the best way to provide support to the 70% who are outside the UI system. “
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The report comes as the Biden government and Democrats define the contours of another huge aid package, which is widely expected to increase federal unemployment benefits to $ 400 a week through September and send a third stimulus check on $ 1,400 for most Americans.
Although President Biden said that direct payments must be worth $ 1,400, he indicated that he is open to restricting eligibility for the money in hopes of securing some support from the Republican Party.
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A proposal put forward by high-ranking Democrats includes lowering the threshold for payments to start being eliminated above $ 50,000 for single contributors, $ 75,000 for people who apply as heads of household and $ 100,000 for couples, according to with The Washington Post.
“More targets don’t mean the size of the check, but the level of income of the people receiving the check,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters during a news conference on Wednesday. “This is something that is under discussion.”