Why a Back-to-Work Bonus Can't Take the Place of Extending Boosted Unemployment Benefits
Millions of Americans are grappling with income loss in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent recession it's caused. Thankfully, those who have lost a job due to no fault of their own are generally eligible for unemployment benefits, and since late March, those benefits have been doing a pretty good job of replacing lost paychecks. That's because the CARES Act, which was passed in response to the COVID-19 crisis, allowed for a $600 weekly boost to unemployment on top of the benefits workers would otherwise receive.
Thanks to that $600 boost, a lot of unemployed Americans haven't actually lost out on income in the course of being out of work. Some, in fact, have even gotten a raise on unemployment.
But it's that very scenario that's caused lawmakers to balk at the idea of extending the $600 weekly boost past July 31, when it's set to expire under the CARES Act. In fact, many worry that keeping that boost in place will discourage workers to return to a job, which will, in turn, hinder our economy's recovery. As such, a $1,200 bonus for returning to work has been floated around instead. But that solution is flawed for a couple of reasons.
Source Fool.com
